After the release of Android 12 last year, Google refreshed the Gmail app with the Material You style. Because of this most recent server-side modification, the app’s bottom bar is much narrower than in earlier versions. 9To5Google also notes that the latest version of Gmail for Android does away with the icon labels in the bottom bar.
We noticed that the new version of the Gmail app displays the same number of emails as the previous version, suggesting that the update was tuned more for aesthetics than functionality. Previously, the Gmail app included labels for Mail, Chat, Spaces, and Meet in the bottom bar beneath their respective icons.
In the future, Google may enhance the update by enabling more emails, leading to a more feature-rich interface. After upgrading to the 2022.08.07.x version of the Gmail client on Android handsets, Google reportedly implements the change on their end. Users in different parts of the world will get updates at different times.
Last year, Google gave the Gmail app a makeover with the Material You redesign. The app’s aesthetic is being updated once again. According to 9To5Google, the latest version of Gmail for Android no longer includes the icon labels in the bottom bar. Since the bottom bar was also reduced in size with the upgrade from the previous year, it stands to reason that it would be reduced even further with the latest version.
Before the most recent update, the Gmail app’s bottom bar icons for Mail, Chat, Spaces, and Meet were labeled Mail, Chat, Spaces, and Meet. A small number of users may have seen the no-icon label version a few days ago, but as of Gmail app version 2022.08.07.x, it is being rolled out to everyone. Surprisingly, the Gmail iPad app already does this!
Google may have determined there was no need to provide the icons because virtually everyone is already familiar with them. While this does increase your display area slightly, it serves no immediate purpose. This might be a start of a new modification that Google might embrace for its other apps.
