Wow, I like Google, I worked there for a while, sadly this is not a shining example of "Googliness".
Let's count the challenges shall we?
1) If you happen to click the link for Version 2.0 in the Chrome browser running on an iPad it gives you a blank screen.
2) If you happen to click on the link in the Safari browser it gives you the download page but the App store says "This App is no longer available"
3) If you read the announcement all you see are iPhone screen shots, which makes me wonder if "iPad support" consists of a "2X" in the corner of the screen like it does on the Google Voice app. Gee, That lets me use 16 pixels on my retina display to show one pixel in your App, I'm so thrilled.
Ok that last bit was a pretty snarky, the snark comes from my massive disappointment at how unbelievably bad Google has been at dealing with the existence of tablets. Have you tried to use Google Docs on a tablet? Gmail? Reader? Every product they own has the "mobile" version which assumes you can hit every button with your thumb, or the "desktop" version which assumes you've got a keyboard and 5 button mouse under your fingers. Hello, its been years.
Here is hoping that when they actually put Gmail 2.0 back into the App store it is useful on iPads. I've got $10 - $20 for the right email client for the iPad, anyone want that money?
Ok, just clicked that exact link with my iPad and once I authenticate with Apple it says "the item you tried to buy is no longer available"
My rant however is that Google, in general, hasn't made strong product offerings out of their core products for the tablet experience. I could see not investing initially when it was unclear if tablets were a fad or not but it is now well past the point where people should be arguing that they are 'just a fad' (I don't know that anyone does any more, just saying that if they did, it would be silly) and Google can (and has) executed really well in the past in response to things that could be solved by pushing out more ECMAscript code to the web site. I really wish that selector at the bottom of the web interface to gmail was "Mobile * Tablet * Desktop" not just "Mobile * Desktop"
I don't understand why iOS users feel so entitled to support from competitors' services. I don't see Apple making Android apps for iTunes, iMessage, or FaceTime (which Apple claimed it would make an "open standard").
And remember that this is a matter of perspective. The lack of good support for Google services on iOS is a good thing for me - it'll increase the number of people using Android, thus hopefully getting me better Android apps for my phone and tablet.
I don't think they do at all. Most of Google's core services are built on top of standards like SMTP, IMAP, CalDAV, Jabber, etc, so they can be consumed by any device.
Apple is the one writing most of the extra code here because they want to make sure Google's services run smoothly on their platform.
While we joke about how crappy it is now, Apple's iTunes for Windows was a good example of playing nice on a competitors platform in an attempt to impress their customers and bring them to your side. It worked.
Well yeah, I'm not quite convinced that it's a winning strategy (or even what Google are doing). But personally, I can never go back to iOS from Android because of the integration with Google products- Gmail, Maps, etc.
Not trying to change your mind, but I personally have a strong distaste for being tied to one product because I use another (unrelated product). It's the reason why I've never bought a song or movie on iTunes. I was where you are a while back with Google products, but email is just email. I don't want my phone purchases to be influenced by what email provider I use; that's just silly. I'm currently using Outlook.com and couldn't be happier with it.
Gmail isn't great on any Android device. If you have only used Android, it might seem great. But after you try the built-in iOS client, your standards will raise a bit (not intending to offend!).
In my experience, nothing that Google has produced for the mobile platform(s) is great.
Seriously? You think the iOS mail client is better than the Android Gmail client? Because... it just isn't. For me, anyway. Each to their own.
Of course Google has made great things for mobile. Maps are unparalleled. Google Now is fantastic. The Google+ apps are actually fantastic, it's just that no-one is using them.
The first one seems to be a problem with third-party browsers getting redirected to the app store. I've noticed it with iCab Mobile (my usual browser on my iPad) as well.
The update was listed as available in the normal "Updates" section of iphone app store. When I went to update it through there, it was instantly saying it's no longer available.
It took manually searching for the app and then hammering on the retry button as the first 4 attempts failed.
This is most defiantly looks like an apple problem.
Let's count the challenges shall we?
1) If you happen to click the link for Version 2.0 in the Chrome browser running on an iPad it gives you a blank screen.
2) If you happen to click on the link in the Safari browser it gives you the download page but the App store says "This App is no longer available"
3) If you read the announcement all you see are iPhone screen shots, which makes me wonder if "iPad support" consists of a "2X" in the corner of the screen like it does on the Google Voice app. Gee, That lets me use 16 pixels on my retina display to show one pixel in your App, I'm so thrilled.
Ok that last bit was a pretty snarky, the snark comes from my massive disappointment at how unbelievably bad Google has been at dealing with the existence of tablets. Have you tried to use Google Docs on a tablet? Gmail? Reader? Every product they own has the "mobile" version which assumes you can hit every button with your thumb, or the "desktop" version which assumes you've got a keyboard and 5 button mouse under your fingers. Hello, its been years.
Here is hoping that when they actually put Gmail 2.0 back into the App store it is useful on iPads. I've got $10 - $20 for the right email client for the iPad, anyone want that money?