GMail 4.2

Starting today, that fancy new Gmail update -- version 4.2 -- is bringing the much-requested features of pinch-to-zoom and swipe-to-delete to any device running Ice Cream Sandwich or later. But curiously, the best settings and features aren't even enabled by default.

So how do you turn those settings on? It just takes a few extra taps into the settings menu, so read on and see how.


Head to the settings menu in Gmail, tap into "General settings," and check the box for "Auto-fit messages." This means that whenever you receive a full HTML email, it will be fully zoomed out by default. You can then pinch and zoom it as if it were a webpage. It's not the best solution, but it's probably better than dealing with completely broken HTML emails.

GMail 4.2 Zoom


Using a swipe gesture to delete messages in Gmail is very intuitive and easy to use, especially when it ties into the swiping muscle memory you get from clearing individual notifications in Android. Head to the same settings menu, and tap into "Swiping conversation list," then choose the option that works for you. You can turn off the feature all together, make it archive or delete depending on the mailbox you're in, or have the app delete every time (my personal favorite) so emails don't stack up as archived.

GMail 4.2 Swipe

And there you have it! Take a look into the forums and see what everyone else has to say about some of the more subtle changes to the Gmail app in this latest update.

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