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Google's Inbox team promises cross-browser support and a host of other features soon

Google's Inbox team promises cross-browser support and a host of other features soon

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Google's new Inbox interface for its longstanding Gmail service is an intriguing, futuristic, but currently incomplete attempt at reinventing the way we deal with the piles of email we receive. Fortunately, it sounds like the Inbox team is currently working hard at fleshing the service out — in a Reddit AMA, three members of the Inbox product team gave details on a number of new features they're working to add, although unfortunately there weren't any timelines given for when we might see anything new implemented. Participating in the AMA were Jason Cornwell (Interaction Designer), Vijay Umapathy (Product Manager), and Taylor Kourim (Software Engineer).

According to the Inbox team, some of the most requested features include a "unified" Inbox that pulls multiple email addresses into a single view as well as proper support for Inbox using Google Apps (as opposed to a standard, free Gmail address) — both of those features are currently being worked on. Another biggie is cross-browser support — right now, Inbox only works in Chrome, but the team said they were testing it for other browsers including Apple's Safari. That was the only browser mentioned by name, but it seems safe to assume it'll work on IE and Firefox before long, as well.

Eventually, it sounds like the goal is for Inbox to have feature parity with proper Gmail — Cornwell said that "there is a long list of Gmail features that will eventually come to Inbox" and noted that "we really want to balance building those features with building out new features that continue to improve the Inbox product concept." Topping the list of Gmail features that didn't yet make the cut was the ever-useful "undo send" tool, but that's another one slated to be added to Inbox before long.

Google Drive integration, tablet apps, the ability to download all attachments at once, and better calendar integration were among the additional features that should be coming to Inbox soon. If you're a fan of Google's new idea of how your inbox should work, the whole AMA is definitely worth a read.