It’s the dawn of a new era. Gmail will now show images in emails automatically.

As Google explains in a blog post, Gmail has historically asked users if they want images to be displayed in emails as a precautionary measure, as “unknown senders might want to try to use images to compromise the security of your computer or mobile device.”

Gmail has a new way of doing things, serving all images through its own secure proxy servers, so it will now display images automatically on desktop starting today, and in its mobile apps early next year.

“Your messages are more safe and secure, your images are checked for known viruses or malware, and you’ll never have to press that pesky ‘display images below’ link again,” says product manager John Rae-Grant. “With this new change, your email will now be safer, faster and more beautiful than ever.”

If you want to still be asked before displaying images, you can turn it back on in the settings. This will continue to be the default for users who previously selected “ask before displaying eternal content.”

In other Gmail news, Google announced on Wednesday that Gmail on Android now has a vacation responder, attachment support for any file type and the ability to print hard copies of emails (KitKat).

Image: Google