Gmail plugin Boomerang arrives on iOS with a voice assistant

Gmail and Microsoft Outlook plugin Boomerang comes to iOS today, and it’s got a

built-in AI voice assistant. The app syncs your email so that you essentially have two different apps to view your mail in, but it gives you tools Gmail and Outlook have yet to offer, like the ability to pause your email notifications for hours or weeks and send an email chain back to yourself as a reminder to follow up when needed. It’s taken Boomerang over four years to release its iOS app after launching on Android, and the latter isn’t getting the AI voice assistant for now. Boomerang is also getting a few updates beyond its voice assistant. On the iOS app, you can swipe to the left on an email, and then move, mark, star, or delete the email with the flick of a finger. I tested out exactly how well Boomerang’s voice assistant works on iOS. The good news: the assistant can hear you over mild background noise, pause your emails on command, find what emails you need to respond to, and estimate the time it’ll take. It can even draft an email for meetings you need to reschedule. The bad news? Boomerang’s AI assistant is rudimentary, and it’s only trained for very specific commands; one or two wrong words, and you’ll get an “unknown command” error.                                                                                                https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/18/16465910/gmail-outlook-plugin-boomerang-ios-voice-assistant