Google pulls Gmail iOS app due to notification bug
Google's Gmail iOS app lasted all of one hour, being pulled due to a notification bug. Another partial success.
That didn't last long. Google's warmly anticipated Gmail iOS app lasted all of an hour in the App Store before being pulled due to a notifications bug.
"The iOS app we launched today contained a bug with notifications," reads a tweet from the official Gmail Twitter account. "We have pulled the app to fix the problem. Sorry we messed up." At least it owned up to it pretty quickly.
Twitter was ablaze with people complaining about the app. CNET News' own Sharon Vaknin tweeted: "Google releases a native Gmail iOS app that looks like the web interface and the entire Internet explodes. Rightfully so."
So what was the issue? The app didn't appear in the Notifications submenu in iOS 5, nor did you get a notifications entry when you accessed the app from the global iPhone settings menu, according to CNET News. Bit of a fail all round then.
The app also didn't support more than one Gmail account, so bad luck if you wanted to use it with personal and business Gmail accounts, and it was generally an eyesore.
It's surprising Google could release an app that's so obviously not ready for public consumption. Maybe it was too busy rolling out the Gmail redesign, or bringing Streetview inside various businesses around the world. Or putting the finishing touches to the Ice Cream Sandwich build of Android.
Did you download the Gmail app in the brief window? What did you make of it? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page.