Last week Google announced a new set of gadgets for Gmail Labs that offer integration with Docs and Google Calendar. But perhaps most exciting (and under-emphasized at the time) was the introduction of support for third party gadgets, giving users the chance to add features to Gmail beyond what Google offers.
One of the first developers to take advantage of the new feature is Remember The Milk (RTM), a popular To-Do list application that we reviewed back in 2005. The service allows users to access and input to-do items from a variety of locations, and offers its core service for free (you can pay $25 a year for support on extra mobile devices). While RTM offered support for Gmail before now, it was reliant on a Firefox extension, raising the barrier to entry and cutting out a large portion of the browser market.
The new Gmail gadget works across on all popular browsers and isn’t dependent on any plugins. Unfortunately adding the gadget isn’t exactly intuitive - you’ll first have to enable the “Add any gadget by URL” feature in Gmail Labs, and then manually enter the RTM gadget location (http://www.rememberthemilk.com/services/modules/gmail/rtm.xml). You can find the full instructions at the RTM blog here.
The Gmail blog post notes that this process isn’t very user-friendly yet, explaining that it is mostly for developer experimentation rather than widespread use. But it’s an exciting taste of things to come, and it looks like Google is going to be expanding developer access even further, allowing them to integrate their gadgets beyond the left nav-bar. Look for more Gmail addons to make the jump from plugin to native gadget in the near future.
Thanks to Orli Yakuel for the tip.
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Thank you for the post! I’ve been waiting for google to integrate tasks into their software.
The current Gmail plugin for RTM is a godsend, in terms of the way it handles associating tasks with individual e-mails (the fact that you can create a task for an email in one click has been the best productivity hack I’ve found), it’s hard to beat that with an “official” gadget.
The RTM blog post itself states it: “(it actually offers some features that aren’t possible in the gadget at this stage, like the ability to connect tasks with your mail, events, and contacts).”
Yes! Finally. I’ve used the Firefox extension but that wasn’t helping any in Chrome. When will Google just acquire RTM and integrate this stuff fully? Puhlease?
i’ve had remember the milk on gmail for a year.
DId you even read the post?
of course. just sayin, Ive had it for a year. it’s great. did you think I was trying to by cynical? tinyComb loves TechCrunch, everyone knows that.
Err…yes.. Yes I did.
I don’t think you understood the post glu. You may have RTM on your gmail for over a year because of their FF extension, but this post is taking about a simple URL that you need to add to your gmail in order to get the same experience.
Anyway, you can have gmail gadgets on any browser without the need in downloading anything.
…….another useless service kept afloat by the founder’s blogging friends in the valley
Dave, have you used RTM? It is awesome.
Quality.
Though I have had remember the milk on gmail for 12 years now.
well then i’ve actually had it for 13 years then
Nice Job RTM, I used this a while ago but re-fromatted computer and forgot to re-install - will give it another spin. From what I remember great usability . Good to see you first to market with the G-mail integration and thanks for the reminder Jason.
The point is you don’t need an addon to firefox to use RTM now and can use it even if you log on (god forbid) to a computer with IE only.
Kudos to the RTM folks, they have a super useful tool. I hope they get on the rest of the options (not all are available on the gmail RTM) up quick!
@Karthick, agree. I also believe that now we’re going to see more and more companies adjusting their iGoogle gadget to Gmail.
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This sounds pretty cool. I hope http://www.vitalist.com customizes their iGoogle gadget for GMail.
I love the new feature. I wish I could get Google Labs working in my Google Apps version of mail. I’ve turned on all the appropriate settings, but no joy. Has anyone solved this?
Awesome. I love Gmail and I love RTM. I didn’t like the Firefox extension so this will be great. Thanks for reporting about it.
Thanks for the post.
I did not know about the Remember The Milk gadget in Gmail. I have added that right away