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Larry Dignan, Andrew Nusca and Rachel King
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Google reneges on Gmail App for BlackBerry support

By | November 9, 2011, 9:29am PST

Summary: One new Gmail app arrived last week for iOS. Another for BlackBerry will get its wings and fly far, far away.

Here’s just one more tiny tidbit to add to the long list of reasons why the BlackBerry brand (and therefore, Research In Motion) might be doomed.

Starting on November 22, Google will no longer provide end user support for the installed and native Gmail App for Blackberry. Furthermore, the app will no longer be available to download after that date. BlackBerry users would be able to continue to access Gmail via the mobile page app in their BlackBerry web browsers.

That doesn’t mean the program will disappear and cease to exist from devices where it is already installed, but if you are a BlackBerry owner and have any issues with this product, you better get your questions in now.

The silver lining is that Google promises to build a “great Gmail experience” on the mobile browser, so that is where the focus (at least where it concerns BlackBerry users) will go from here on out.

Funny enough, just last week, Google finally released a iOS optimized app for Google Apps. (Although really, only Gmail and Calendar have decent functionality — even after Google made fixes following the fumbled launch.) The iPhone/iPod touch version is free, while the iPad version costs 99 cents.

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Topics

Google Gmail, RIM BlackBerry, E-mail Providers, Google Apps, Mobile Operating Systems, Cloud Computing, Handhelds, Internet, Hardware, Rachel King

Rachel King is a staff writer for ZDNet based in San Francisco.

Disclosure

Rachel King

Rachel King has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted in this blog.

Biography

Rachel King

Rachel King is a staff writer for CBS Interactive in San Francisco. Before serving as a contributing editor at ZDNet in New York City for two years, she previously worked for The Business Insider, FastCompany.com, CNN's San Francisco bureau and the U.S. Department of State. Rachel has also written for MainStreet.com, Irish America Magazine and the New York Daily News, among others. Rachel has a B.A. in Mass Communications and History from the University of California, Berkeley and a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, where she served as art director for the student magazine, Plated.

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RE: Google reneges on Gmail App for BlackBerry support
AugenAuf 10th Nov
Hi! time goes forward and today we have the ability to create iPhone apps without the necessity of being developers. Many web services can help everyone build various apps in some minutes and a little bit after enjoy them using one's iPhone. As for me I have already made some apps for me using http://www.snappii.com
now it's your turn to try it.
View in thread
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RE: Google reneges on Gmail App for BlackBerry support
spicyfknrob 9th Nov
It doesn't matter -- BlackBerry users will still be able to receive push email for their gmail accounts without the gmail app installed, as they always have. This article is misleading.
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RE: Google reneges on Gmail App for BlackBerry support
Doctor Demento 9th Nov
@spicyfknrob

And sensationalistic, the bloggers here love to immediately seize upon and hype any tiny insignificant thing that might remotely suggest trouble for RIM, while ignoring and downplaying any problems with Google or Apple...

Let me get this straight, Google is unable to get its head out of its butt and develop a decent Gmail app for Blackberry or iOS, and this is a sign that RIM is in trouble? Please.
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Worst. Article. Evar!
digglerfied 9th Nov
I have the Gmail app on my BB and it's fine. In fact, I don't even use it. The email system on blackberry is top notch and I actually prefer getting my Gmail that way. This article is absolutely pointless when it comes to RIM's health as a company. This author obviously has a POS Droid or iPhone.
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RE: Google reneges on Gmail App for BlackBerry support
bradavon 9th Nov
@digglerfied: Good luck using Gmail's labels, coloured labels and Priority Inbox with the native BB e-mail app :-|.

It is a weird move on Google's part though. BB is very popular.
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RE: Google reneges on Gmail App for BlackBerry support
lmcdunna 9th Nov
@bradavon Not a weird move at all; supporting native email clients is very expensive. This is more about moving to HTML5 where they can leverage their development investment across all smartphones. Why would you continue to support 20+ native variants when you can support one HTML5 app and get all the device at once? makes total sense to me.
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RE: Google reneges on Gmail App for BlackBerry support
SinfoCOMAR 9th Nov
Lame article. Truth is this:
Google, which last week bungled the launch of a Gmail application for Apple iOS devices, has decided to put out to pasture its Gmail application for the BlackBerry.

As of Nov. 22, Google will no longer offer technical support to users of the application, nor will it allow people to download it anymore, the company said in a blog post.
However, people will be able to continue using it, although Google will put its development efforts on the version of the application for mobile browsers, available at gmail.com.

"Over this past year, we've focused efforts on building a great Gmail experience in the mobile browser and will continue investing in this area," the blog post reads.

Last week, Google released a Gmail application for iPhones, iPods and iPads running version 4.0 or higher of iOS, but soon after had to abruptly pull it from the Apple App Store because it had a bug that caused it to malfunction.

Source: Infoworld http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/google-discontinue-gmail-app-blackberry-178517
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RE: Google reneges on Gmail App for BlackBerry support
ncted Updated - 9th Nov
I have used the GMail app for BB since my company switched to Google Apps for Business since I did not want to go on the company's BES-Connected-to-GMail server. It served its purpose, but I am getting an iPhone next week, so it won't really matter at that point. It is too bad. I thought it worked pretty well, especially as the GMail web interface crashes my BB 9650 running BB OS 6.
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RE: Google reneges on Gmail App for BlackBerry support
robotaholic 9th Nov
I left my old blackberry then I left my old iphone and now nothing beats the integrated gmail experience on android - especially with this huge screen
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RE: Google reneges on Gmail App for BlackBerry support
AugenAuf 10th Nov
Hi! time goes forward and today we have the ability to create iPhone apps without the necessity of being developers. Many web services can help everyone build various apps in some minutes and a little bit after enjoy them using one's iPhone. As for me I have already made some apps for me using http://www.snappii.com
now it's your turn to try it.

Join the conversation!

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