Native Gmail App Is Imminent - Source

A native Gmail app is coming for the iPhone/iPod touch. This news, first reported by MG Siegler of TechCrunch, could bring important tools to customers of Google’s popular email service who also use an iDevice. First launched in 2004, Gmail currently supports 260 million customers worldwide. For iOS customers accessing Gmail has required using Apple’s native Mail account or logging into their account through a web app. Unfortunately, both of these solutions have limitations that would be eliminated with the introduction of a native app. For one, a Gmail app would finally bring Push Notifications to Google’s service on iOS, something that isn’t possible when using it via Apple’s Mail app. Second, a native Gmail app will likely bring Priority Inbox and one-click starring of messages as well.

Other possibilities include some of the stuff Google is about to roll out for Gmail proper: like contact icons, better threading, and deep searching functionality. Maybe there will even be some Google+ integration, which Google is also hard at work on for Gmail.

As Siegler contends, Google isn’t exactly great at launching native iOS apps. However, his contacts tell him that this is a good one. Plus, his contacts say the app is close to being released. In fact, all that's left is Apple approving it for inclusion in the App Store. We’ll keep you updated.

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