Today's update also stores attachments for offline use, enables Gmail keyboard shortcuts offline, improves performance and fixes bugs. The Gmail offline app is available in the Chrome Web Store, and existing users will be updated automatically.

Offline Gmail first became a standard feature in 2009, but it used Google's in-house (but open-source) plug in technology called Google Gears.

In April 2010, Google shut down Gears, disabling offline storage for Google services as the company transitioned to HTML5, a more standard solution. That transition took until August 2011, when Google released the offline storage apps for Chrome.

Do you use any Google services offline?

The update also adds an unexpected feature that allows users to scribble with colors on a canvas and attach it to a message. It's a basic paint application that takes advantage of the touch screen, rethinking the way mobile email apps work. Unfortunately, some of the most requested features are still in development. Maybe the ability to scribble will tide users over...

It also launched with a disconcerting notification bug that caused new users to be greeted with an error message. The "bad version" was pulled from the store, and a fix was issued two weeks later.

Since the app is basically just a wrapper for the Web view, it's not clear why it doesn't support multiple email accounts, while the Web version does. Perhaps Google would prefer iOS users to use the main, Chrome-like Google App and launch the Web-based Gmail from there.

But hey. It has Scribbles. Read more on the Gmail blog.

Get the Gmail app from the iTunes Store

It's no surprise that Google has extended this service, since it just added it to Google+ Hangouts two weeks ago. Google has made several changes to Gmail chat to unify it with Google+, and this voice calling extends the reach of Gmail and Google+ to vastly more users.

In the meantime, Google brought the same free voice calling feature into Google+ video Hangouts. Google is putting hooks into its new social world everywhere it can, and free voice calling is a powerful one. Existing users can reach more people, and those they call will get the pitch, "I'm calling you from my email!" It's a clever way for Google to extend the reach of its services.

Have you ever made a voice call from a Google Web service before?

Probably the most interesting feature out of this update is the ability to filter mail by circles. If your contacts are on Google+ and you have them in your circles, you'll be able to view mail that's just from those circles.

Google Contacts Improvements

Another major change with this release is that contact information from Circled contacts can be automatically updated by your contact. If they have a Google+ profile, when they update their address, phone numbers, emails or whatnot it will automatically update in your address book. You can also share your profile with other folks and make sure that they have your latest contact info rather than contacting each person separately to update them.

While this can be a time-saver, it also means that if your contacts decide they don't want to list their cell phone in Google+ anymore it might just disappear from your address book.

Finally, Google is adding a feature in Gmail to allow you to share pictures directly to Google+. Pictures will have a "Share" link between View and Download, so that you don't have to download the photo then re-upload it to Google+. (Something tells me streamlining sharing of photos to Google+ is going to get somebody in trouble.)

So far, it doesn't look like my Gmail account has received the updates. At least, it doesn't have all of them. I do see the latest G+ update from some of my contacts that I follow, but none of the filtering or sharing features have appeared yet. Naturally, if you're a Google Apps user, you'll have to wait a bit longer to get the features. Google says that the features in Contacts won't be available right away but that they're "actively working" to make them available.

Google has been promising to integrate Google+ more deeply into its other offerings. This seems like a major step in that direction. Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?

Unfortunately, users' more substantive concerns with the app have not been addressed. The Gmail team's blog post says that multiple account support, improved notifications and mobile-specific signatures are coming, along with "many more" features. But for now, little has changed about the app that many panned as insufficient for a native Gmail app.

The day the Gmail app first rolled out, popular Mac mail client Sparrow tweeted that an iPhone version of Sparrow would come "to the rescue" and give iPhone users "the Gmail experience [they] deserve." We'll just have to wait a few months.

Grab the Gmail app from the iTunes Store.

Does the Gmail app work for you, or do you need more features? Sound off in the comments.

Sometimes it's difficult to catch every story that hits tech media in a day, so we thought it might be helpful to wrap up some of the most talked about stories. Assuming this goes over well, we're going to give you a daily recap of what you missed in the ReadWriteWeb Community, including a link to some of the most popular discussions in our offsite communities on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google Plus as well. This is a new feature at ReadWriteWeb so we covet your feedback. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments below or reach out to me directly at robyn at readwriteweb.com.

Scott is a popular speaker, and the author of a favorite book of many of the staff, Confessions of a Public Speaker. You only have a few hours left to grab a copy of his latest book, Mindfire, and all he wants in return is your email address.

From the comments:

Here are a few more must read posts, chosen by your fellow community members.

• Gmail for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch Now Available and then Google Pulls "Bad Version" of Gmail From iTunes App Store

• Generate HTML Forms From SQL On the Fly

• A Free Task Management Tool From Asana

• Wikipedia is a Mess, Wikipedians Say: 1 in 20 Articles Bare of References

• First Hadoop Platform Solution for Parsing Big Data

• Survey: 88% of U.S. Social Media Users Are Registered Voters [Infographic]

• IBM Open-Sources Potential "Internet of Things" Protocol

• Shop In Augmented Reality With Amazon Flow for iPhone

ReadWriteWeb Worldwide Meetup

Make plans to be at the ReadWriteWeb Worldwide Meetup on November 15. Reach out to our community manager, Robyn Tippins, at robyn at readwriteweb.com if you have any questions.

Well, a "Googla culpa" has been issued. Dave Girouard - the "apps guy at Google" - said on Google Plus this morning: "Sorry but we pushed a bad version of our iOS app for Gmail. More info shortly - we're working on it." The app has now been pulled from the store.

The launch announcement on the Gmail Blog has been updated to read:

"Earlier today we launched a new Gmail app for iOS. Unfortunately, it contained a bug which broke notifications and caused users to see an error message when first opening the app. We've removed the app while we correct the problem, and we're working to bring you a new version soon. Everyone who's already installed the app can continue to use it."

Paul Haddad, half of iOS developer duo Tapbots, said on Twitter that "the Gmail push bug is really easy to make and hard to catch before going live."

Google has pulled the app from the store while fixing the problem. Users who installed it earlier this morning are still able to use it (once they get past that error message).

The app adds email push notifications and sounds. It has fast inbox search, autocomplete from both Gmail and native contacts and photo uploads. It has priority inbox, conversation threading, and all the labeling, starring and archiving features that Gmail users need. And of course, its fully enabled with touch gestures. But it's a Web view. It's not a local email app (though Gmail does cache your messages offline - thanks, readers). And it doesn't support multiple accounts. Oh well. At least it's nice to touch.

The layouts are comfortable for iOS users, but the feel matches that of the new desktop Gmail launched yesterday. Gmail works all right on IMAP using the built-in Mail.app, but some important Gmail features - like labels - were only functional in the Web version, which lacked the responsiveness and speed of a native app. After a long, weird user experience as iOS people on Gmail, the wait for a native Gmail client is over.

But users face a weird choice. If you want push notifications and attachments, use Gmail.app. If you want multiple accounts, use the Web app. You must choose. You cannot have all at once.

It might be a rocky ride, too. Users are already reporting errors caused by problems with the push notifications. Oh, the joy of the platform wars.

Adjusting the density of your Gmail is another handy feature. Gmail automatically adjusts density based on the type of monitor you're using - but having the option to do-it-yourself is also useful.

Heavy Gmail users (read: anyone who stares at their Gmail for, um, most of the day) will appreciate the new HD themes. To update yours, go to the Settings menu.

The Biggest Improvement Yet: Smarter, Faster Search Box

Wow. This is a big improvement. Traditionally, Gmail Search has functioned in the same way as Google Search. You type in keywords, Gmail finds it. The new search box gives you the option to customize search, selecting which areas you'd like to search within, "from" line, "to" line, subject, has the words, doesn't have the words, has attachment and a date range option. This looks rather similar to the filter-creator in Gmail, making it easier to create custom filters.

These advanced search options were already available in Gmail, except they were practically hidden. To access them, you had to click "Show search options" to the right of the "Search the Web" button at the top of your Gmail. Being able to create a filter right from the new, improved search box is a big plus - before, you had to do that manually by clicking the "Create a filter" link, which is also located to the right of the "Search the Web" button.

New streamlined conversations make it easier to keep track of email threads. Gmail integrates your Google profile picture, and makes each email feel even more like an ongoing conversation. It's one of those features that won users over from the get-go, especially when other email services were treating emails like mail, and not like conversations.

Here's the video from Gmail:

The YouTube video has now been closed to the public, but Chitu grabbed screenshots that we've reposted below. It's a fairly substantial change to an app that millions of people live in all day long. Google's Andrea Freund said in response to our inquiry, "Oops, you weren't supposed to see that. Stay tuned, we'll be sharing more info on Gmail's new look soon."

The introduction of contact avatars is something that the Gmail mobile Web client began several months ago but will be much more meaningful in a full size Web app. Avatars are an important visual signal that help our brains process large quantities of information by understanding at a glance the source of a particular message. It's huge for context and quick thinking, and it lightens the cognitive load of scanning over a conversation.

The new interface for replying to emails looks much more lightweight as well. As Web designer Jack Gutteridge points out in comments below - it looks downright like Facebook conversation commenting! That's awesome for quickly continuing conversations without opening a whole new compose window.

The advanced search interface is very nice as well. There's no need to require Gmail users to know that they can limit their search by searching "in subject:" or "has:attachment." Making it easy to sort through email like this is another way the new interface combats information overload: it helps make searches much more granular and less unwieldy to sort through.

Contacts and tasks links are no longer displayed on the very top of the interface. As some features are moved toward the background, I can't help but wonder if some Google Plus related features will be moved into the front of Gmail.

There's no indication of when this next iteration of the service will roll out, but given that it's much like other Google service interface changes of late, I'd guess it will be soon. I hope it plays nice with my precious Rapportive - I'm a little concerned about how well Rapportive will work with that new quick Reply All interface, for example. As long as that can get figured out, I think I'll like it a lot.

The contacts list and IP address data of Jacob Appelbaum, a WikiLeaks volunteer and developer for Tor was given to the U.S. government after they requested it using a secret court order enabled by a controversial 1986 law called the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, according to the Wall Street Journal. The law allows the government to demand information from ISPs not only without a warrant, but without ever notifying the user.

According to the company's own Transparency Report, Google received 4,601 user data requests from the U.S. government in the second half of 2010, and it complied with 94% of them. Those requests include warrantless inquiries as well as those accompanied by a search warrant.

Some Troubling Implications

The idea of an ISP handing over user data to governments without the aid of a search warrant has some troubling implications for privacy advocates and civil liberties proponents.

In the WikiLeaks case, the line between advocates and participants in the transfer of data can sometimes be blurry. If in its ongoing investigation into WikiLeaks the U.S. Department of Justice is free to ask Google, Twitter or Facebook for private data without users' knowledge, who's to say they can't access private information about people who have merely expressed sympathy for the organization?

Tech companies haven't necessarily rolled over and played dead on the issue. When the DoJ made a similar WikiLeaks-related request of Twitter in December, the company succeeded in having the order unsealed, meaning it was able to notify users about the request.

Google is among a number of tech companies that are asking Congress to rethink the law in light of the unexpected ways in which the Web has evolved in the last several years.

Sparrow 1.4 integrates with quicky-and-easy filesharing service CloudApp to enable user to include links to files without using the traditional email attachment functionality (which is still included in Sparrow for those who want to use it).

In addition to being an easy way to attach files, this has the added advantage of bypassing Gmail's file size limitations and allowing users to avoid eating up their total storage on Gmail.

Sparrow is a simple, nicely-designed IMAP email client for Mac desktops that got a lot of positive feedback when it first launched. Our initial impressions were positive as well. This latest update also includes various bug fixes and improvements to the app's interface.

Sparrow is available as a paid downloaded or as an ad-supported version, Sparrow Lite.

Update 11:45 a.m.: Many users are reporting that service has returned (and we're back online at RWW). Others still having trouble.

Update 11:52 a.m.: @Gmail just tweeted the all clear but quickly deleted the post.

Update 11:56 a.m.: Okay, now we're clear.

We've put together Twitter reports confirming the outage using Storify, and we'll update as we learn more about what went wrong.

Different accounts also have different URLs, so users can bookmark their inboxes separately and add them to the home screen. The announcement also includes mobile-specific signatures and vacation auto-responder settings. Previously, messages from mobile Gmail had no signatures.

This update includes almost all the features mobile Gmail was missing, but it still lacks the "Send From" option in desktop Gmail that allows users to send mail from multiple addresses.

Google Apps users - having been shafted by Google in yesterday's slew of Google Plus announcements - will be happy to know that this feature half-works for them, too. You can switch back and forth between your personal Gmail account and your apps account from the new menu.

How do you access Gmail on your mobile devices?

The co-founder of Sparrow, a popular Mac desktop client for Gmail, is working on an iOS version of the app, he told Business Insider recently.

In venturing into iOS territory, the Sparrow team runs the risk of facing the wrath of an App Store rejection email from Apple. Why? An email client of this nature competes directly with Mail, the email program that comes pre-installed on all iPhones and other iOS devices.

Leca acknowledges this, but says they're going to continue working on the iOS version anyway. As he points out, Apple finally started accepting Web browsers from third parties like Opera after initially forbiding them.

"In regards to apps that compete with [Apple's] own apps, I think iOS is sufficiently settled and I think people have been evangelized enough now so Apple will feel more secure opening it up," said Leca.

It's true that Apple has slowly become more tolerant of certain types of apps that compete with its own offerings, but so far there hasn't been a flood of third party email clients in the App Store.

The desktop version of Sparrow has made over $350,000 in sales from the Mac App Store, and the team is hoping to extend that success into the mobile and tablet spaces.

On iOS, Leca and his team plan on making a faster alternative to Mail with a few extra features, such as the ability to attach images while composing an email. Sparrow for desktop is already designed much like an app for iPad or iPhone, so porting that experience over to iOS should just be a matter of further simplifying the UI and making it more mobile-friendly.

"We'll see what happens with Sparrow for iPhone," said Leca. "We're just starting on this, but it's still far far away."

You can read the full interview with Leca on Business Insider.