10MinuteMail.com, a service that provides temporary burner email addresses to help users avoid spam, has long been a favorite tool for protecting privacy. However, the rise of a potential new feature within Gmail could signal the end of the need for such services. According to a teardown of the Android APK for Gmail, a new feature called “Shielded Email” might soon allow users to create disposable email addresses directly within Gmail itself.
The teardown revealed strings of code pointing to the feature, with descriptions indicating that Shielded Email will offer users a way to create temporary addresses that forward messages to their real inbox. The addresses can be discarded at any time, with forwarding disabled once the user decides to delete them. This feature is designed to help protect users from online tracking and data breaches, offering an extra layer of privacy when signing up for potentially spammy services.
While the feature is not yet fully functional, Android Authority was able to trigger the visual elements for a screenshot, suggesting it’s in active development. If Google rolls this out, it would give Gmail’s 1.8 billion active users a streamlined way to protect their primary email addresses and filter out unwanted spam.
If the feature ever becomes available, it would significantly simplify the process of safeguarding personal email addresses. Google has a history of sitting on feature updates, so it’s unclear when—or if—this will come to the public. However, many privacy-conscious Gmail users, myself included, are hoping it arrives sooner rather than later.
