Google has launched “search chips" for Gmail to help users better manage their inbox. This is an extremely popular email service and the only one the company offers following the closure of Inbox by Gmail. Since Inbox’s discontinuation, Gmail has continued to become an even smarter email service.
While Gmail is a powerful email solution, it can be too overwhelming at times with features often getting buried and remaining unused by the majority of people. Filtering through emails is likely to be one of those that often gets overlooked, and especially considering Google has now decided to launch a new feature specifically designed to bring those filters to the front.
In a recent G Suite post, Google announced “search chips” for Gmail. These chips are designed to act as a simple way to narrow down search results within a user’s inbox. The feature started rolling out on February 19, 2020 and is understood to be first arriving for G suite users, although it is expected that all Gmail users will eventually see the feature go live.
How To Use Google’s New Search Chips
In the very simplest of terms, Google had added new tabs to the top of Gmail. However, these tabs will only appear when the account owner performs a search by typing into the search bar located at the top. While users were previously able to add a filter command to the search parameters, or by using the more advanced settings, these tabs provide a quicker and easier way to do the same thing. For instance, instead of having to go through the advanced search interface and check the “Has attachment” box, once a user types in a word, an attachment tab will be automatically displayed underneath the search box and clicking the label will immediately filter the results. This not only applies to typical secondary filters, but also senders as well, with quick filter tabs for people associated with the user’s account.
The new search chips are almost guaranteed to speed up the process of finding an email and therefore this is likely to be a useful and welcomed addition to Gmail. Even more importantly, this will be a good option for those who were unaware of the advanced search features to begin with. By bringing the search chips to the front of the Gmail experience, all users will be able to benefit from more intuitive and faster email searching - regardless of experience or knowledge. Further adding to the ease of use, unlike making manual searches where the choices are static and located in specific sections, Google appears to be using some of its AI strengths to auto-generate the search parameters. For example, when starting to type out part of a name, Google automatically displays its best-guess first, making the search even quicker to perform.
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Source: Google
