GOOGLE has responded to a viral post claiming that Gmail is shutting down.
And the short answer is, no, it’s not true – although one version of the popular site is going away.
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While the prospect of Google closing one of the world’s most popular email services seemed dubious, some believed it might be plausible given the tech giant’s extensive “graveyard” of dead products, such as Stadia and Google+.
The wild hoax was spread on X – formerly known as Twitter – which led to fears millions would lose their precious emails.
A false screenshot claimed that “the journey of Gmail is coming to a close” and that the service will be “sunsetted” in August.
The post went viral on social media as users panicked about the future for the site.
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But Google put out a short statement dismissing it as a hoax.
“Gmail is here to stay,” the tech giant wrote on X.
However, separately, one version of Gmail is disappearing this year.
And that is Gmail’s bare-bones HTML View.
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Google started transitioning users who still use the Basic HTML View to the latest version of Gmail in January.
So if you’re one of the few people still using Basic HTML you might notice something a bit different but your Gmail account and everything in it is going nowhere.
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Backlash
The move to remove HTML Basic View was met with anger when announced last year as an expert said those who are blind or partially sighted relied on it.
This is because the HTML Basic View made using screen reader technology much easier.
“I know many #blind people who use GMail’s HTML view,” blind technology expert Pratik Patel wrote in a Mastodon post.
“Not only will they be confused but will be unhappy.”
