"Gmailify is a service that Google introduced in February 2016 that enables you to import messages from Outlook or Yahoo accounts, and then add some extra Gmail-specific features on top. It adds spam filtering using Google's algorithms, and it adds Gmail's inbox organization rules, so email is automatically organized into tabs like Social and Updates. The feature uses a form of IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) technology to fetch emails from other accounts and let you interact with them. IMAP is a standard way of syncing emails-it's what modern desktop email clients use-but Google applied some special tricks to get it working through Gmail on the web and the Gmail mobile apps."
"After the shutdown, the perks that Gmailify brought with it are going away, so you won't get the spam sorting and the category sorting for emails you've fetched from other accounts. You can still access third-party accounts through Gmail and IMAP-but without the extra Gmail magic, and only on mobile. For numerous technical reasons, IMAP is hard to implement on the web, and something Google probably doesn't think is worth the investment."
Gmail will close Gmailify and POP access to new users starting in the first quarter of 2026, with existing users retaining functionality until later in 2026. Gmailify imported Outlook and Yahoo messages and added Gmail features such as Google's spam filtering and inbox organization into tabs like Social and Updates. The service relied on a form of IMAP to fetch and sync emails across devices and apps. After shutdown, fetched messages will lose Gmail-specific spam and category sorting. Third-party accounts will remain accessible via IMAP on mobile only, while IMAP support on the web will be discontinued for technical and investment reasons. Users will need alternative methods to consolidate non-Google mail.
Read at WIRED
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