8 ms·

The worst thing, the absolute worst thing is, you know all that but you have gotten so used to the way Google services work, that you simply have a hard time to

by tehabe 8y ago

The worst thing, the absolute worst thing is, you know all that but you have gotten so used to the way Google services work, that you simply have a hard time to switch. E.g. thank to Gmail I rarely use an email application on my computer and use webmail. When I tried out Posteo it was extremely annoying that it logged me out every few minutes and I couldn't get my email. They said this couldn't be changed. Google really did an excellent job of supply me with services which I want to use. Not just tools which are working well. BTW, Google doesn't use all its services to sell or personalise ads. Which doesn't mean they don't use them to learn more about you which in turn is used to improve the services so that you them even more. So as much as I wish I could restore my privacy by leaving Google, I think Google knows me too well that I won't for now.

auslander 8y ago
> use webmail ... Posteo logged me out every few minutes Lets me assume, that you're always logged in. Google thanks you for that, much easier to link this browser's history and searches to your account.
godzillabrennus 8y ago
I haven’t found a replacement for Gmail yet. I’ve tried fastmail and ProtonMail but both have limitations. From a search engine perspective I’ve switched to DuckDuckGo and I’m impressed with how good it has gotten. With maps I’ve tried various solutions including mapquest, Microsoft, and Apple but nothing comes close to Google Maps.
- dheera 8y ago
  I'm definitely on the hunt for a Gmail replacement, considering I have been hearing things such as a snapchat-esque disappearing emails, unprintable emails, and other similar stupid ideas. I decide what to do with emails and other data sent to me thank you.
  - icebraining 8y ago
    Using another service won't help you; when someone uses those features, Gmail only sends an email with a link to see the actual message: https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/rgmail1.png https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/rgmail1.pn...
- chime 8y ago
  > From a search engine perspective I’ve switched to DuckDuckGo and I’m impressed with how good it has gotten. I switched to DDG over a year ago and it works great for things that are simple lookups to Wikipedia, IMDB etc. When I have an arcane Windows bug, I end up using "G!". Also DDG isn't that great for latest News but the Image search is pretty good. I set DDG as the default search on my non-techie wife's new PC earlier this year and she has not once complained about the search qualify.
  - godzillabrennus 8y ago
    I use it for python related development queries and it satisfies 95% of them these days. It was unusable two years ago. Things have changed.
- Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
  Can you elaborate on the limitations you experienced with fastmail and protonmail?
  - SomeHacker44 8y ago
    I have used Fastmail for years with a custom domain without a single problem. Amazingly great communications from the company too. Highly recommended but not free. (Less than $2/month though - so almost free.)
    - fb42 8y ago
      Does Fastmail have decent search that works on mobile? Gmail’s search is just too good. I’m currently using mailbox.org but it’s impossible to search for old emails that are not already downloaded to your phone. The only way is the use web interface and it’s annoying as hell.
      - MatekCopatek 8y ago
        They have a hybrid mobile app, it's not as smooth as a native one could be, but as far as I'm concerned search works perfectly.
      - brongondwana 8y ago
        Yes, the same search is available in either our app or from any web brower on mobile. We use the Xapian search engine. It looks much the same either in brower or app. Here's what it looks like on my phone: https://imgur.com/a/407HN81 https://imgur.com/a/407HN81
    - stevehawk 8y ago
      I think half of my comments on hacker news are how much I love Fastmail, which I've used for email, calendar, and contacts for a decade now.
      - brongondwana 8y ago
- downrightmike 8y ago
  I too feel like I am ingested, rather than served. You may want to take things more in your own hands, requires more upkeep: https://github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox https://github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox
- brongondwana 8y ago
  I second those asking what limitations you ran into (specifically with FastMail, since I have more chance of being able to fix those than the limitations with Protonmail - though I'd love to know both!) If it's "costs money", we're not planning to change that! We (FastMail) are proudly a paid-only service.
  - melloc 8y ago
    The biggest thing I've been missing since I started using FastMail is labels. My workflow in GMail used labels pretty heavily, and I've been able to get pretty close using saved searches and folders, but it's not quite the same.
    - brongondwana 8y ago
      Right, hopefully when JMAP arrives (soon!) you'll be able to use that nicely. It will give label-style handling by allowing the same message to exist in multiple folders.
      - bpye 8y ago
        Kinda hijacking this. When using FastMail with a custom domain can I setup a catch all address and then have each different address somehow tagged? It would be nice to be able to have proper unique email addresses for each service so I know where spam ends up coming from.
        sirn 8y ago
        You can create an * alias in FastMail which will act as catch-all address. The received email will retain the original To: field so you can use rules to match them.
  - godzillabrennus 8y ago
    Fastmail limitations are: When I signed up in 2016 (I’m still a customer btw) it was a big pain to get my custom domain added after paying for an account. I had to contact support for assistance. I somehow have to have two accounts for my plan but only one has a mailbox. Crazy bad experience here. The amount of space we get for mail is low for the fee. I pay around $12/year in additional fees with Google for another 70GB of space outside of the 30GB they give for the base plan. Fastmail was pricier last I checked. There is zero quality collaboration option for me. Even if you added one the fact that anyone who wants to collaborate would have to have a paid account with me creates a barrier for me to even try and use it for anything but just email. The spam filter is about 30% as accurate as Gmail. I try and train it but don’t have time to always be doing that. The mobile app on ios doesn’t remember me. It doesn’t even have an option to remember me. What a pain, I hardly even bother to use it because of that. That all said. I like some things about fastmail: The web interface is fast. The admin features are robust and easy for adding aliases and new custom domains. The fact you are pushing to make the world a better place for email is why I keep paying for the service. What you are doing is hard. Your competitors are massive and well established. I hope you continue to make progress.
Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
>When I tried out Posteo it was extremely annoying that it logged me out every few minutes I haven't encountered this with my personal email server nor heard of it from anyone else. I think this might just be an issue with Posteo. It's easier if you don't try to move all at once. Spend some time looking at different email options and move that. Do calendar later. Get rid of Google Apps on your Android later still. Gradual change is much easier.
- newscracker 8y ago
  Posteo is very aggressive on privacy, reducing exposure, and keeping information safer. So a shorter webmail session timeout may be related to this. Depending on the use case, if this were the only issue with Posteo, the GP could’ve used Firefox with one of the many tab reload or tab refresh extensions to keep the logged in session alive.
  - Tomte 8y ago
    Posteo doesn't allow custom domains (a no go) and lies about why they don't.
    - bennofs 8y ago
      What's the real reason they don't allow custom domains in your opinion? Why do you say they are lying?
      - Tomte 8y ago
        Their support replied with a mumbo-jumbo of techno-babble why it's not possible. Of course it's possible. The reason is clear: lock-in. People are reluctant to change providers if they lose their mail address.
        bennofs 8y ago
        The FAQ (https://posteo.de/en/site/faq https://posteo.de/en/site/faq) says the do it because a domain has personay identifying information in WHOIS and they would need to store it. I think for .de domains, you are required to have your personal address in WHOIS if you are not a company.

by tehabe 8y ago

auslander 8y ago

> use webmail ... Posteo logged me out every few minutes Lets me assume, that you're always logged in. Google thanks you for that, much easier to link this browser's history and searches to your account.

godzillabrennus 8y ago

I haven’t found a replacement for Gmail yet. I’ve tried fastmail and ProtonMail but both have limitations. From a search engine perspective I’ve switched to DuckDuckGo and I’m impressed with how good it has gotten. With maps I’ve tried various solutions including mapquest, Microsoft, and Apple but nothing comes close to Google Maps.

dheera 8y ago
I'm definitely on the hunt for a Gmail replacement, considering I have been hearing things such as a snapchat-esque disappearing emails, unprintable emails, and other similar stupid ideas. I decide what to do with emails and other data sent to me thank you.
- icebraining 8y ago
  Using another service won't help you; when someone uses those features, Gmail only sends an email with a link to see the actual message: https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/rgmail1.png https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/rgmail1.pn...
chime 8y ago
> From a search engine perspective I’ve switched to DuckDuckGo and I’m impressed with how good it has gotten. I switched to DDG over a year ago and it works great for things that are simple lookups to Wikipedia, IMDB etc. When I have an arcane Windows bug, I end up using "G!". Also DDG isn't that great for latest News but the Image search is pretty good. I set DDG as the default search on my non-techie wife's new PC earlier this year and she has not once complained about the search qualify.
- godzillabrennus 8y ago
  I use it for python related development queries and it satisfies 95% of them these days. It was unusable two years ago. Things have changed.
Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
Can you elaborate on the limitations you experienced with fastmail and protonmail?
- SomeHacker44 8y ago
  I have used Fastmail for years with a custom domain without a single problem. Amazingly great communications from the company too. Highly recommended but not free. (Less than $2/month though - so almost free.)
  - fb42 8y ago
    Does Fastmail have decent search that works on mobile? Gmail’s search is just too good. I’m currently using mailbox.org but it’s impossible to search for old emails that are not already downloaded to your phone. The only way is the use web interface and it’s annoying as hell.
    - MatekCopatek 8y ago
      They have a hybrid mobile app, it's not as smooth as a native one could be, but as far as I'm concerned search works perfectly.
    - brongondwana 8y ago
      Yes, the same search is available in either our app or from any web brower on mobile. We use the Xapian search engine. It looks much the same either in brower or app. Here's what it looks like on my phone: https://imgur.com/a/407HN81 https://imgur.com/a/407HN81
  - stevehawk 8y ago
    I think half of my comments on hacker news are how much I love Fastmail, which I've used for email, calendar, and contacts for a decade now.
    - brongondwana 8y ago
downrightmike 8y ago
I too feel like I am ingested, rather than served. You may want to take things more in your own hands, requires more upkeep: https://github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox https://github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox
brongondwana 8y ago
I second those asking what limitations you ran into (specifically with FastMail, since I have more chance of being able to fix those than the limitations with Protonmail - though I'd love to know both!) If it's "costs money", we're not planning to change that! We (FastMail) are proudly a paid-only service.
- melloc 8y ago
  The biggest thing I've been missing since I started using FastMail is labels. My workflow in GMail used labels pretty heavily, and I've been able to get pretty close using saved searches and folders, but it's not quite the same.
  - brongondwana 8y ago
    Right, hopefully when JMAP arrives (soon!) you'll be able to use that nicely. It will give label-style handling by allowing the same message to exist in multiple folders.
    - bpye 8y ago
      Kinda hijacking this. When using FastMail with a custom domain can I setup a catch all address and then have each different address somehow tagged? It would be nice to be able to have proper unique email addresses for each service so I know where spam ends up coming from.
      - sirn 8y ago
        You can create an * alias in FastMail which will act as catch-all address. The received email will retain the original To: field so you can use rules to match them.
- godzillabrennus 8y ago
  Fastmail limitations are: When I signed up in 2016 (I’m still a customer btw) it was a big pain to get my custom domain added after paying for an account. I had to contact support for assistance. I somehow have to have two accounts for my plan but only one has a mailbox. Crazy bad experience here. The amount of space we get for mail is low for the fee. I pay around $12/year in additional fees with Google for another 70GB of space outside of the 30GB they give for the base plan. Fastmail was pricier last I checked. There is zero quality collaboration option for me. Even if you added one the fact that anyone who wants to collaborate would have to have a paid account with me creates a barrier for me to even try and use it for anything but just email. The spam filter is about 30% as accurate as Gmail. I try and train it but don’t have time to always be doing that. The mobile app on ios doesn’t remember me. It doesn’t even have an option to remember me. What a pain, I hardly even bother to use it because of that. That all said. I like some things about fastmail: The web interface is fast. The admin features are robust and easy for adding aliases and new custom domains. The fact you are pushing to make the world a better place for email is why I keep paying for the service. What you are doing is hard. Your competitors are massive and well established. I hope you continue to make progress.

Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago

>When I tried out Posteo it was extremely annoying that it logged me out every few minutes I haven't encountered this with my personal email server nor heard of it from anyone else. I think this might just be an issue with Posteo. It's easier if you don't try to move all at once. Spend some time looking at different email options and move that. Do calendar later. Get rid of Google Apps on your Android later still. Gradual change is much easier.

newscracker 8y ago
Posteo is very aggressive on privacy, reducing exposure, and keeping information safer. So a shorter webmail session timeout may be related to this. Depending on the use case, if this were the only issue with Posteo, the GP could’ve used Firefox with one of the many tab reload or tab refresh extensions to keep the logged in session alive.
- Tomte 8y ago
  Posteo doesn't allow custom domains (a no go) and lies about why they don't.
  - bennofs 8y ago
    What's the real reason they don't allow custom domains in your opinion? Why do you say they are lying?
    - Tomte 8y ago
      Their support replied with a mumbo-jumbo of techno-babble why it's not possible. Of course it's possible. The reason is clear: lock-in. People are reluctant to change providers if they lose their mail address.
      - bennofs 8y ago
        The FAQ (https://posteo.de/en/site/faq https://posteo.de/en/site/faq) says the do it because a domain has personay identifying information in WHOIS and they would need to store it. I think for .de domains, you are required to have your personal address in WHOIS if you are not a company.