As a result of the demise of inbox, I'm looking for a replacement, but it will need a native android app for me, alas, so I guess I'll be stuck with Gmail after March 2019...
A native Android app is definitely on our roadmap, but in the short-term we always ensure our app is fully mobile responsive.
In terms of Gmail achieving the same clean interface as Inbox, for me there are two key reasons I think Inbox's interface is much "cleaner" than Gmail:
Inbox: - Most of the screen is whitespace - Most features are / can be hidden unless I want them
Gmail: - There's text/icons covering nearly every inch of the screen - Most features are always shown on the screen whether or not I want them
Here are some changes that I think would give Gmail Inbox's "clean" look: - Add a big margin to the left/right of emails on the desktop (whitespace) - Give me the option to hide: 1. The left bar (unread count / red dots, chat - I don't use those things 99% of the time I use email) 2. The three icons at the left of messages (I never use those)
Other (probably less important) things I think make Inbox cleaner than Gmail: - Infinite scroll vs. page turner - Showing sender icons to quickly identify who an email's from - This one might just be me being used to Inbox, but the white background behind emails in the inbox vs. the gray background