Pros and Cons of the New Inbox by Gmail Update

A few days ago, we talked about the Inbox by Gmail update that will allow users to receive notifications only for high-priority emails. This update was welcomed with open arms by a lot of users, but many tech experts are wondering: is it really worth your while to choose the high-priority notification setting?

This is a difficult question to answer since different people have different preferences. But, before you turn on this setting, you’ll want to consider the following:

PROS

• It helps you stay focused — Since you’ll receive fewer notifications, your attention won’t be constantly interrupted by a blinking and vibrating phone and you’ll get to focus on your tasks.

• It helps you save time — Getting only high-priority notifications means that you’ll check your phone only when you have important emails. You won’t have to waste your time opening your email app only to find that the new emails you’ve received aren’t that urgent.

• It helps keep your phone uncluttered — Nobody loves having a phone that has a laundry list of notifications for the owner to check. With the new feature, you’ll keep your phone less cluttered and ensure that you’ll see only notifications for important emails.

CONS

• It might not be that accurate — Gmail (and Google as a whole) is pretty accurate at determining which emails can be classified as urgent. However, since the feature is still in its infancy, there’s a small chance that Inbox by Gmail might mistakenly tag an urgent email as non-urgent — and vice versa. On the plus side, it’s safe to assume that this won’t be a long-term problem as the app becomes more intelligent in identifying important messages.

• It might make you complacent — With the new feature in place, you’ll naturally be confident that you’ll receive notifications for all your important emails. But what about those that aren’t urgent but still require you to take action within a certain amount of time? If these emails aren’t considered as “high priority”, and if you don’t manually check your inbox on a regular basis, you might miss these messages and lose the chance to take action on them.

These are the pros and cons of the new high-priority notification setting in Inbox by Google. Weigh the advantages and disadvantages before turning on this feature to ensure you’re getting the better part of the bargain!