Upgrade Android's Gmail notifications

By JR Raphael

One of the best things about Android is its flexibility. Unlike certain other mobile operating systems, you can replace practically any part of the OS with a third-party alternative, opening the door to all sorts of powerful customization potential.

Android's Gmail notifications are a perfect example. By default, the Android Gmail app lets you toggle notifications on and off, select a ringtone, and set how frequently you want to be notified. With a couple of minutes of configuration, though, you can make your new-mail notifications do a whole lot more.

Android Gmail: Notification Upgrade #1

There are two excellent options for upgrading your Android Gmail notifications. The first is a simple free app called -- quite fittingly -- Gmail Notifier.

Gmail Notifier gives you a handful of handy options not present in Android's Gmail app by default. You can set whether you want your phone's LED to flash when you get new messages -- and if so, what color you want it to use. You can change the new-mail notification icon, even using different icons for different Gmail accounts. You can set notifications to occur only when you receive new mail in your Gmail Priority Inbox. You can customize notifications based on time, too -- if you want your phone to behave differently during the night, for example.

Another nice feature: When you have multiple unread messages in your inbox, Gmail Notifier will put the sender and subject of your first unread message right in the notification -- something the native Gmail app won't do.

Android Gmail: Notification Upgrade #2

For even more Android Gmail power, drop about 80 cents and download Gmail Label Notifier from the Android Market. Gmail Label Notifier, as its name suggests, allows you to customize your Android Gmail notifications based on a message's Gmail label.

The real benefit of this comes when you use Gmail filters to assign labels to messages as they arrive. Say, for example, you set all messages from your boss to automatically be given the label "ATTENTION." You could then have your phone issue a special notification, even repeat that notification every minute or two, when such a message comes in.

Gmail Label Notifier lets you specify a sound, LED behavior, and icon color for as many Gmail labels as you need. You can set a specific vibration pattern for each label, too; Gmail Label Notifier can even vibrate the name of the label in Morse Code, if you want (no joke).

Like Gmail Notifier -- the first app we discussed -- Gmail Label Notifier has the option to customize notifications based on time. It doesn't have the advanced sender/subject notifications that the other app offers, but it does have dynamic new-mail icons that display the number of new messages for each label you've configured.

If you rely on Gmail labels, Gmail Label Notifier is probably worth your dollar. If not, the free Gmail Notifier app may be the better option for you. Either way you go, you'll be injecting extra power into your Android Gmail experience -- and making your phone work the way you want it to work.

JR Raphael writes about smartphones and other tasty technology. You can find him on Facebook, on Twitter, or at eSarcasm, his geek-humor getaway.

Article copyright 2011 JR Raphael. All rights reserved.