Google pulls Gmail iPhone app after just hours

Google in just two hours has already pulled its Gmail app for iOS. The company's Dave Girouard explained the removal as a voluntary step after Google found a bug that would break notifications and trigger errors the first time the app is open. The fix is underway, and a new version was coming "soon," he said.

The app has received mixed reactions early on, with some appreciating the native app and notifications while others say it doesn't go far enough beyond the HTML5 page.

Insiders at Google reportedly claimed that the lack of devotion reflected a low priority. As with most of its apps, Google is much more concerned about its Android versions, SAI heard. The ability to get Gmail through the regular iOS mail app also supposedly diminished the importance of perfecting the Gmail port.

One of the as yet unverified sources also accused Apple of not being friendly to Google when it writes iOS apps. At a certain point, Apple was widely suspected of, though not confirmed, to be blocking certain Google apps beyond its normal policies, such as Google Voice. Other VoIP-related services didn't have similar issues.

If real, however, Google's reach may be over-ambitious. The company has purportedly expressed a desire to update the Maps app itself but can't because "Apple has not let them," according to the tip. Apple itself wrote the app and mostly uses Google for maps and the searches themselves, leaving most of the code under Apple's watch.

By Electronista Staff