Inbox by Gmail
Google's experimental email app grouped messages into bundles and treated mail as tasks, then folded selected ideas into Gmail and closed the original experience.
Quick facts
- Existence state
- Officially Gone
- Peak stage
- general availability
- Research confidence
- high
- Last verified
What it was
An alternative Gmail client designed around bundles, reminders, snoozing and assisted message handling.
An alternative Gmail client designed around bundles, reminders, snoozing and assisted message handling. Inbox rethought the chronological inbox as an organised work surface, automatically grouping categories and letting users postpone or complete messages.
Existence timeline
Gmail users begin testing Google's new approach to email.
The client expands beyond invitations to ordinary users.
Snoozing, smart replies and other concepts move into Gmail.
Google gives users several months to return to Gmail.
The distinct app and web experience stop operating.
Why it ended
Google announced that Inbox would close so the team could focus on Gmail. Apps and web access stopped on 2 April 2019.
Last confirmed trace
The underlying email remained in Gmail, while screenshots, app packages and features later adopted by Gmail preserve parts of the interface.
What it left behind
Inbox became a celebrated example of a product disappearing even though its users, data and parent service all remained active.
How we classified it
The archive unit reached normal public release or operation and is no longer obtainable in its original public form.
Verified normal public availability maps to 100 under Arrival Score V1.
Sources & verification
Last reviewed 2026-08-01. Sources are linked so readers can inspect the evidence directly.