A classic version of Gmail is shutting down – here’s what you need to know
A classic version of Gmail is about to go the way of the dodo. According to a recent article in Google Support, the company is retiring the ‘Basic HTML View’ of Gmail and directing everyone to the more modern ‘Standard View.’ The stripped-down version of the email service was designed for old browsers and slower connections, but it has never really caught on. It will be missed by people who use the mobile app on iOS and Android devices as well as those that still work with older computers or slow Internet connections.
Founded in 2004, Gmail has become one of the most popular online email systems in the world. It allows users to have a single inbox that organizes all their personal and professional correspondence, storing files, calendar appointments, banking statements, recipes, photos, links to favorite websites, notes from friends, family members, and colleagues, and more all neatly categorized for easy access. In addition, the Web-based program gives people an e-mail address that is independent of their ISP or other services and has numerous other features, including conversation view where replies to a single message are grouped together and text and video chat.
In the years since its founding, Google has continued to enhance Gmail with new features like Smart Reply in 2017 that uses machine learning to suggest e-mail replies as you compose them and Smart Compose that extends that feature to new messages. It also uses advanced technology to weed out spam and phishing e-mails with 99.9 percent accuracy and encrypts all messages that leave and arrive on its servers.
While it may seem scary that a huge global corporation like Google would be able to collect information about your personal and business communications, its privacy policies state that the only data collected by the company is the IP address of the computer sending or receiving the e-mail and the date and time of the connection. In addition, all of the e-mail information stored on its servers is protected with 256-bit SSL encryption.
A notification popped up in Gmail last week that told Classic View account holders they will be directed to the newer Standard View of the service starting September 19. It warned that the ‘Basic HTML View’ will be retiring on January 2024. Those that don’t upgrade to the newer version of the program will see their inactive accounts be deleted after two years of inactivity.
This is just the latest in a line of products, services, and more that have been sent to the Google graveyard. The company has already buried its Pixel Pass phone upgrade program, Google Currents, and Nest Secure. The end of the ‘basic HTML’ version of Gmail follows the retirement in April of Inbox, the mobile app that encouraged users to hate email all over again. Those that are concerned about what will happen to their accounts in the future can download their data before the switchover to the newer format takes place.
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