In response to developers looking for better ways to access Gmail from within their apps, Google announced a new Gmail API intended to serve as a replacement for the IMAP protocol. According to Google, while IMAP is great for standard email clients wanting to connect to an email server, the function is was designed for, it is no longer adequate for new features Gmail makes available or the way services have evolved.
One of the most basic differences for Gmail compared to when IMAP support was first added is the addition of Labels, which Gmail uses instead of folders. The new Gmail API is designed to work with those labels in providing full RESTful access using OAuth 2.0 authorization and the ability to support CRUD operations.
Another change is in the fact that this is a standard Google API that enables simple HTTPS calls to query or call Gmail. This means developers can use a variety of standard web languages and frameworks to access. As a standard Google API, it also means normal Google search queries can be used to only pull a subset of messages instead of accessing all messages as IMAP required. The new API also adds more granularity to functions accessed, like only giving an app “compose” access so it can send a message and not read access to a user’s messages.
For users, the big change that may be noticed is speed, especially in web based applications. You can also expect to see new applications making use of this new access to Gmail and the increased flexibility it will provide.
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