The Gmail app for iPhone and iPad went live earlier today. After many users downloaded it and reported a bug, the app has now vanished from the digital shelves of the App Store.
Luckily, we were able to download the app during its short availability window, and you can see my first-look impressions here. But for now, here's the troubling tale of Google's stutter-stepping app launch.
Around 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Google pushed its Gmail iOS app live in Apple's app store. But upon first launching the app, I and many others, got a "no valid 'aps-environment' error entitlement" error notification. Simply hitting OK and then relaunching the app allowed it to load apparently error-free (at least for me).
However, the app was removed about two hours later. Google's cloud applications lead Dave Girouard tweeted: "Googla culpa! Sorry but we pushed a bad version of our iOS app for Gmail. More info shortly - we're working on it."
The post on the Gmail blog about the app is still live, so it's possible we could see the app pop back up in the App Store in just a short time.
Wired.com reached out for more information on the issue from Google, and we'll keep you updated if there are any new developments.
Update: Gmail updated the status of the issue on their blog, saying:
