Gmail iOS App Now Opens Links in Chrome, YouTube, Google Maps

Google on Monday released an update to its Gmail iOS app that allows for links to be opened in other Google apps, provided they are installed on a user's iOS device.


If you have the Gmail and Chrome for iOS apps installed on your iPhone, for example, a link sent to you in an email will open in the Chrome browser rather than Apple's pre-loaded Safari browser.


The same goes for YouTube and Google Maps. A video link emailed to your Gmail account will open in YouTube, while directions or an address will bypass Apple Maps and open in Google Maps, provided both apps are installed on your iOS gadget.


Those who would prefer to stick with Safari or Apple Maps can change their settings within the Gmail app to specify which program should open various links.


This does not apply to Gmail accounts added to Apple's Mail app.


The update, meanwhile, also adds support for signing out of a single account instead of having to sign out of all accounts at once.


Over the last year, Google has been rolling out standalone apps on iOS for several of its most popular products. The search giant started at last year's Google I/O with Chrome for iOS. Like the desktop version of Chrome, the iOS app syncs across devices. Pull up pages that you looked at on your PC or iPhone via the iPad, or vice versa.


Later that year, prior to the launch of iOS 6, Google released its iOS app for YouTube. Apple's iOS 6 removed YouTube as a pre-installed app on iOS, so Google had to create one for the App Store before the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 were released in late September.


With iOS 6, Apple also replaced Google Maps with the much-maligned Apple Maps. After three months of incorrect directions and bizarre renderings on Apple Maps, Google Maps for iOS finally arrived for the iPhone, though we're still waiting on a version for iPad.


For more, see PCMag's reviews of YouTube for iPad and Google Maps (for iPhone), as well as Chrome for iPhone and iPad and Gmail for iPhone.

Read More

iOS 7 showing up in Web traffic logs ahead of public reveal

Apple's next mobile operating system is showing up increasingly in Web traffic logs ahead of its public debut.

That's according to Onswipe, a startup that makes Web sites more touch-friendly for tablets and smartphones. The company tells TechCrunch the testers running the yet-to-be-released version of the software made up nearly a quarter of people visiting sites that used Onswipe's technology last week.

In a follow-up report, Macrumors says it too has noticed a bump in devices running iOS 7 that are visiting its site.

It's not unusual for future versions of Apple's software to get spotted in traffic logs well ahead of their official announcement into the marketplace. In the case of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, that software was seen in traffic logs some four months before it madeits official debut. The same thing happened with its predecessor, 10.7 Lion, which began showing up in 2009, a year ahead of its official debut.

With that said, Apple goes to great lengths to hide all traces of its internal activities from the outside world. As detailed by Don Melton -- the former engineering director of Internet technologies at Apple -- such precautions previously included changing how Apple's software identifies itself when tapping into Web servers. That tactic was used inside Apple to hide its Safari Web browser from being identified before its release.

Apple last month said it plans to take the wraps off the next major version of iOS along with its OS X software for desktops and notebooks at its annual developers conference, beginning June 10. Rumors ahead of that unveiling suggest Apple is rushing to revamp the software's look and feel, which has remained much the same since 2007.

Read More