Galaxy Nexus: Ice Cream Sandwich Offers Improved Gmail & Calendar User Experience

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Email and personal-information management are major smartphone features, so Google has introduced major improvements in how users can manipulate information and displays in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

At the recently-concluded Galaxy Nexus announcement in Hong Kong, Google’s user-experience director for Android Matias Duarte explained the interface improvements that come with Google’s newest Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich release. Among these are a new contextual action bar, swiping and pinching actions, which should now work more intuitively especially in the Gmail and Calendar apps.

Duarte explains how the new Action Bar should change content depending on context. As such, it will act much like a contextual menu that changes depending on the relevant actions required in any given application or screen. This probably takes advantage of the new Galaxy Nexus’ taller screen form factor, and the fact that Android 4.0 ICS designed from ground-up with a 1280 x 780 pixel resolution in mind.

Here are the new user-experience improvements highlighted in Android 4.0 ICS:

• Gmail now previews two lines of each email;
• Navigation is easier between messages and calendar days. Swiping left and right will switch across messages (Gmail) or days (Calendar);
• Email addresses are turned into “chips” or business-card like ribbons of information, with pictures, contact info and quick links to actions;
• Pinch to zoom works with calendar events, which should adjust the number of lines you see on the Calendar screen.

Duarte says the new swipe-centric approach to navigation will also be present in other Google core apps like Music, Google+, Browser and the like.

Aside from UX improvements, the Gmail app also features something that avid email users will find useful: offline search. By default, the Android ICS Gmail app will display 30 days of messages, and users can change this setting to display a pre-set number of days whether online or offline. Search will now work even when you’re not connected to the Internet.

Looks like Google is playing catch-up with other major mobile OSes — read: iOS! — in terms of user interface.