Gmail app pops into, and back out of, Apple's App Store

INTERNET SEARCH OUTFIT Google launched its Gmail email application for Apple devices last night, but pulled it down shortly afterwards.

Embarrassingly for the company, the software that it launched was rather buggy and had to be taken down after users downloaded it and realised this. Take that, in-house testing!

"The iOS app we launched today contained a bug with notifications. We have pulled the app to fix the problem. Sorry we messed up," said Google in a tweet after it realised the problem.

The firm went into more detail on its Gmail blog and explained that it expected to re-release the application soon.

"Earlier today we launched a new Gmail app for iOS. Unfortunately, it contained a bug which broke notifications and caused users to see an error message when first opening the app," it said.

"We've removed the app while we correct the problem, and we're working to bring you a new version soon. Everyone who's already installed the app can continue to use it."

Whether they want to or not remains to be seen. For now it's pretty embarrassing for all involved. Apple rarely lets apps onto its App Store that have not passed its rigorous tests, while Google has taken a very long time to release the app for IOS 5. µ