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Yahoo’s redesigned Mail app aims to bring order to your inbox
The way we use email has changed a lot over the years, evolving from person-to-person communications to an all-in-one depository for newsletters, coupons, travel receipts and (a lot of) miscellaneous junk. This can lead to an overwhelmingly messy inbox, making it that much harder to find that e-ticket right before the concert. Yahoo Mail's revamped app, however, hopes to change that with an approach that prioritizes organization and avoid email overload (Full disclosure: Yahoo's parent company is Verizon, which is the same as Engadget's).
With new updates, Yahoo bets big on Mail’s mobile future
Few things are a uniquely annoying as having to use your email service's mobile interfaces — they're basic, they're kind of ugly, and they rarely provide the niceties you'd normally be used to. Yahoo wants to change that. The brand (which, like Engadget, is own by Verizon's Oath) today announced a new mobile web interface that looks and feels more like Yahoo's full-blown Mail app.
Yahoo gives Mail a makeover and introduces Yahoo Mail Pro
Even though Gmail is currently the king of web email providers, a lot of people still use Yahoo Mail. And for those loyal to the latter despite several security lapses, you'll have a few things to celebrate today. That's because Yahoo is bringing a host of new improvements to Mail that includes a cleaner, faster and more intuitive interface and better attachment support. Additionally, Yahoo is replacing its Ad Free Mail service with Yahoo Mail Pro, which is essentially the same thing, but cheaper.
Yahoo can scan your emails to tell you who's calling
Yahoo has added two new features to its Mail app, helping users both easily identify phone numbers linked to email contacts and instantly sync photos from their camera roll to their desktop mailbox. The first new addition to Mail -- imaginatively named Caller ID -- recognizes familiar numbers, matching them to their corresponding email contact information. Conveniently, enabling the feature also updates previously dialed numbers in your call history, even adding in the contact info as you dial a recognized number.
Reuters: Yahoo email scanning done with a Linux kernel module
In the ever evolving saga of Yahoo's email servers and who could peek into them, the latest nugget comes from a Reuters report that the scanning program operated at a deeper level than mail filters for porn or spam. Citing three former employees, it now says the scanning was done via a module attached to the Linux kernel itself. While the more technically-minded wondered why this method would've been employed at all, others like Senator Ron Wyden called for the government to release the FISA order apparently ordering the surveillance.
Yahoo reportedly downplayed security for years
That massive Yahoo hack might have been less of a one-off disaster and more a symptom of larger, systemic problems with security at the internet pioneer. New York Times sources claim that Yahoo made security a relatively low priority for years, prioritizing convenience when possible and reacting only after serious incidents (such as bug bounties following an account breach in 2012). Reportedly, the company even skipped out on safeguards that are considered virtually mandatory in many places -- CEO Marissa Mayer rejected a password reset out of concern that it would drive users away from Yahoo Mail.
Yahoo Mail mobile apps get extra sharing and sync features
Yahoo continues to improve its Mail app for mobile devices. After adding support for Google Drive files and GIFs last month, the company is bringing more sharing and sync features to iOS and Android users. If you're on Apple's platform, Yahoo Mail now lets you show links in emails as previews, with a quick snapshot of information from any site. Additionally, you can start sharing pictures directly to Yahoo Mail, thanks to a new iOS share button for the app.
Hackers are trading millions of Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo logins
Email services including Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail have fallen victim to a hack, exposing usernames and passwords for millions of users. According to Reuters, a huge data breach consisting of some 273.3 million online accounts has been reported by security expert Alex Holden of Hold Security. All told, the data breach contains 57 million accounts for the Russian email provider Mail.ru, along with 40 million Yahoo Mail credentials, 33 million Hotmail accounts and 24 million Gmail accounts.
Drop Google Drive files and GIFs into your Yahoo emails
Yahoo's been busy bulking up its Mail app and its latest feature follows their strategy to play nice with other email and service providers. Now you can include files from Google Drive and even drop in Tumblr GIFs.
Yahoo Mail upgrades link previews with playable video
Yahoo Mail just made its link previews on desktop richer and more informative. When you paste a URL into the body of your email, you'll now get a preview card that contains not only a snapshot of the website, but also the author's name, if applicable. In case the link points to a hotel website, you'll see prices in the card. Even better, if it's a link to a video or an audio clip on YouTube, SoundCloud, Tumblr or Vimeo (among other services), you can play it within the email itself. Not to mention, you can post the links to Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter through the new Share button at the top right corner of the image.
Yahoo wants to manage your Gmail account too
When Yahoo announced two months ago that it would add third-party email support to its newly launched Mail app, only Hotmail, Outlook and AOL accounts were supported. Now, however, Gmail -- arguably its biggest rival -- has joined the party too. Thanks to Yahoo Mail's new smarts, the app won't just fetch the most recent 200 messages when you add it -- it's actually able to access your entire Gmail archive; attachments included. And since you'll have your Gmail working with the Yahoo Mail app, you'll be able to search across all your contacts and accounts in one unified interface. Other features of the new Yahoo Mail can also now work with your Gmail account -- they include a smarter contacts manager that'll automatically add email recipients based on your history, plus the new password-free Yahoo Account Key sign-in method. Gmail support in Yahoo Mail is available today in both iOS and Android apps plus, of course, the Yahoo Mail website itself.
Yahoo restricting Mail accounts if it detects ad-blockers (updated)
Yahoo is reportedly preventing some of its users with ad blockers installed on their computers from accessing their email accounts. Digiday has spotted a thread on the Adblock Plus forums with complaints from a couple of people who couldn't access Yahoo Mail on both Chrome and Firefox. One of them posted a screenshot of the message he got asking him to "disable Ad Blocker to continue using" the service, which you can see below the fold. If you take a close look at the URL, you'll see that it says "reason=ADBLK_TRAP." Update: A spokesperson told us: "At Yahoo, we are continually developing and testing new product experiences. This is a test we're running for a small number of Yahoo Mail users in the US."
Yahoo Mail drops passwords and adds third-party email support for new apps
It's Yahoo Mail's 18th birthday this month and to mark the occasion, Yahoo is pulling out all the stops with three major announcements: a brand new mobile app for Android and iOS, the support for multiple third-party email accounts and, perhaps most significantly, the introduction of a completely password-free sign-in experience called Yahoo Account Key.
Yahoo Mail helps you track packages and remember events
A couple of new, useful features are coming to Yahoo's web email client. For starters, the company has announced that Mail will now send notifications when packages are due to be delivered -- you can also track them from there. The same goes for event reminders, which is going to make it easier for you to access information like an address, or get directions to a place. Yahoo says it'll be rolling this out to users in the US over the next few days, adding that it plans to bring more of these type of notifications to Mail later on. And yes, while Gmail's had similar features for years, it's still great news for people who use Yahoo Mail on the regular.
Yahoo's mail app has notifications for flights and events too
Yahoo has just released a new Mail update for iOS and Android that integrates event and travel notifications within the app... whoa wait, why does that sound familiar? Another tech company with a name that starts with a G might have announced something similar earlier, but we're not entirely sure (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Kidding aside, the Today section in the Yahoo Mail app can now tell you if your flight's been delayed or canceled and give you directions to the airport: you can even call the airline or go straight to its website if you need to rebook, right from the app. When you visit a new area, you'll automatically get restaurant and attraction suggestions, replete with their Yelp reviews. Finally, if you're attending an Evite, Eventbrite or Ticketmaster event, the app will show you its details, along with directions on how to get to there. The update's already out on both iTunes and Google Play, but (unfortunately for most countries around the globe) the features are only available in the US for now. [Image credit: Scott Schiller/Flickr]
Yahoo Mail for Android now lets you filter emails while on the move
If you're an email fiend, you already know the value of filters -- you can easily color code and label incoming emails with a few simple rules so that your inbox isn't a cluttered mess. Unfortunately, however, if you're a Gmail user, you were only able to create and edit those filters on the web and not on the Android app, which seems like a weird oversight. It's even more embarrassing, then, that Google rival Yahoo has just introduced this feature into its own Android app. Yep, as of today, Yahoo Mail for Android will let you create, update and remove filters. Simply tap the option at the bottom of the sidebar and you'll be guided through setting one up -- as usual, you can filter emails by sender, recipient or its content. Of course, you'll have to be a Yahoo Mail user to take advantage of all this in the first place; hopefully this will light a fire under the folks at Mountain View to add this much-needed feature so Gmail users won't feel left out. If you do use Yahoo Mail on Android, however, go on and download the latest update so that you can get to reaching Inbox Zero that much faster.
Yahoo Mail for iOS overhaul simplifies correspondence, sprinkles in news
Folks who use Yahoo Mail on their iOS devices will soon notice a significant redesign. The outfit has retooled the offering "with a focus on simplicity" while serving up easy access to news and other info. Along the bottom, the main menu has but three options: Mail, News and Today. Inboxes have swipe gestures for quick sorting and there's a conversation view for recalling those original messages. That News section is curated based on your personal preferences and Today displays a weather report, stock info, sports scores and more. Haven't snatched up the new version yet? No worries, you can grab it now in the App Store.
Yahoo Mail accounts breached through third-party database hacking
An unidentified number of Yahoo email accounts were recently breached, the company revealed this afternoon. Affected users have already been notified, and Yahoo says it's doing everything it can to both track down the perps responsible and re-secure breached accounts (not to mention everyone else's). Rather than breaching Yahoo's servers directly, email addresses and passwords were "likely" lifted from a third-party database (read: Netflix, Gmail, Facebook, etc. -- some other service with a login), according to Yahoo. "We have no evidence that they were obtained directly from Yahoo's systems," the company said. The software used to secure the stolen information accessed users accounts and attempted to sweep for "names and email address from the affected accounts' most recent sent emails." We asked Yahoo how many accounts were affected and were told the company can't share any specifics due to an ongoing criminal investigation. Like its messaging from today, a rep told us: "Users can help keep their data secure by adopting better password practices. They should change their password regularly, use different variations of symbols and characters, and make it a habit to never to use the same password on multiple sites or services. Using the same password on multiple sites or services makes users particularly vulnerable to these types of attacks."
Yahoo Mail brings back tabs, makes viewing lots of them easier
It was but a couple months ago that Yahoo gave its mail service a sprucing, adding some new features while subtracting others. Tabbed viewing was among those pruned, thanks to user feedback that tabs became difficult to deal with in great numbers. Well, tabs are back, with a brand new (for Yahoo) invention: a 'Preview All' feature that lets you see all your tabs at once in tiled fashion. You can also assign the feature to your ESC key to make switching between regular and tiled views a quick and painless affair. Got it? Good. The new functions will be rolling out to users everywhere in the next few days.
Yahoo Mail for iOS gets a redesign, disposable email addresses, 1 TB storage, more
Yesterday was the 16th anniversary of Yahoo Mail and to celebrate, the company has completely redesigned its Yahoo Mail app for iOS. Not only does the app have a new look that fits nicely with iOS 7, it also adds some serious new features. First up are Conversations, which allows users to view related messages in a single grouped view (much the way "threads" work in iOS 7's Mail.app). Conversations can be turned on or off in settings for those that don't like to see messages grouped together. Another new feature is Themes, which allows users to personalize the look of their Mail app with a variety of background images. The app also now gives all users enhanced mail forwarding and filtering features. But perhaps the most exciting thing of all is now Yahoo is giving its mail users a whopping 1 TB of storage space. That makes Apple's 5 GB of free iCloud space look downright cheap. Yahoo Mail is a free download.
