Recent Update to the UI of Thread Sidebars

[InboxSDK]

Yesterday we launched improved compatibility in the SDK with Gmail's official Add-Ons. You can read more about Gmail Add-Ons and the SDK in this blog post (https://blog.inboxsdk.com/gmail-add-ons-inboxsdk-e6d72fba60ac).

The updated sidebar styling and functionality now matches the way Gmail Add-On sidebars behave. This includes putting an icon on the right most gutter, and being able to expand and collapse the sidebar by clicking on an app icon.

We've had a few complaints about the new sidebar styling not working well with other extensions like LinkedIn Sales Navigator. After some investigation we found that those extensions don't play nice with Gmail's official add-ons either, so currently our stance is that those extensions should update their code to be compatible with add-ons and that will make them play nice with InboxSDK extensions as well. Our recommended best course of action is for them to use the InboxSDK to avoid compatibility issues entirely.

[Ian VanSchooten]

I like the new functionality overall, especially being able to scroll independently from the main thread view, but one area that is a bit bothersome is that you've added a 16px left and right padding to the container, in a sidebar that is already seriously constrained for width.  Official gmail add-ons do not seem to have this padding (at least the ones I checked).  Would you consider removing this padding and allowing extension authors to decide for themselves whether to add side padding or go full-width?

[by...@accompani.com]

Thank you as always for InboxSDK and all the work that you put into it. We really appreciate it!

Two questions on the recent change:

1. Would you consider hiding the rightmost gutter (with the icon tabs for switching between sidebars) when only one sidebar is installed? It's a lot of space to sacrifice in the case where there's only one app installed, and therefore nothing to switch between...

2. We're noticing that when we load Gmail directly on a thread, e.g., https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/foo, a loading gif appears below our app icon and does not disappear until we transition views within Gmail (say, nav to the inbox and then back to the thread). Is this a known bug? Or perhaps it's possible we're loading our extension incorrectly? (We still use sidebarBeta: true as described here).

Thanks for any help you can provide, and please let me know if I can provide any additional info or context.

[Ian VanSchooten]

Would you consider hiding the rightmost gutter [...] when only one sidebar is installed?

I personally kind of like it being there, since it gives users the ability to collapse the extension sidebar.  Prior to this, I had to build my own settings logic and UI to allow hiding the sidebar. 

As for the loading dots bug, it was pointed out in https://groups.google.com/d/msg/inboxsdk/FDC5t8hUxyU/ZpJJsZwoAgAJ and I added a few notes from my own troubleshooting there as well.

[Aleem Mawani]

Thanks for all the feedback on this thread - we're making a few changes that should address some of the concerns listed here but also keep the SDK well prepared for future Gmail changes. 

We'll post back to this thread when we have some details to share.