Gmail updates iOS app with quick action notification

Gmail users may now find it easier and more familiar to deal with notifications, with "quick action" options now in the updated Gmail app for the iOS platform.

A description of the updated app, which rolled out Thursday, said the app has been redesigned and can handle up to five Gmail accounts.

The list of new features includes "quick actions," which allow a user to archive or reply to messages "directly from a notification" on the iPhone or iPad.

A second feature is an attachment viewer that allows a user to "open attachments from Gmail into any app."

A separate report on tech site Mashable said this means users can reply or archive a message from their lock screen.

"Apple first added the functionality to iOS last year with iOS 8, but Google hadn't integrated the feature into its app until now," it added.

Moreover, it said Thursday's update also improved the way Gmail handles attachments, allowing a user to send a photo, link or file "from within the app you opened it in by selecting Gmail from the share menu."

"Previously, if you wanted to send a photo for example, you could only attach an image from your camera roll from within the attachment menu inside the Gmail app," Mashable said. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News