A message went viral on social network X claiming that Google will shut down Gmail in August this year, proving it with a screenshot of a supposedly official Google email. Of course, this is fake, and Google has «killed» the basic HTML look of Gmail, as it planned to do in January.
The fake message reads as follows:
We’re writing to share some important news about Gmail. After years of bringing millions of people together around the world, enabling seamless communication, and creating countless connections, Gmail’s journey is coming to an end.
Gmail is an extremely popular product with more than 1.8 billion active users, and it is linked to Android accounts. Therefore, such a spoof is absurd. The fake screenshot has been viewed over 1 million times on X, transmits Gizmodo. It seems to be a photoshopped version of a message that appeared last year, informing users that the basic HTML look of Gmail was becoming a thing of the past.
The HTML version of the email service, while lacking many features such as chat, spell checking, search filters, keyboard shortcuts, and complex formatting, had some advantages in terms of performance and running on very old devices. And especially — with a weak connection, when you can’t download extra animations and interfaces. The solution has also been criticized in terms of accessibility for visually impaired people, as many of them use the simplified version.
Currently, the official Google support page offers use the latest version of Gmail in your browser. If your browser supports it, Gmail automatically opens in the latest version without Basic HTML, but «with the latest features and security updates».