The two day mega conference which was Google I/O 2015 (28-29 May 2015) was jammed packed with goodies. A major focus of announcements was the unveiling of Google’s optimised Android platform M. Much of the work has been focused on reducing friction between apps and the web to enhance the consumer experience. The 3 apps announcements worth taking note of are Google Photos, Google Inbox and Google Keep.

Google Photos had previously been released as a stand alone applications. Google is now offering the application as an alternative to storing Photos in Drive with unlimited storage. Photos is available on a number of platforms including Android, IOS and the browser and toots amazing features including Auto-organisation to sort photos based on location, times and face recognition and ability to share a link to a collection of photos. A valuable feature not mentioned during the presentation is that Photos can detect duplicate versions of a photo and suggest ones for deletion. A great time and storage saving feature.

Google Inbox by Gmail is a new way to look at your emails. The app presents your gmail inbox in a more interactive way to allow greater ease in accessing information regarding an email. Key details of the emails can be accessed without actually opening up the email including browsing of attached photos, getting appointment details and scheduling reminders and follow ups. The application also bundles similar emails together which is highly convenient and useful. For users of Google for Work, Inbox will need to be enabled by the Admin for the domain.

The are features in Gmail which are not available with Inbox but Google is taking a step in the right directions to close the gap. Advancements to Inbox include:

• ability to put in text signatures
• undo send feature to undo any emails accidentally sent within 30 seconds
• messages marked as “done” can be selected for archiving or deletion
• accessing more comprehensive trip information not just the airline confirmation email
• redirect your Inbox
• predictive suggestions for reminders when you open an email e.g. “Can you pick up the laundry?”

Google Keep as an organisation tool is simple to use and structured in the same way as checklist. Updates to scheduling feature allows you to set repeating reminders (e.g. file monthly expense report) as well as location based reminders (e.g. when walking into a grocery store the grocery list pops up). Keep also now integrates with Google Inbox where reminders will sent.
For a more comprehensive look at other announcements made at the Keynote presentation click here.