Last week, Google releaseda brand new email servicecalledInbox.

The first problem most people are likely to have is that they don’t know what buttons do.

Inbox still syncs to Gmail and has an effect on how email is handled there.

However, the question is the bigger problem.

Terms like “marked as read”, and “archived” are deliberately phased out.

Instead, Inbox treats your emails like to-dos.

The app assumes (perhaps rightly so) that you need todosomething with every email.

In this author’s opinion, that’s the key distinction that makes everything else fall into place.

As you use Inbox, make a run at avoid translating the new functionality into old terminology.

There is no Gmail counterpart to pinning.

Snooze:Boomerangusers will befamiliar with the ideaof snoozing an email for later.

You may need an email but not necessarily right now.

Inbox allows you to snooze it so it disappears from your inbox and comes back at a later time.

If you view your inbox in Gmail, snoozed messages will be archived.

Done:This is for when you don’t need a message anymore.

Marking an email as “Done” removes it from your inbox or visible bundles.

you’re able to still search for it, but it won’t be cluttering everything up.

In Gmail this also archives your messages and the functionality is similar in Inbox.

You either need it now, you need it later, or you don’t need it.

Reminders, however, allow you to make notes to your future self.

Get a promotional email with something you actually want to buy?

Set a reminder for “Christmas gift for X.”

The reminder will be included next to the email itself.

Of course, Google Now users will recognize Reminders.

If you use those reminders, they now show up in your inbox as well.

That’s where Bundles come in.

Bundles group related emails together in your inbox.

it’s possible for you to also mark an entire bundle “done” with one button.

Bundles combine labels, filters, andGmail’s smart tabsall in one.

Here’s where things get a little wonky.

Your old labelsdoget imported, but they function much more like folders.

Adding a message to one of your existing labels manually will remove it from the inbox entirely.

All of these old labels are now in a category called “Unbundled” in the sidebar.

you could also create your own bundles out of existing labels, or by making new ones.

hit the label in the sidebar and, in the action bar at the top, click tweaks.

Here, it’s possible for you to create rules for this label.

When you do this, it turns it into a bundle for all future emails.

While in Gmail, filters and labels were separate things, here they are tied directly together.

Your inbox will automatically put any new emails you get that fit the filters into one, collapsible bundle.

you’ve got the option to also access them from the sidebar.

Unfortunately, one downside compared to labels is that you could’t apply this topastemails.

Emails with flight information will show the status of your flight.

This is all neat (though in my experience, information cards very rarely appear for typical emails).

These smart features are built into the app and non-optional.

If that bothers you, skip Inbox.

For everything else, though, Inbox is a great new approach to email.

The service understands that you’re not just reading your email, you’re doing things with it.

It also understands that you get a lot of email and need to sort through things quickly.