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Handwriting input can be extremely useful when you're trying to input characters from a language that is not represented on your current keyboard. They also serve as an alternative method to keyboard typing for those with disabilities. In the past you would either need to handwrite Gmail messages outside of the actual Web interface, or use an extension with your Web browser. Now, you can set up handwriting input within Gmail, along with onscreen keyboards for other languages.

Whether it's something you need, or something you just want to try, it's quick to set up. Here's … Read more

I used to be more vigilant about keeping my Gmail inbox clean and organized, but the inbox tabs that Gmail rolled out earlier this year have made me lazy. The tabs help filter promotional e-mails, social media notifications, and other such messages that aren't of primary importance. While these e-mails are effectively hidden with Gmail's Web client, they are still marked as unread on my iPhone. That is, my Mail app icon constantly has a badge alert with a large number because of the voluminous number of unread messages I have hiding in my Social and Promotional tabs. … Read more

Whether you prefer writing your notes by hand or writing a complicated kanji, Gmail and Google Docs now support an extensive list of handwritten languages.

You can use your mouse or trackpad -- or a stylus or your finger on touch screens -- to write without a keyboard. Handwriting support works with more than 20 languages in Google Docs and more than 50 in Gmail -- including Arabic, Chinese, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and Russian.

The setup process could be easier. You must activate keyboard inputs in Gmail or Google Docs before it will work -- a slightly involved … Read more

Yahoo Mail's latest revamp isn't scoring a lot of points with users.

To celebrate Yahoo Mail's 16th birthday last week, Yahoo overhauled the interface of its e-mail service, offering a leaner look reminiscent of Gmail. But the new style and missing features have triggered a slew of angry comments on the Yahoo Mail blog and even a Change.org petition asking Yahoo to revert back to the old layout.

Tops on the hit list is Yahoo's decision to remove tabs, which allowed people to switch among different views. Users also want the ability to "sort … Read more

A class-action suit targeting Google's scanning of Gmail messages to deliver targeted advertising can go ahead, based on a federal anti-wiretapping law, a judge ruled Thursday.

Google had filed a motion to dismiss the suit, saying that in regard to the Wiretap Act, its scanning of e-mail content was, first, part of the ordinary course of its business as an e-mail provider and, second, something consented to by Gmail users and the people with whom they e-mail.

US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, Calif., bought neither of those arguments, however. In her ruling, she writes in regard … Read more

Gmail's Android app gets some small changes that make it easier to use, in a new version that started slowly rolling out on Wednesday.

The conversation view has been streamlined so that the e-mail you're reading has been separated slightly from those that preceded it in a thread. It's a look that owes much to Google's "card" style.

Multiple message selection has been adjusted as well, replacing the chosen messages' avatars with checkmarks to make it more apparent which messages have been selected to be moved, archived, or deleted.

Gmail also now tells you … Read more

One of the annoyances with any iOS upgrade or new iPhone purchase is signing back into apps that require you to be logged in to work. Most of the time, this is a simple process of remembering or looking up a password, entering it, and going about your day. If you tried signing into your Gmail account via the Mail app, however, you may have encountered this screen:

And after you carefully re-entered your password, making sure it was keyed in correctly, you again were met with the above note.

And after throwing your hands up in frustration, hopefully you … Read more

Google is trying to reassure affected Gmail users that the latest service disruption won't happen again.

On Monday, many Gmail users discovered that their messages were coming in slowly and that some of their file attachments were missing. Google's App Status Dashboard detailed the chain of events from the discovery of the problem to its eventual resolution.

In a Google blog posted Tuesday, Sabrina Farmer, senior site reliability engineering manager for Gmail, apologized for the issue and blamed in on a dual network failure. Calling such a failure a "very rare event," Farmer said that the … Read more