Gmail Desktop Notifications with Spiffy

Posted on December 18, 2009 at 5:16 am

You know that you have created a good application when other programmers take the time to create software that supports or adds functionality to your composition. Gmail from Google is one such application. From tie-ins with mobile devices to desktop programs that incorporate Gmail into their setup, Gmail has received much attention over the past few years.

One example of how other applications were designed with Gmail in mind was the creation of Spiffy (found here). Spiffy is a small, lightweight Windows desktop program that watches up to five Gmail accounts for new email. When email hits any of the added accounts, a notification pop-up appears on your desktop that email has arrived.

When you first run Spiffy, you will notice that there is not a large window with tons of options being thrown at you. Instead, a small box pops open saying that Spiffy has started followed by the build number. This main view is a scrolling log that track Spiffy’s activity.

Now we want to being the process of account setup. Have your Gmail account, or accounts, information available. Now just click on Tools and Accounts from the main screen.

In the Accounts section, the first account you enter will be labeled as your Main account. Subsequent Gmail accounts will be 2, 3, and so on. Simply enter your account name (Gmail address), username, and password; and let Spiffy know how often to check for new email.

You are ready to receive new email alerts as soon as you click on OK. As an extra option, you can have Spiffy watch a specific Gmail Label versus your Inbox. This may be a better idea if you have important items coming to your Gmail account that you keep track of.

Now that you have an account or two ready, perhaps you may want to dig further into some of Spiffy’s other options. From the main screen, click on Tools, then Options. Though there are not a great deal of configurable settings, the Options area should be looked over during your first use of Spiffy.

Within the General section of Spiffy’s Options, one of the first choices listed is to have Spiffy run when you start with Windows. Although Spiffy does not get installed akin to other Windows programs, having it start automatically saves you the hassle of manually running it. By default, Spiffy will check to make certain Gmail is operational before logging into your account(s).

Another area of importance is the Alerts section in Options. Here is where you will tell Spiffy how to handle alerts. Spiffy can be set to show alerts in various ways, such as showing alerts for a few seconds or keeping the alert visible until you read the associated email. You can also configure the tray icon to change to a different icon for an alert, as well as have a sound play with the alert.

Should you desire to alter the actual alert popup, Spiffy allows you to accomplish this in the Popup section. You can modify the positioning and width for the alert data: Title, Time, From, Subject, and Message. You can also keep the default settings or change the bold and italic attributes for the five data categories. You are allowed to modify the displayed font and time. If prefer an alternate color for the alert background, this section allows you to change that as well.

With what Spiffy is, if you do not have a Gmail account, then you will have no use for this program. However, if you are on the hunt for a Gmail email alerting application that is easy on system resources, and uncomplicated, then this tool is a good fit.

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Comments

One Response to “Gmail Desktop Notifications with Spiffy”

Hank said on : December 18th, 2009 at 10:18 am

Or you can download the new Googsystray program! Not only does it give you desktop notifications for Gmail, but also for other Google services like Calendar, Google Voice, etc!