January 6, 2026
Your email ate my phone
Why is the Gmail app 700 MB?
Fans joke about hidden AI while devs blame iPhone baggage—everyone wants to know what’s inside
TLDR: Gmail on iPhone is about 760MB, sparking outrage and jokes as users demand to know why an email app is so huge. Commenters split between “bloat” and practical causes like iOS needing extra bundled tools and built‑in security features, while Android’s smaller app fuels fresh Apple vs. Google drama.
Gmail’s iPhone app clocks in at a jaw-dropping 760MB and the internet lost it. The top comment roasted the article for not answering “why,” calling it a glorified “it’s huge!” alert, while jokesters piled on with memes like “10MB for email, 690MB for an AI to write snarky replies.” But underneath the laughs, a fight broke out: is this pointless bloat or just how big-league apps work now?
Some developers argued Apple’s tiny Mail app stays slim because it uses tools already built into iPhones, while third‑party apps like Gmail must haul their own toolkit onto iOS—aka a “gigantic runtime”—which balloons the size. Others pointed to security creep: Google’s pushing two‑factor authentication (those one‑time login codes) into Gmail itself, which adds more security code—and more megabytes. Meanwhile, Android users flexed: Gmail there is roughly 185MB, fueling the iPhone-vs-Android blame game.
The thread also dragged other heavyweights—Tesla, Crypto.com, and SmartThings hovering near 1GB—plus the classic groan: why is Microsoft Authenticator 150MB for six-digit codes? One skeptic even questioned whether people are measuring sizes consistently at all. The vibe? Equal parts storage panic, performance dread, and platform finger-pointing. The ending everyone wants: less mystery, more transparency—and fewer apps that eat your camera roll.
Key Points
- •Gmail’s App Store size is 760.7 MB, placing it among the three largest apps in the top 100 free list.
- •Axios reported a jump in Gmail’s size from ~12 MB to >200 MB around early 2017 amid broader app bloat from 2013–2017.
- •Several popular apps (Tesla, Crypto.com, Samsung SmartThings) are around 1 GB; Google Home is 630 MB.
- •On iPhone, installed sizes show large disparities: Apple Mail 8.7 MB vs Gmail 673 MB and Outlook 376 MB.
- •Gmail’s size on Android is about 185 MB, indicating platform-based differences; the article does not explain the cause.