Those of us who use Gmail are familiar with the “display images below” link that pops up whenever we open an emails from unknown senders that has images inside. Gmail did this to protect users from unknown senders who might have tried to use images to compromise the security of a user’s computer. If that has ever irked you, fret not, Google has made some changes to how Gmail handles images in such situations which means that you will never have to click on the link again.
Soon users will see all email images being displayed automatically across iOS, Android and the desktop. Outside risk has been mitigated as Google will now serve all images through its secure proxy servers. Previously, when it required users to click a link to display images, the images were served directly from their original external servers. This change results in much for safe and secure emails, images will be checked for known viruses or malware and users won’t have to click on the link. Those users who want to retain the old way of authorizing image display can go to Settings and choose the “Ask before displaying external images” option under the General tab. The change is rolling out today on desktop, whereas Gmail mobile apps will be updated in early 2014.
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