Category: Gmail

If you have been trying to add your Gmail account to your Windows Phone over the past few days and keep getting an error, you are not alone.  Currently when users attempt to add their Gmail account to their phone, they get an error indicating that the browser (Edge) is not supported and provides links to download other browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer).  But, as you will know, that’s not an option for Windows Phone users.

The issue, it seems, is with Google and this isn’t the first time this particular issue has popped up.

The news from Reuters today outlining a massive email hack that has impacted some 270 million accounts globally, including some Gmail accounts, serves as another reminder to be safe out there and to use 2-Factor authentication.  Yes it is a pain and yes it sucks that we have to do these kinds of things, but it is a great way to keep your Google account and any other for that matter more safe and secure.  In fact, I would go as far as to suggest that if a service you use doesn’t offer 2-Factor authentication, you may need to rethink if you really need that service.

The latest update to Gmail for Android is finally bringing Rich Text Formatting to the email app.  The update has been released to the Google Play Store but it may be a few days before you see the OTA update on your devices.  Once you do, the ability to bold, italic, color, highlight and underline text will be available for you when you are creating an email.  Rumors of these features coming to Gmail have actually been floating around for a few months now.  Several sites have done APK teardowns that have shown the handlers in the code for the ability to do this type of formatting but until this point it hasn’t been available.

Yesterday there was a lot of news floating around Gmail and the new Gmailify feature.  First things first, what is Gmailify?  This is a feature that allows you to take your non-Gmail accounts like Hotmail and Yahoo and give them Gmail-like features such as spam filtering, Google Now cards and other features that up to this point have been Google only.  It is a pretty slick feature, especially if you have an email account other than Gmail.

With this update comes a new Android version of the app which will allow you to fully enable this feature.

One of the things that I love about Android Marshmallow is Doze, the battery saving feature of the OS that I believe is one of the killer features of the release.  But for some users, Doze and App Sleep have proven to be a little bit to sleepy, especially when it comes to Gmail.  Multiple users have reported in various forums, websites and communities that they are having notifications for Gmail not happen if their device is in Doze.  The reason behind this is pretty straight forward.  Google has enabled battery optimization for Gmail so when your phone is in Doze it does not listen for email and thus, you don’t get notified.

There is a way however for you to prevent this from happening which is to turn off the optimization for the app on your Android Marshmallow powered device.  In fact, the How To I’m going to outline can be applied to any app that you have installed on your phone or tablet, not just Gmail.  But, and you probably figured this out already, by disabling battery optimization, you lose some of the battery saving benefits of Doze on your device.  Essentially this How To is going to show you how to bypass Doze so proceed with caution.  If you override to many apps, you will still see a lot of battery drain while your device is sitting idle, unplugged on your desk.

Gmail, like many aspects of your Chromebook, PC or Mac, can be customized to suit your liking and personality.  While some find the simple white background that comes standard in the web-based email service, I for one am not a big fan of leaving things generic.  I like having a little color and more specifically, I like having things that match across all my devices.  Themes and wallpapers are part of that but so is Gmail for me.  My current favorite wallpaper is the default wallpaper that comes with Android Marshmallow.  It is the wallpaper on both my Nexus 6 and Nexus 7 as well as the wallpaper on my Chromebook and my Windows PC.  Now it is also the wallpaper for my Gmail account.

My Gmail Android Marshmallow Background

To be clear, in this How To I am talking about Gmail on the web, not the Android app.  Whether you are using Chrome, Internet Explorer or Safari, you can have a theme for your Gmail account in just a few simple steps.  First, make sure you have the photo that you want to use as your wallpaper saved somewhere on your PC or on Google Drive so you can access it.  Once you have that done, continue on after the break to see how to set it up, configure & customize it and finally share it with anyone.