Yahoo has overhauled its mail app for Android, adding a bunch of new features, including news, search, weather, videos and Flickr images. Yahoo said in a blog post that it hopes to spare mobile users “the hassle of switching between apps” and, ostensibly, to get people to spend more time in Yahooland. The app is now divided into three main sections, navigable by clicking icons at the top of the screen. The Mail section looks the same as the old mail app. An All Stories section contains personalized news feeds. And finally, a Today screen displays local weather, sports scores, news headlines, popular videos, and Flickr photos.
A new Yahoo Mail update for Android doesn’t just offer up typical bug fixes and enhancements. In addition to simply providing a portal for email, Yahoo on Friday rolled out an update that brings it up to parity with what’s available to the iOS version rolled out recently. Now, there are quick access points —Yahoo News and Yahoo Today—at the top right from within the app, giving users an easy way to get some Google Now-like information. The new Yahoo Mail for Android will let users swipe horizontally between the various screens, which will provide data such as weather, sports scores, news headlines and more. It might not be the features you expect from an email application, but it’s certainly more convenient than getting all that information from separate apps. Yahoo Mail senior product manager, Andrew Molyneux, agrees.
