4 ms·

With gmail: Move your mouse pointer down to the lower right corner of the tab. Do a forced refresh (Ctrl+f5) and you'll see some text pop up while it's loadi

With gmail: Move your mouse pointer down to the lower right corner of the tab. Do a forced refresh (Ctrl+f5) and you'll see some text pop up while it's loading, one of which is a link to a basic HTML version of the site. Click on it and you're back to what appears to be almost the original gmail interface. Up the top of the page you'll see an option to make it default. It's super fast. Almost absurdly so, compared to the "full" gmail experience. Added bonus: It gets out of the damn way so you can just do what you came there to do: write and read email.

tyingq 8y ago
There's a single file that's 584KB of javascript from hangouts.google.com in the "full experience" Gmail. Blocking that seems to help, a lot. I imagine there's probably some configuration to turn off hangouts that provides the same benefit.
- s3graham 8y ago
  It's in Settings.
  - lucasverra 8y ago
    chat off ?
hyperpape 8y ago
Great example, because the basic HTML version doesn't support keyboard shortcuts, which makes it a huge step back for me. It's certainly possible to have a server rendered app that uses JS sparingly for interactive behavior, but it blows away a lot of the benefits once you're doing significant DOM-manipulation.
- aaaaaaaaaaab 8y ago
  If only there was a way to support keyboard shortcuts via plain old HTML... https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes/accesskey https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_att...
  - FootballMuse 8y ago
    Aren't those inconsistent across platforms? Also you must use the "super" key/combo, and there's only one. Not to mention the internationalization concerns. Good luck implementing 10% of the keyboard shortcuts gmail uses: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6594?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6594?co=GENIE.Platfor...
  - ryantriangles 8y ago
    The accesskey feature is usually discouraged because it can break screen readers and other accessibility tools.
Figs 8y ago
Instead of trying to quickly click the link, it's easier to just turn JS off and refresh GMail. You'll be prompted to either turn JS on or switch to Basic HTML. (You can make it the default after that, as described.) I did this a while back, and the only real issue I've had with it is that there doesn't seem to be an equivalent to the "Check mail now" action for imported email accounts. (The 'refresh' link annoyingly does not trigger this action.)
yawaramin 8y ago
There's also a hidden 'mobile webapp' version: https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/167/?mui=ca#tl/Inbox https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/167/?mui=ca#tl/Inbox
- rement 8y ago
  I got a popup saying the offline app is going away with a link to "setup" the new gmail app for offline use. Unfortunately the new gmail app for offline use does not support Firefox. >Offline unavailable. >The browser you are using is missing some features required to enable offline. To enable offline, you must use Chrome with version 61 or higher.
ibty 8y ago
There is a direct link to access basic HTML version of GMail : http://mail.google.com/mail/h/ http://mail.google.com/mail/h/
- Twirrim 8y ago
  Ahh nice, thanks!
- jrockway 8y ago
  That is a blast from the past. I love it.
- KuhlMensch 8y ago
  hm. So. The SPA gmail platform has an _infuriatingly long_ loading screen, but once loaded the click-> to reading email _is_ quicker. I suspect there is allot that can (and should) be done to optimize the SPA version. But man, the html version is speedy. I barely use email, but I'm going to put the html-only version into my rotation and see which one I gravitate toward.
julianlam 8y ago
Thanks for the tip! I realized this existed but didn't clue in to the fact that it could be set default. I've done so now, and already feel the absurd javascript weight lifting...

tyingq 8y ago

There's a single file that's 584KB of javascript from hangouts.google.com in the "full experience" Gmail. Blocking that seems to help, a lot. I imagine there's probably some configuration to turn off hangouts that provides the same benefit.

s3graham 8y ago
It's in Settings.
- lucasverra 8y ago
  chat off ?

hyperpape 8y ago

Great example, because the basic HTML version doesn't support keyboard shortcuts, which makes it a huge step back for me. It's certainly possible to have a server rendered app that uses JS sparingly for interactive behavior, but it blows away a lot of the benefits once you're doing significant DOM-manipulation.

aaaaaaaaaaab 8y ago
If only there was a way to support keyboard shortcuts via plain old HTML... https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_attributes/accesskey https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Global_att...
- FootballMuse 8y ago
  Aren't those inconsistent across platforms? Also you must use the "super" key/combo, and there's only one. Not to mention the internationalization concerns. Good luck implementing 10% of the keyboard shortcuts gmail uses: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6594?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6594?co=GENIE.Platfor...
- ryantriangles 8y ago
  The accesskey feature is usually discouraged because it can break screen readers and other accessibility tools.

Figs 8y ago

Instead of trying to quickly click the link, it's easier to just turn JS off and refresh GMail. You'll be prompted to either turn JS on or switch to Basic HTML. (You can make it the default after that, as described.) I did this a while back, and the only real issue I've had with it is that there doesn't seem to be an equivalent to the "Check mail now" action for imported email accounts. (The 'refresh' link annoyingly does not trigger this action.)

yawaramin 8y ago

There's also a hidden 'mobile webapp' version: https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/167/?mui=ca#tl/Inbox https://mail.google.com/mail/mu/mp/167/?mui=ca#tl/Inbox

rement 8y ago
I got a popup saying the offline app is going away with a link to "setup" the new gmail app for offline use. Unfortunately the new gmail app for offline use does not support Firefox. >Offline unavailable. >The browser you are using is missing some features required to enable offline. To enable offline, you must use Chrome with version 61 or higher.

ibty 8y ago

There is a direct link to access basic HTML version of GMail : http://mail.google.com/mail/h/ http://mail.google.com/mail/h/

Twirrim 8y ago
Ahh nice, thanks!
jrockway 8y ago
That is a blast from the past. I love it.
KuhlMensch 8y ago
hm. So. The SPA gmail platform has an _infuriatingly long_ loading screen, but once loaded the click-> to reading email _is_ quicker. I suspect there is allot that can (and should) be done to optimize the SPA version. But man, the html version is speedy. I barely use email, but I'm going to put the html-only version into my rotation and see which one I gravitate toward.

julianlam 8y ago

Thanks for the tip! I realized this existed but didn't clue in to the fact that it could be set default. I've done so now, and already feel the absurd javascript weight lifting...