Gmail Tests a New Interface for Attachments

Google tests a new interface for attachments internally. A screenshot from a Google employee reveals a Gmail attachment, followed by "Dogfood confidential - submit feedback on the new attachments experience".

The attachment from the screenshot appears to be an Excel spreadsheet and Gmail shows a thumbnail, the title of the file and an icon that's also used in Google Drive for Excel files. Here's the standard interface:

As you can see, the new Gmail UI uses a different icon and no longer displays options like "View", "Open as a Google spreadsheet" or "Download". It's not clear what happens when you click the attachment, but I assume it sends you to Google Drive, where you can preview the file or download it.

It's likely that Google wants to move Gmail attachments to Google Drive. Now Gmail and Google Drive use shared storage and Google Drive provides better ways to manage, search and share files.

Here's some Google Drive code which suggests that Drive could include some system folders for Gmail attachments and Google Keep notes.

{ Thanks, Florian K. }