If you’re looking for a slightly annoying but fun way to receive GMail alerts then b2 Labs Gmail Notifier may be just your cup of tea.
You enter you Gmail details and, when you get new mail, a small animation plays on your desktop.
Whilst it treads a fine line between being obnoxious and being novel, the ability to choose and/or install alternative animations makes it worth a peek if you’re only seeking notification of mail and not full-blown desktop management.
Notifications
Each notification animated displays a ‘close’ button and a ‘mail’ button. The former closes the alert and the latter opens the presently shown mail in your browser.
4 animations are included by default – ranging from the polite ‘envelope’ to an annoying alien with a shaky wrist.
Tray icon
The tray icon menu provides many options; links for opening your inbox, refreshing mail check and showing the animation on cue are all present along with links to the project homepage, bug reporting, checking for updates and the obligatory ‘About’ window.
Options
A sparse and straightforward ‘Options’ dialogue allows you to set the refresh interval, pick an animation, set the sound alert and choose whether the application runs on start-up.
Drawbacks
Being an Adobe Air application there is no native integration but since this is simply a notifier and not a manager there doesn’t really need to be. That said the default tray icon might grate on those who take pride in their desktops’ appearance.
Download
b2 Labs’ Gmail Notifer requires Abobe Air.
- home.b2labs.com/node/3
More animations can installed from home.b2labs.com/animations
Once installed b2 Gmail Notifier can be launched from Applications > Accessories.