Native Gmail add-ons are coming — but they’ll be business focused to start

Google is now allowing third-party developers to integrate directly into Gmail with add-ons. Unlike the sort of Gmail utilities you may have used before (like Boomerang or Rapportive), add-ons will work directly in Gmail instead of through a Chrome extension. That will mean that they can work across Gmail on the web, in Android, and on iOS.

Google is launching this primarily as an enterprise feature for now. It’s working with Intuit, Salesforce, and Prosperworks already — so, for example, users will be able to create an invoice directly in Gmail and send it off in a reply. Google says the add-ons will be “contextual,” meaning they will only show up based on the content of the email you’re replying to.

But before you start agitating to get your favorite snoozing add-on developed directly into Gmail, remember that the primary focus here are enterprise customers. Google says that “Gmail users will be able to install Add-ons via the G Suite Marketplace later this year,” so presumably that will mean that consumer-focused add-ons will come too — assuming their add-ons are accepted into Google’s marketplace.

Update and correction: The headline and final paragraph were changed to reflect that add-ons for Gmail users will be “available later this year” and may not strictly be limited to enterprise users. I regret the error.