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Gmail feature rolling out on Android takes care of a massive pain point

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By Anam Hamid

Updated: Nov 10, 2024, 2:38 PM

Picture this: your Gmail account which you created years ago is overflowing with emails and you really need to locate that message you know you received from a colleague some months ago but the search function is taking forever. A new feature might help with that.

For a company with search expertise, Google really could have really done a better job with Gmail's search feature. At the moment, if you type something in the search bar in the Gmail Android app, it shows a few top results and the rest of the results appear in chronological order.

That's not the best way to go about a search, especially if your inbox has numerous emails with a particular word. In October, it was reported that Gmail was working on a new feature to help you narrow down your research by choosing one of two filters - "Most relevant" or "Most recent."

The feature is now being deployed, according to a new report from Android Police. Currently, Gmail offers you a range of filters to refine your search, including whether there were labels, who the sender was, who the recipient was, and whether there were any attachments.

Gmail on Android will now let you sort emails by relevancy or recency. | Image Credit - Artem Russakovskii, X

So, even though there are a range of operators to help you narrow down your search, sometimes they fall short. Other times, you may simply not have the time to fill in the values/terms for each operator field.

The "Top results" that previously appeared were decided by Google's machine learning models based on the search terms, most recent emails, and other relevant factors. The idea was to display the results Google deemed the most relevant at the top.

Google has realized that it may not always get things right, which is seemingly why it's letting you decide whether you want emails to be displayed in order of relevance or by date.

The feature is now live for some users and it will eventually be rolled out to everyone.

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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.

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