17 ms·

Show HN: I Built Darwin Mail as a Google Inbox Replacement

218 points by DarwinMailApp 7y ago

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Hello HN I’m Joey, the maker of Darwin Mail. — Darwin Mail aims to help you be your most productive when dealing with emails & todos. Problem Inbox by Google was one of the best products they ever made. And then they shut it down. Solution Introducing Darwin Mail, which aims to replace and become better than Google Inbox ever was. Features - Snoozing, Reminders, Dark Mode, Undo Send, Custom Backgrounds, Templates, & much more according to your requests! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous Darwin Mail will evolve to become great over time, thanks to its users, and thanks to you. You're welcome to join me on this journey ️
- shortformblog 7y ago
  This is great—as an Inbox user I see a lot of potential here. Quick thoughts: - Any support you can give to existing plugins that support Google would be great. Much as I like the fact that templates are built into this, I really love the plugin Gorgias Templates, for example (partly due to the fact those plugins can be used anywhere), and having it available would be awesome. - I'd love it to be possible that there was no background at all, or at least something flat. - Would like to be able to set a different default font in the compose menu. Sans-serif is fine, I just want it to be able to decide on Helvetica or Courier New. - Any ability to change the keyboard shortcuts would be great. The fact that they're not the same as Inbox/Gmail makes it hard to immediately jump in and use. I'm sure I'll have more, but I just wanted to tell you this really makes me happy to see!
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    First off thank you soo so much for your amazing feedback! Secondly, WOW. Supporting plugins is such a spectacular idea! It would open up a world of possibilities! Would they be Chrome plugins or plugins for things like Salesforce, Teamwork, GitHub, Slack etc? I will add in something to remove the background entirely and also allow selection of a flat/gradient/colour asap. Custom fonts/keyboard shortcuts are such fantastic ideas too man! My God you are a treasure trove. Godspeed! PS: If you add your suggestions to our feature requests board it will ensure they are created quickly as others will be able to upvote on ideas! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
    - shortformblog 7y ago
      Hey, glad you liked my ideas! I'm thinking Chrome/Firefox plugins in particular. I think you have some built-in functionality that covers some of the use cases but I think that one of the great things about Inbox was that it was largely compatible with existing Gmail plugins. Anyway, best of luck! I'll be keeping an eye on this.
      - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
        Fantastic! I will Roger that :) Chrome and Firefox plugins open up such a world of possibilities :) Thank you for the suggestion! Feel free to follow me to keep up to date! https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous
- gumby 7y ago
  My girlfriend (who works at Google!) really misses Inbox and specifically the "stacks" feature (whatever that was -- I was not a user myself). She'd easily pay for premium for that specific feature. Apparently it's a common complaint in her group. I didn't see this on your list: is it planned?
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    That's perfect feedback! Straight from the heart of Google :D ha ha. I think you are referring to bundles? That is most certainly a must as so many people have requested it today. Thank you for your comment. It made me smile! :)
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    Bundles are now available with DarwinMail! https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app
- bayindirh 7y ago
  First of all congratulations. It looks like a nice app and productivity booster for GMail. I just wanted to point that e-mail undo is present is in standard GMail. The feature started as a lab feature and added into standard muster of features sometimes later. This makes selling e-mail undo in the professional plan a bit of a contradiction IMHO. Other than that, everything looks good, congrats again. :)
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    You are completely right! I should have thought of that! I will move the undo sending of emails to the free plan :) Thank you so much for the positive vibes :)
mcintyre1994 7y ago
Nice, I'll definitely check this out! Am I right in thinking your paid plans are both exactly the same, just one's paid monthly and one annually?
- Vinnl 7y ago
  Either they're A/B testing the pricing or they've already fixed it: I see $3/month, $25/year.
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    You are spot on! Thanks for helping a fellow hacker out ;) Do you think the price point is fair?
    - Vinnl 7y ago
      I'm unfortunately a little hesitant to give a new and unproven player access to all my email, so I'm a bit hesitant to try it right now - sorry. That said, I think the pricing is reasonable. I might suggest a free trial of the pro features for people who e.g. already enter their credit card details (to lower the barrier of converting to a paid account later), or who refer others. One thing that I'd also like the landing page to clarify: where are reminders stored? Email of course is still on Google's servers, but given that reminders are not present in Gmail, that's an open question.
      - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
        No problem at all. It's your Gmail account and you have the right to do with it whatever you want. In time and after much improvements I hope to earn your trust. A free trial is a good idea. I will set that up soon. Also, a referral scheme has been suggested and is something I would love to work on soon too. I am in the process of upgrading the FAQs and will add a section for where the reminders are stored. It's quite simple really, they are stored in your browsers local storage.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
niall2019 7y ago
I’ve looked at the website but, unless I’m missing something, I don’t see the purpose of this app. It’s essentially a skin which sits on top of regular Gmail. Whilst Darwin Mail may respect your privacy it still requires a Google account. What benefit does this provide that regular Gmail doesn’t?
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  1. I understand that the product can only become great if each & every suggestion is listened to, so thank you! 2. DarwinMail has a public roadmap, public changelog, and open lines of communication. 3. The primary focus of Darwin Mail is to help you be productive. Each and every change is made for that sole reason. 4. We have a public roadmap, public changelog, and open lines of communication. 5. The primary focus of Darwin Mail is to help you be productive. Each and every change is made for that sole reason. They're 5 reasons why I believe DarwinMail is worth the try! Also, bundles are definitely on the todo list. http://localhost:8888/Darwin/feedback.php http://localhost:8888/Darwin/feedback.php
krm01 7y ago
Nice effort. I really miss Inbox. It was a key app in my daily workflow. Now that it’s gone Im looking for a solid replacement. Will give it a try!
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Thank you so much for your interest! Just a few points which I think are relevant: 1. We will not sell your data, abuse our power or ignore your requests... 2. Because we respect your privacy. 3. We understand that the product can only become great if each & every suggestion is listened to. 4. We have a public roadmap, public changelog, and open lines of communication. 5. The primary focus of Darwin Mail is to help you be productive. Each and every change is made for that sole reason. You can also check out our FAQs at the bottom of https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app Or Our privacy policy at https://www.darwinmail.app/privacy.php https://www.darwinmail.app/privacy.php
hmayer00 7y ago
Oh man this looks great, thanks Joey! I just made a couple of feature requests, Bundles and Mass Archive. But the whole thing looks and feels great, I'm super excited about it. Let me know when you support multiple accounts and I'll happily drop you some cash (for silly reasons I have a few accounts, and i'm not eager to juggle multiple clients).
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  You are an absolute legend! Thank you! I've reviewed them.. and let me just say... YES! YES, I will add mass archive functionality. YES, I will work on bundles for Darwin Mail. YES, multiple accounts are on the horizon. I'm so happy you like DarwinMail. I completely understand your use case, I can relate to you, my man. I'm open to any and all suggestions for features/improvements! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Bundles are now available with DarwinMail! https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app
pbhjpbhj 7y ago
Maybe it's obvious to others but I didn't really know what you were selling until the first FAQ. Maybe you need a strapline something like "a new way to work with your Google Mail". I thought it was perhaps an independent MUA app (and assumed it was going to be Mac only, because of the name). When I first arrived on the page I clicked your first call to action button, which takes one to a Google login, but backed out because I hadn't a clue at that point what it was. Looks like "a front-end to gmail using Google's API", I guess you need to put that in non-tech speak.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  No no anything that's not completely obvious to everyone who visits needs to be changed. Thank you for your feedback. I've thought about what you said (albeit very quickly) and made changes to the homepage https://www.darwinmail.app/index.php https://www.darwinmail.app/index.php The homepage subtitle: "Your Google Inbox replacement: reach new levels of productivity." And a below the hero image: "An evolutionary way to work with your emails." - I think I can expand on this one.. any ideas?
  - Waterluvian 7y ago
    Off topic but I've never heard of "hero image" until now and looked it up. Has boilerplate web design become so normalized that everything has a name?
    - wnscooke 7y ago
      That's quite an old term.
    - frolig 7y ago
      ... yes, so?
      - Waterluvian 7y ago
        It's fascinating. So much creative breadth enabled by modern web and we've converted quite well one the one format for selling a new product or idea. Not necessarily bad. I'm excited to see how this diverges again.
laser 7y ago
Looks cool! Any plans for pinning and bundling/one click archiving entire bundles? Those two features are what I miss most since getting kicked off Inbox.
- dinkydani 7y ago
  Ohh yes I also really miss pinning. Starring just doesn't cut it for me
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    Please see above comment as Pinning already exists for Darwin Mail users! Should I add a feature spotlight for Pinning to the homepage though? I don't think it's clear that Darwin Mail supports Pinning as of now! Thank you so much for your feedback :) This kind of feedback is what makes products great!
    - dinkydani 7y ago
      Yes I think so! It's a major Inbox feature that people miss. You should probably focus on implementing the most missed Inbox features after launch :D
      - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
        I could not agree with you more! I'm so happy that lots have been suggested on our feedback board https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php However, I'm going to merge that with DarwinMail's Trello board soon and make the whole thing public :) I will also allow upvoting, comments and user-created feedback and suggestions!
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Thanks for your feedback! You can actually already Pin in DarwinMail :) There's a lever on the right of the search bar (from your mail inbox). Click that to show all your Pinned emails. You can also hover over any mail to show its actions. The Pin is second from the left. Next to the star ;) as for bundling/and one-click archiving bundles.. that's been requested a few times today and I will be working on it asap. https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php If you have any more requests let me know or post them at the above link!
andybak 7y ago
Looks nice but currently does no more than I can already achieve with a new skin on Gmail. (I'm using http://flowapps.co/inboxtheme/ http://flowapps.co/inboxtheme/ ) I know it's been mentioned elsewhere but Inbox Bundles are pretty much the main reason Inbox was a superior client. Since being forced back to Gmail it's the only thing I've missed and I've had to revert back to old email discipline (daily clearouts and ruthless unsubscribing) to get over it's loss.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  1. I understand that the product can only become great if each & every suggestion is listened to, so thank you! 2. DarwinMail has a public roadmap, public changelog, and open lines of communication. 3. The primary focus of Darwin Mail is to help you be productive. Each and every change is made for that sole reason. They're 3 reasons why I believe DarwinMail is worth the try! Also, bundles are definitely on the todo list. I also genuinely want to know how DarwinMail can help with "daily clearouts and ruthless unsubscribing"?
  - andybak 7y ago
    > I understand that the product can only become great if each & every suggestion is listened to I've actually heard strong arguments for the opposite. Your vision is what counts. People often don't know what they want until you show them.
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      That's a fair point. I thought of that too when posting. I believe you need to consider both angles: - How to build a product people love based on what they want - How to build a product that is sustainable & interesting based on what you think should be built It's a difficult thing to get right. I'm definitely going to try.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  BUNDLES are LIVE on DarwinMail You asked for it and you got it! Some have called bundles 'The next evolution of email'. With DarwinMail, now you can use them too. https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app
SargeZT 7y ago
Quick bug report for you. If you have a category name with a '/' in it, jquery errors out due to $('#sideBar #' + prettyLabelName) having a / in it, which makes it think it's a selector. If you change all instances of $('#sideBar #' + prettyLabelName) to $('#sideBar #' + $.escapeSelector(prettyLabelName)), it should rectify that. As it stands now, if you have a category with a / in it the site is unusable; and the same would probably be true if you had a category starting with a . or #.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Thank you so so much for your suggestion! I also love that you were straight in with the exact fix! Thanks, Sarge! PS: I've made that change and it's live on https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app (threadAPI & labelsAPI) ;) If you have any more, let me know!
  - SargeZT 7y ago
    Sure thing. Here's some more: You can open any number of the menu options and the previous ones don't close. https://i.imgur.com/NxKVk6W.png https://i.imgur.com/NxKVk6W.png Additionally, there doesn't appear to be an exit icon on any of them, though escape works. -- Accessing my spam folder freezes the app and results in the following stack trace: https://i.imgur.com/HkNbH67.png https://i.imgur.com/HkNbH67.png The message in the thread in question doesn't have a from attribute. -- Finally, using ctrl+c (to copy) in an email you're composing will open a new composition window. Might be best to disable that in an active text input or if text is selected. Edit: Also, a 'mark all as done' button like Inbox had would be greatly appreciated.
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      Wow wow WOWW! This is the kind of feedback I really really love. You took your time writing this. You went into perfect detail. You are really really helping, Sarge, thank you a million times over. This is amazing. Thank you. I have noted everything you said and will work on those in the coming days. Thank you so so much.
dinkydani 7y ago
Looks great and I do miss the old Inbox design but like many people have said the main Inbox feature I miss is bundles. Do you have any plans to add similar bundling functionality? Just saw you said you do intend to support it! Let me know when this is done and you can have all of my money :D
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  That's amazing! I thought for a second "has he not read the rest of the comment?" ha ha. There are a lot of comments though. People are adding requests to our feedback board! So head on down, upvote the bundles' idea & maybe even follow me on Twitter to be in the know! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Bundles are now available with DarwinMail! https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app
tvanantwerp 7y ago
Very nice--I was hoping someone would build something like this! One small thing I noticed: I always kept the menu pane open in Inbox. When I open it in Darwin and refresh, the menu pane is closed again rather than persisted.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  That's a very good point. Adding it to the todo list! (soon) Check it out here: https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php Is it good enough to use for now though?
ddalex 7y ago
I tried to test it, but I literally don't feel comfortable giving somebody full access to my email. I don't know your practices, security protocols, etc. I'd feel way more comfortable if this would be an app or a browser add-on that would handle everything locally, without sharing the access token with your servers.
- ymolodtsov 7y ago
  How many emails clients do you know that don’t need access to your mail?
  - amelius 7y ago
    Does that matter? Why would you give, instead of just Google, two companies access to your emails?
    - skybrian 7y ago
      Well, 2+N companies depending on what servers the people you correspond with use. That's the nature of a federated protocol.
      - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
        Ha ha. Very clever spin, and it's the truth!
        amelius 7y ago
        However ... the larger N, the weaker the argument. Because each of the participants has only a fraction of your e-mails.
        DarwinMailApp 7y ago
        That is a fair point, amelius! However, I won't be giving any third parties access to DarwinMail ;)
gxwmg 7y ago
If you have third-party cookies disabled it just crashes. I understand they are necessary to make this work but an error message should be shown.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Ohhh no! That is not good enough, I'm sorry :( I will find the root cause asap and fix this issue! If you wish, you can report the issue here: https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
  - piccolbo 7y ago
    Sorry, I am not opening a trello account to report bugs. I am debugging your app for free, just asking not to have so sign yet another one-sided term of service doc. I also have problems with content security policy, see below: Content Security Policy: Ignoring “http:” within script-src: ‘strict-dynamic’ specified Content Security Policy: The page’s settings observed the loading of a resource at inline (“script-src”). A CSP report is being sent. Source: try{(function overrideDefaultMethods(r, g, b, a, scriptId, storedObjectPrefix) { var scriptNode = document.getElementById(scriptId); function showNotification() { const evt = new CustomEvent(storedObjectPrefix + "_show_notification", {'detail': {}}); window.dispatchEvent(evt); }
VadimPR 7y ago
Will it support categorising trips like Inbox did?
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Categorising trips is one of the features I miss the most for sure! Bundling that's been requested a few times today and I will be working on it asap. https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php Thank you so much for your feedback :)
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  BUNDLES are LIVE on DarwinMail. You asked for it and you got it! Some have called bundles 'The next evolution of email'. With DarwinMail, now you can use them too. https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app
  - standcrafted 7y ago
    Does this include trips? i don't see any mention of that on your site.
xhgdvjky 7y ago
I probably would have been all for this a few weeks ago. but since trying the Gmail app, all I miss is bundles and the sleek mobile app. this has neither of those. also, is it me, or are you selling the same thing for $3 and for $25?
- bleuarff 7y ago
  3$/month or 25$/year. But yes, it's the same plan.
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    Thanks for replying to that!
  - xhgdvjky 7y ago
    ty missed that
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      I'm already planning a simpler UI for the pricing! Thank you for your feedback :)
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Yeah, I was so busy developing at that stage I really didn't want to release until DarwinMail had more features. Bundles are on the todo list You are so right about the pricing though. It's too confusing. I will change that asap as they are the same plan, it's just that the yearly plan works out cheaper. Please add any feedback you have here! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
mcintyre1994 7y ago
You don't mention pinning, do you support that/is it on the todo list? I notice you have the switch that Inbox used for toggling pinned only, what does that do here?
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Thanks for your feedback! You can actually already Pin in DarwinMail :) You've already seen the lever on the right of the search bar. Click that to show all your Pinned emails. You can also hover over any mail to show its actions. The Pin is second from the left. Next to the star ;) I will, however, add Pinning to the feature spotlights on the homepage!
lxe 7y ago
Can I select all?
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  A very simple request! Select all emails I'm guessing? Funnily enough, you can't - not yet! But I've added that to my todo list.
  - lxe 7y ago
    Yes -- it's a simple and useful feature that's been missing from Inbox and Gmail Mobile for years. Thank you!
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      Please check the roadmap for progress reports on the select all features :) https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
dgudkov 7y ago
>We take your privacy seriously. I'm sure you do, but please please please -- don't use this cliché. It's superficial and off-putting. Better explain specifically what you do for it. And then let us decide if you take our privacy seriously or not.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  You are so right! Thank you for your feedback. Changed it to "Your privacy is important. Darwin will never record, distribute or sell your personal data to any third parties."
  - no_wizard 7y ago
    Question I have: do you need to actually collect this information at all? I appreciate the no share, but if a service never collects it to begin with then it’s never an issue including if you get hacked for instance. I’m curious not a judgement.
    - EduardoBautista 7y ago
      The app does need to know what your email address at gmail is in order to work.
      - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
        Correct! Other than that there is no need to collect much other information at all. Google Analytics is currently how I see how users found DarwinMail & where they came from. Google Analytics also provides info such as users device and browser type. A list of the data Google Analytics collects can be found here: https://www.shivarweb.com/2977/what-does-google-analytics-do https://www.shivarweb.com/2977/what-does-google-analytics-do Google Analytics is the defacto standard for millions of websites across the web.
        markovbot 7y ago
Skywing 7y ago
How does the undo send work? Does it store the email on your server for X seconds before dispatching through gmail?
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Nope! It doesn't send the email until after 0 - 30 seconds, so you have a chance to undo it :)
  - leesalminen 7y ago
    So, if I were to close the app at second 17, the email wouldn’t get sent?
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      That is correct. However, would you think again if a little pop-up reminder told you just before you exited the app? To be fair though, I keep my email tab opened all day. I never close it!
tsumnia 7y ago
Darwin Mail seems to struggle with nested labels - https://imgur.com/a/w7PzoY3 https://imgur.com/a/w7PzoY3 To be productive on GMail, I have tons of filters, labels, and use the inbox as my "todo" pile. Once something is done, its filed into is respective label. However, since I have nested labels to divide organizations, platforms, and classes by semester, Darwin doesn't organize them well. Here is a side by side comparison to GMail - https://imgur.com/a/W6IqUrW https://imgur.com/a/W6IqUrW
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Nested Labels is a fantastic idea! Thank you so so much for your feedback. It's really not a difficult feature at all. Thank you for suggesting it. I can completely see your use case also, it is a must. I have added nested labels to the backlog and will work on it asap :)
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Please check out our public roadmap to track progress on this! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
spectramax 7y ago
I really like text-only dense interfaces such as what Sourcehut.org is doing with Git repos. I would love to see this type of minimal interface for email - while others may like background images and such, I prefer text-only sense UI with minimal bloat for speed! Seriously though, DarwinMail is impressive! Could you tell us if custom domains are supported?
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  That's quite fascinating! Thank you for the interesting perspective :) I will mock up some minimal interface designs. Perhaps a mail distraction free mode (we currently support a distraction-free mode for typing emails). This could be very cool :D Thank you so much! They're not (I don't think ha!). Could you tell me more about how a custom domain would work with DarwinMail?
  - spectramax 7y ago
    Custom domain as in, email@mydomain.com.
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      Thank you for your follow up :) I know what you mean by custom domains, I'm just not sure how they would be used with DarwinMail? What significance do they have in this context? Sorry I may be missing the point entirely! :)
dmix 7y ago
Feedback: your pricing section was a bit confusing. It says "Pro Lite" and "Pro Plus", and both list the same long list of features. In reality it's just "Pro Monthly" and "Pro Yearly" where the only difference is you save 30%. The "Lite" and "Plus" part makes it seem like there are three plans and the Plus one has the most features/benefits...
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  You are so right about the pricing. It's too confusing. I will change that asap as they are the same plan, it's just that the yearly plan works out cheaper :)
- OJFord 7y ago
  Huh, I missed that it was yearly, just saw a way bigger number and assumed it was basically a donation tear.
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    Well, that is some feedback I will have to incorporate into the design of a new pricing table :L
    - giancarlostoro 7y ago
      Pro Monthly and Pro Annually might make more sense or Pro Yearly or whatever.
      - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
        Ahh yes, of course! Thanks
        giancarlostoro 7y ago
        No problem, sometimes the best way to market something is to be explicit about meaning instead of trying to sound fancy and cool. Great web page and product otherwise btw! I hope you can gain enough traction to invest in more than just gmail.
fiatjaf 7y ago
I'm desperate for a Gmail replacement that uses the Gmail API. I'll give this a try because I didn't find any other one and the canonical Gmail web client is utterly broken, too heavy, too slow. I don't want any enhancements, just basic email threads. Does anyone have a recommendation?
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  That's quite fascinating! Thank you for the interesting perspective :) I will mock up some minimal interface designs. Perhaps a mail distraction free mode (we currently support a distraction-free mode for typing emails). This could be very cool :D
jlelse 7y ago
My privacy is important, that's why I'm not using Gmail. Great that you take privacy serious, but building a service that only works with Gmail doesn't really help with privacy.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Thank you for your feedback! Some of our features such as templates, dark mode, custom backgrounds are built on top of DarwinMail - and do not interact with Google or Gmails APIs whatsoever. Most of DarwinMail works via the Gmail API, but not all :) Edit: And the majority of the feature requests on this thread will not interact with Gmail either once they are created. So Google cannot track as much usage statistics as they would have otherwise. Google cannot demand I give them any of this information. To be honest, I will not even have most of it. It will all happen on your browser.
vijaybritto 7y ago
Opening an email with a calendar event in it downloads a file with some meta data. I think this is a bug. I opened a mail from meetup dot com and it downloaded a file multiple times.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  That is definitely a bug! Can you tell me more? Perhaps show me your console output? (Right click -> inspect -> click the console tab)
  - ddalex 7y ago
    I had excellent experience with Sentry (https://sentry.io/welcome/ https://sentry.io/welcome/) to capture errors that happen on the client side in production. You need to be careful with the sensitive data that gets sent to Sentry, but it's a good tool. Not being affiliated with them in any way, just a tool I find helpful.
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      Thank you so much for the suggestion :) I love Sentry, but I don't think I should use it here. We are dealing with users emails, and I want to be as transparent as possible. I really should not add another product to the mix until I have earned enough trust and proven that DarwinMail is in no way malicious. I simply want DarwinMail to be a no-strings-attached upgrade for us.
  - vijaybritto 7y ago
    Sorry I'm in mobile now
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      That's ok :) Please let me know when you can and I will look into fixing that right away :)
SpikeDad 7y ago
I was totally confused. It has nothing to do with Darwin, the open source components of macOS? And you refer to it as an .app which it isn't? Even more confusing is that you haven't tested it with Safari?
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Correct. Correct. Incorrect. DarwinMail is a mobile responsive web app :) I have tested DarwinMail with many browsers and found many differences in the way it behaves as many browsers tend to support various types of web functionalities in different ways. For example, clicking a button in Chrome does not behave the same way as clicking a button in Firefox or Safari. I have tested so many different behaviours on many different browsers. I am in the process of cataloguing every specific web functionality I require in DarwinMail and making a chart of those functionalities across several browsers to ensure I know exactly what needs to be tested, what is working and what needs to be fixed.
city41 7y ago
I'm glad someone is filling this gap. As a huge Inbox fan I'm intrigued. But when Google warns DarwinMail will be able to "View and modify but not delete your email", I don't know if I can take the plunge. For me, what I really want is reminders integrated into my mail routine (the killer feature of Inbox IMO), and I think that can be done in a way that maintains privacy better.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Hey there! I really wish Google would be clearer about what this means. This allows DarwinMail to create your email (when you use the compose functionality), modify your email, and send your email (when you click the send button). This also allows you to update and save drafts. https://developers.google.com/gmail/api/auth/scopes https://developers.google.com/gmail/api/auth/scopes I hope that helps alleviate your worries somewhat :) We have reminder functionality available! It is part of my everyday routine too! Could you suggest a way to allow people to use DarwinMail while 'maintaining privacy'? I am learning exactly what you would like here :)
  - city41 7y ago
    You can read the emails I am composing, but not read the emails I receive? That is better, and I could always compose sensitive emails in gmail. So possibly I'd give this a shot with my personal email. I'd also like to use this at work, but Boomerang[0] was deemed not allowed, so I would imagine Darwin would also not be allowed. I'm guessing Darwin stores the reminder data on its own servers? That doesn't bother me, most reminders are quite benign. For reminders that maintain privacy, I would imagine one would need to write a browser extension that threads reminders into gmail. Which doesn't sound like much fun, but also a pretty primitive integration would probably be good enough. [0]https://www.boomeranggmail.com/ https://www.boomeranggmail.com/
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      DarwinMail packages your email before it's sent into a raw format (that's not comprehensible text, but a mix of letters and numbers - like IBASDBAA2982NFIUEXJWI02FDIEWD) - but a lot longer! When the mail is received on another client (Outlook, IMAP, etc) the client knows how to parse the email - to show it to you. I can't speak for other email clients, but I can tell you with all certainty, that DarwinMail does not store any of this email data. DarwinMail just displays it to you on your device. The code is all available for you to look at. On DarwinMail just right click -> inspect and you can see everything. Reminders are stored in your browser. They do not touch DarwinMail's servers :)
vldr 7y ago
I can't seem to get passed the authentication with firefox. chromium works fine.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Ohhh noes! Can you please take a screenshot & upload to Imgur? Show me your console please as I will know exactly what to do then! (From the loading screen -> right click -> inspect -> click the console tab) I will be able to see then and fix it for you!
dancedar 7y ago
Do you have an issue tracker/feature request a la git? This would be super useful for all to provide feedback in a cohesive manner. Also, a reddit thread would get a lot more feedback as I'm sure there are many more with a reddit account than hn...I just signed up to hn to post...
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Currently, the public issues are tracked via https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php And I have a private Trello board (which I'm going to make public). Here are two Reddit posts! https://www.reddit.com/r/inbox/comments/beaek8/how_come_nobody_has_talked_about_darwin_mail_yet/ https://www.reddit.com/r/inbox/comments/beaek8/how_come_nobo... https://www.reddit.com/r/inbox/comments/bfa6f3/i_built_darwin_mail_as_a_google_inbox_replacement/ https://www.reddit.com/r/inbox/comments/bfa6f3/i_built_darwi... Personally, I think this Hacker News thread is the best thing that ever happened to DarwinMail :)
appleflaxen 7y ago
I was excited to try darwinmail when I saw that keyboard shortcuts were front-and-center on the UI, anticipating a dev-centric tool for people who understand the efficiency of not having to use the mouse. But then I used the app, and found that all the keyboard shortcuts were different :( There was discussion on HN regarding the ability to customize them, but I think even more important is an option to "Use defailt GMail keyboard shortcuts"
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Using the existing Gmail shortcuts is exactly what I want. You are so right. Please bear with me as I make the necessary adjustments over the coming days. Thank you :)
appleflaxen 7y ago
your bug report / feedback form requires the creation of an account. many people who just tried the service and found a deal-breaking problem would give the feedback anonymously, but aren't going to want to create a new account just to provide feedback to a service they won't ever use again. There are issues with anonymous forms, but consider the consequences of requiring an account/email.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Hello, Thank you very much for your feedback. I have already decided that I am going to remove that feedback form and allow users to post anonymously, email me directly, tweet me or look at our public Trello board to see it their requests is already being considered or is in progress :)
scottgreenstone 7y ago
Started playing around with Darwin this week. It has great potential as an Inbox by GMail replacement. Looking forward to seeing a mobile version hopefully in the near future. Biggest thing missing rightn now is Reminders integration with Google Calendar and Home/Assistant. For some reason Gmail is using Google Tasks instead and that is useless without complete integration with the Google Ecosystem, so Reminders is the right way to go.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Hey Scott! :) Thank you. I too use Google calendar quite a lot. To add the reminders I create in DarwinMail to Google calendar would be an amazing lift in productivity. I personally want this feature and will work on it sooner rather than later. Thank you for your suggestion.
scottgreenstone 7y ago
Another requirement to make this truly an Inbox replacement and not just a skin for Gmail is auto bundling such as Trips and Purchases, as well as the ability to customize the auto bundling if necessary. In addition the need to show bundles only at specific times like in INbox would be perfect for productivity.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Wow wow wow, snoozing bundles you say? <3 Bundles have been requested a couple of times in this thread :) You can be sure that I will be working on it very soon! However snoozing bundles is a stellar use case. Thank you for the amazing feedback!
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    Bundling is at the top of the list! You can see how far along it is and check when it will be released here: https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
jrazz1 7y ago
So far we've signed up and tested Darwin mail's free version using Brave browser. The layout looks very familiar to the now defunct Inbox by Google. Great job with the design and familiarity. In talking through the service, we've found that it is slow on mobile at this stage in the development. At one point the menu under your Google photo (the one with settings in it) got stuck on the screen even when opening the side menu with drafts, sent, etc. was open. Another thing we noticed and would like changed is that if you click drafts our sent mail or another category, you have to click again to close the side menu to see your chosen category. These are all things I think will be fixed soon if development persists. The one thing that's going to be interesting to see how it turns out it's the bundling. Hopefully he'll get it right!
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Thank you so much for your feedback! I have added it all to our public Trello Board :) https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Bundles are now available with DarwinMail! https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app
Jack1012 7y ago
I personally replaced Google Inbox with an app called Spike that turns your existing email into a chat like conversation. It has a unified inbox so you can manage all of your accounts simultaneously. It sits on top of your existing email (Gmail, Office365 (e.g Outlook), Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo and any IMAP account and is available on all platforms (web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android). It has a lot of unique features like: encryption, snooze, Amazing search capabilities, voice and video calls, unified inbox with all of your accounts, and it organises my emails automatically into the ones that are important and the ones that are not (like newsletters and various unknown senders). I also love that it is “conversation” like mail so the layout is really easy to read and follow.
Angie_orely 7y ago
Nice job! I still use Spikenow.com - the popular conversational Email that became the official alternative to Inbox by Google. Available on all devices...
lisq199 7y ago
I didn't really find Google Inbox that appealing, but this looks intriguing.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Wow!! Thank you so much for the lovely feedback <3 I really appreciate it! Please let me know if you want any features added!
  - ranjitc 7y ago
    same here! i am toying with the idea of using darwin in supplement to gmail, maybe narrow down my mail to a todo list and then use darwin to work through it... will use it a bit more and get back to you with feedback
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      Thank you so much buddy! Be sure to let me know of any feedback you have :) https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
Fire-Dragon-DoL 7y ago
How are reminders implemented? Do they use google reminders behind the scenes?
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  They don't! The reminders exist on your browser -> however I have added a task to convert them to Google's reminders so that you can also add them to your calendar. You can track the progress of this on our roadmap :) https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
timvdalen 7y ago
I got really excited by the title, but as other people have mentioned, bundles are really important to me. Can I sign up for a mailing list somewhere?
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Bundles are now available with DarwinMail! https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app You can also sign up for the mailing list on the homepage :)

218 points by DarwinMailApp 7y ago

Hello HN I’m Joey, the maker of Darwin Mail. — Darwin Mail aims to help you be your most productive when dealing with emails & todos. Problem Inbox by Google was one of the best products they ever made. And then they shut it down. Solution Introducing Darwin Mail, which aims to replace and become better than Google Inbox ever was. Features - Snoozing, Reminders, Dark Mode, Undo Send, Custom Backgrounds, Templates, & much more according to your requests! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous Darwin Mail will evolve to become great over time, thanks to its users, and thanks to you. You're welcome to join me on this journey ️

shortformblog 7y ago
This is great—as an Inbox user I see a lot of potential here. Quick thoughts: - Any support you can give to existing plugins that support Google would be great. Much as I like the fact that templates are built into this, I really love the plugin Gorgias Templates, for example (partly due to the fact those plugins can be used anywhere), and having it available would be awesome. - I'd love it to be possible that there was no background at all, or at least something flat. - Would like to be able to set a different default font in the compose menu. Sans-serif is fine, I just want it to be able to decide on Helvetica or Courier New. - Any ability to change the keyboard shortcuts would be great. The fact that they're not the same as Inbox/Gmail makes it hard to immediately jump in and use. I'm sure I'll have more, but I just wanted to tell you this really makes me happy to see!
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  First off thank you soo so much for your amazing feedback! Secondly, WOW. Supporting plugins is such a spectacular idea! It would open up a world of possibilities! Would they be Chrome plugins or plugins for things like Salesforce, Teamwork, GitHub, Slack etc? I will add in something to remove the background entirely and also allow selection of a flat/gradient/colour asap. Custom fonts/keyboard shortcuts are such fantastic ideas too man! My God you are a treasure trove. Godspeed! PS: If you add your suggestions to our feature requests board it will ensure they are created quickly as others will be able to upvote on ideas! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
  - shortformblog 7y ago
    Hey, glad you liked my ideas! I'm thinking Chrome/Firefox plugins in particular. I think you have some built-in functionality that covers some of the use cases but I think that one of the great things about Inbox was that it was largely compatible with existing Gmail plugins. Anyway, best of luck! I'll be keeping an eye on this.
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      Fantastic! I will Roger that :) Chrome and Firefox plugins open up such a world of possibilities :) Thank you for the suggestion! Feel free to follow me to keep up to date! https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous
gumby 7y ago
My girlfriend (who works at Google!) really misses Inbox and specifically the "stacks" feature (whatever that was -- I was not a user myself). She'd easily pay for premium for that specific feature. Apparently it's a common complaint in her group. I didn't see this on your list: is it planned?
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  That's perfect feedback! Straight from the heart of Google :D ha ha. I think you are referring to bundles? That is most certainly a must as so many people have requested it today. Thank you for your comment. It made me smile! :)
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Bundles are now available with DarwinMail! https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app
bayindirh 7y ago
First of all congratulations. It looks like a nice app and productivity booster for GMail. I just wanted to point that e-mail undo is present is in standard GMail. The feature started as a lab feature and added into standard muster of features sometimes later. This makes selling e-mail undo in the professional plan a bit of a contradiction IMHO. Other than that, everything looks good, congrats again. :)
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  You are completely right! I should have thought of that! I will move the undo sending of emails to the free plan :) Thank you so much for the positive vibes :)

mcintyre1994 7y ago

Nice, I'll definitely check this out! Am I right in thinking your paid plans are both exactly the same, just one's paid monthly and one annually?

Vinnl 7y ago
Either they're A/B testing the pricing or they've already fixed it: I see $3/month, $25/year.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  You are spot on! Thanks for helping a fellow hacker out ;) Do you think the price point is fair?
  - Vinnl 7y ago
    I'm unfortunately a little hesitant to give a new and unproven player access to all my email, so I'm a bit hesitant to try it right now - sorry. That said, I think the pricing is reasonable. I might suggest a free trial of the pro features for people who e.g. already enter their credit card details (to lower the barrier of converting to a paid account later), or who refer others. One thing that I'd also like the landing page to clarify: where are reminders stored? Email of course is still on Google's servers, but given that reminders are not present in Gmail, that's an open question.
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      No problem at all. It's your Gmail account and you have the right to do with it whatever you want. In time and after much improvements I hope to earn your trust. A free trial is a good idea. I will set that up soon. Also, a referral scheme has been suggested and is something I would love to work on soon too. I am in the process of upgrading the FAQs and will add a section for where the reminders are stored. It's quite simple really, they are stored in your browsers local storage.
DarwinMailApp 7y ago

niall2019 7y ago

I’ve looked at the website but, unless I’m missing something, I don’t see the purpose of this app. It’s essentially a skin which sits on top of regular Gmail. Whilst Darwin Mail may respect your privacy it still requires a Google account. What benefit does this provide that regular Gmail doesn’t?

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
1. I understand that the product can only become great if each & every suggestion is listened to, so thank you! 2. DarwinMail has a public roadmap, public changelog, and open lines of communication. 3. The primary focus of Darwin Mail is to help you be productive. Each and every change is made for that sole reason. 4. We have a public roadmap, public changelog, and open lines of communication. 5. The primary focus of Darwin Mail is to help you be productive. Each and every change is made for that sole reason. They're 5 reasons why I believe DarwinMail is worth the try! Also, bundles are definitely on the todo list. http://localhost:8888/Darwin/feedback.php http://localhost:8888/Darwin/feedback.php

krm01 7y ago

Nice effort. I really miss Inbox. It was a key app in my daily workflow. Now that it’s gone Im looking for a solid replacement. Will give it a try!

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Thank you so much for your interest! Just a few points which I think are relevant: 1. We will not sell your data, abuse our power or ignore your requests... 2. Because we respect your privacy. 3. We understand that the product can only become great if each & every suggestion is listened to. 4. We have a public roadmap, public changelog, and open lines of communication. 5. The primary focus of Darwin Mail is to help you be productive. Each and every change is made for that sole reason. You can also check out our FAQs at the bottom of https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app Or Our privacy policy at https://www.darwinmail.app/privacy.php https://www.darwinmail.app/privacy.php

hmayer00 7y ago

Oh man this looks great, thanks Joey! I just made a couple of feature requests, Bundles and Mass Archive. But the whole thing looks and feels great, I'm super excited about it. Let me know when you support multiple accounts and I'll happily drop you some cash (for silly reasons I have a few accounts, and i'm not eager to juggle multiple clients).

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
You are an absolute legend! Thank you! I've reviewed them.. and let me just say... YES! YES, I will add mass archive functionality. YES, I will work on bundles for Darwin Mail. YES, multiple accounts are on the horizon. I'm so happy you like DarwinMail. I completely understand your use case, I can relate to you, my man. I'm open to any and all suggestions for features/improvements! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Bundles are now available with DarwinMail! https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app

pbhjpbhj 7y ago

Maybe it's obvious to others but I didn't really know what you were selling until the first FAQ. Maybe you need a strapline something like "a new way to work with your Google Mail". I thought it was perhaps an independent MUA app (and assumed it was going to be Mac only, because of the name). When I first arrived on the page I clicked your first call to action button, which takes one to a Google login, but backed out because I hadn't a clue at that point what it was. Looks like "a front-end to gmail using Google's API", I guess you need to put that in non-tech speak.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
No no anything that's not completely obvious to everyone who visits needs to be changed. Thank you for your feedback. I've thought about what you said (albeit very quickly) and made changes to the homepage https://www.darwinmail.app/index.php https://www.darwinmail.app/index.php The homepage subtitle: "Your Google Inbox replacement: reach new levels of productivity." And a below the hero image: "An evolutionary way to work with your emails." - I think I can expand on this one.. any ideas?
- Waterluvian 7y ago
  Off topic but I've never heard of "hero image" until now and looked it up. Has boilerplate web design become so normalized that everything has a name?
  - wnscooke 7y ago
    That's quite an old term.
  - frolig 7y ago
    ... yes, so?
    - Waterluvian 7y ago
      It's fascinating. So much creative breadth enabled by modern web and we've converted quite well one the one format for selling a new product or idea. Not necessarily bad. I'm excited to see how this diverges again.

laser 7y ago

Looks cool! Any plans for pinning and bundling/one click archiving entire bundles? Those two features are what I miss most since getting kicked off Inbox.

dinkydani 7y ago
Ohh yes I also really miss pinning. Starring just doesn't cut it for me
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Please see above comment as Pinning already exists for Darwin Mail users! Should I add a feature spotlight for Pinning to the homepage though? I don't think it's clear that Darwin Mail supports Pinning as of now! Thank you so much for your feedback :) This kind of feedback is what makes products great!
  - dinkydani 7y ago
    Yes I think so! It's a major Inbox feature that people miss. You should probably focus on implementing the most missed Inbox features after launch :D
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      I could not agree with you more! I'm so happy that lots have been suggested on our feedback board https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php However, I'm going to merge that with DarwinMail's Trello board soon and make the whole thing public :) I will also allow upvoting, comments and user-created feedback and suggestions!
DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Thanks for your feedback! You can actually already Pin in DarwinMail :) There's a lever on the right of the search bar (from your mail inbox). Click that to show all your Pinned emails. You can also hover over any mail to show its actions. The Pin is second from the left. Next to the star ;) as for bundling/and one-click archiving bundles.. that's been requested a few times today and I will be working on it asap. https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php If you have any more requests let me know or post them at the above link!

andybak 7y ago

Looks nice but currently does no more than I can already achieve with a new skin on Gmail. (I'm using http://flowapps.co/inboxtheme/ http://flowapps.co/inboxtheme/ ) I know it's been mentioned elsewhere but Inbox Bundles are pretty much the main reason Inbox was a superior client. Since being forced back to Gmail it's the only thing I've missed and I've had to revert back to old email discipline (daily clearouts and ruthless unsubscribing) to get over it's loss.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
1. I understand that the product can only become great if each & every suggestion is listened to, so thank you! 2. DarwinMail has a public roadmap, public changelog, and open lines of communication. 3. The primary focus of Darwin Mail is to help you be productive. Each and every change is made for that sole reason. They're 3 reasons why I believe DarwinMail is worth the try! Also, bundles are definitely on the todo list. I also genuinely want to know how DarwinMail can help with "daily clearouts and ruthless unsubscribing"?
- andybak 7y ago
  > I understand that the product can only become great if each & every suggestion is listened to I've actually heard strong arguments for the opposite. Your vision is what counts. People often don't know what they want until you show them.
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    That's a fair point. I thought of that too when posting. I believe you need to consider both angles: - How to build a product people love based on what they want - How to build a product that is sustainable & interesting based on what you think should be built It's a difficult thing to get right. I'm definitely going to try.
DarwinMailApp 7y ago
BUNDLES are LIVE on DarwinMail You asked for it and you got it! Some have called bundles 'The next evolution of email'. With DarwinMail, now you can use them too. https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app

SargeZT 7y ago

Quick bug report for you. If you have a category name with a '/' in it, jquery errors out due to $('#sideBar #' + prettyLabelName) having a / in it, which makes it think it's a selector. If you change all instances of $('#sideBar #' + prettyLabelName) to $('#sideBar #' + $.escapeSelector(prettyLabelName)), it should rectify that. As it stands now, if you have a category with a / in it the site is unusable; and the same would probably be true if you had a category starting with a . or #.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Thank you so so much for your suggestion! I also love that you were straight in with the exact fix! Thanks, Sarge! PS: I've made that change and it's live on https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app (threadAPI & labelsAPI) ;) If you have any more, let me know!
- SargeZT 7y ago
  Sure thing. Here's some more: You can open any number of the menu options and the previous ones don't close. https://i.imgur.com/NxKVk6W.png https://i.imgur.com/NxKVk6W.png Additionally, there doesn't appear to be an exit icon on any of them, though escape works. -- Accessing my spam folder freezes the app and results in the following stack trace: https://i.imgur.com/HkNbH67.png https://i.imgur.com/HkNbH67.png The message in the thread in question doesn't have a from attribute. -- Finally, using ctrl+c (to copy) in an email you're composing will open a new composition window. Might be best to disable that in an active text input or if text is selected. Edit: Also, a 'mark all as done' button like Inbox had would be greatly appreciated.
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    Wow wow WOWW! This is the kind of feedback I really really love. You took your time writing this. You went into perfect detail. You are really really helping, Sarge, thank you a million times over. This is amazing. Thank you. I have noted everything you said and will work on those in the coming days. Thank you so so much.

dinkydani 7y ago

Looks great and I do miss the old Inbox design but like many people have said the main Inbox feature I miss is bundles. Do you have any plans to add similar bundling functionality? Just saw you said you do intend to support it! Let me know when this is done and you can have all of my money :D

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
That's amazing! I thought for a second "has he not read the rest of the comment?" ha ha. There are a lot of comments though. People are adding requests to our feedback board! So head on down, upvote the bundles' idea & maybe even follow me on Twitter to be in the know! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Bundles are now available with DarwinMail! https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app

tvanantwerp 7y ago

Very nice--I was hoping someone would build something like this! One small thing I noticed: I always kept the menu pane open in Inbox. When I open it in Darwin and refresh, the menu pane is closed again rather than persisted.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
That's a very good point. Adding it to the todo list! (soon) Check it out here: https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php Is it good enough to use for now though?

ddalex 7y ago

I tried to test it, but I literally don't feel comfortable giving somebody full access to my email. I don't know your practices, security protocols, etc. I'd feel way more comfortable if this would be an app or a browser add-on that would handle everything locally, without sharing the access token with your servers.

ymolodtsov 7y ago
How many emails clients do you know that don’t need access to your mail?
- amelius 7y ago
  Does that matter? Why would you give, instead of just Google, two companies access to your emails?
  - skybrian 7y ago
    Well, 2+N companies depending on what servers the people you correspond with use. That's the nature of a federated protocol.
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      Ha ha. Very clever spin, and it's the truth!
      - amelius 7y ago
        However ... the larger N, the weaker the argument. Because each of the participants has only a fraction of your e-mails.
        DarwinMailApp 7y ago
        That is a fair point, amelius! However, I won't be giving any third parties access to DarwinMail ;)

gxwmg 7y ago

If you have third-party cookies disabled it just crashes. I understand they are necessary to make this work but an error message should be shown.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Ohhh no! That is not good enough, I'm sorry :( I will find the root cause asap and fix this issue! If you wish, you can report the issue here: https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
- piccolbo 7y ago
  Sorry, I am not opening a trello account to report bugs. I am debugging your app for free, just asking not to have so sign yet another one-sided term of service doc. I also have problems with content security policy, see below: Content Security Policy: Ignoring “http:” within script-src: ‘strict-dynamic’ specified Content Security Policy: The page’s settings observed the loading of a resource at inline (“script-src”). A CSP report is being sent. Source: try{(function overrideDefaultMethods(r, g, b, a, scriptId, storedObjectPrefix) { var scriptNode = document.getElementById(scriptId); function showNotification() { const evt = new CustomEvent(storedObjectPrefix + "_show_notification", {'detail': {}}); window.dispatchEvent(evt); }

VadimPR 7y ago

Will it support categorising trips like Inbox did?

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Categorising trips is one of the features I miss the most for sure! Bundling that's been requested a few times today and I will be working on it asap. https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php Thank you so much for your feedback :)
DarwinMailApp 7y ago
BUNDLES are LIVE on DarwinMail. You asked for it and you got it! Some have called bundles 'The next evolution of email'. With DarwinMail, now you can use them too. https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app
- standcrafted 7y ago
  Does this include trips? i don't see any mention of that on your site.

xhgdvjky 7y ago

I probably would have been all for this a few weeks ago. but since trying the Gmail app, all I miss is bundles and the sleek mobile app. this has neither of those. also, is it me, or are you selling the same thing for $3 and for $25?

bleuarff 7y ago
3$/month or 25$/year. But yes, it's the same plan.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Thanks for replying to that!
- xhgdvjky 7y ago
  ty missed that
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    I'm already planning a simpler UI for the pricing! Thank you for your feedback :)
DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Yeah, I was so busy developing at that stage I really didn't want to release until DarwinMail had more features. Bundles are on the todo list You are so right about the pricing though. It's too confusing. I will change that asap as they are the same plan, it's just that the yearly plan works out cheaper. Please add any feedback you have here! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php

mcintyre1994 7y ago

You don't mention pinning, do you support that/is it on the todo list? I notice you have the switch that Inbox used for toggling pinned only, what does that do here?

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Thanks for your feedback! You can actually already Pin in DarwinMail :) You've already seen the lever on the right of the search bar. Click that to show all your Pinned emails. You can also hover over any mail to show its actions. The Pin is second from the left. Next to the star ;) I will, however, add Pinning to the feature spotlights on the homepage!

lxe 7y ago

Can I select all?

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
A very simple request! Select all emails I'm guessing? Funnily enough, you can't - not yet! But I've added that to my todo list.
- lxe 7y ago
  Yes -- it's a simple and useful feature that's been missing from Inbox and Gmail Mobile for years. Thank you!
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    Please check the roadmap for progress reports on the select all features :) https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php

dgudkov 7y ago

>We take your privacy seriously. I'm sure you do, but please please please -- don't use this cliché. It's superficial and off-putting. Better explain specifically what you do for it. And then let us decide if you take our privacy seriously or not.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
You are so right! Thank you for your feedback. Changed it to "Your privacy is important. Darwin will never record, distribute or sell your personal data to any third parties."
- no_wizard 7y ago
  Question I have: do you need to actually collect this information at all? I appreciate the no share, but if a service never collects it to begin with then it’s never an issue including if you get hacked for instance. I’m curious not a judgement.
  - EduardoBautista 7y ago
    The app does need to know what your email address at gmail is in order to work.
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      Correct! Other than that there is no need to collect much other information at all. Google Analytics is currently how I see how users found DarwinMail & where they came from. Google Analytics also provides info such as users device and browser type. A list of the data Google Analytics collects can be found here: https://www.shivarweb.com/2977/what-does-google-analytics-do https://www.shivarweb.com/2977/what-does-google-analytics-do Google Analytics is the defacto standard for millions of websites across the web.
      - markovbot 7y ago

Skywing 7y ago

How does the undo send work? Does it store the email on your server for X seconds before dispatching through gmail?

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Nope! It doesn't send the email until after 0 - 30 seconds, so you have a chance to undo it :)
- leesalminen 7y ago
  So, if I were to close the app at second 17, the email wouldn’t get sent?
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    That is correct. However, would you think again if a little pop-up reminder told you just before you exited the app? To be fair though, I keep my email tab opened all day. I never close it!

tsumnia 7y ago

Darwin Mail seems to struggle with nested labels - https://imgur.com/a/w7PzoY3 https://imgur.com/a/w7PzoY3 To be productive on GMail, I have tons of filters, labels, and use the inbox as my "todo" pile. Once something is done, its filed into is respective label. However, since I have nested labels to divide organizations, platforms, and classes by semester, Darwin doesn't organize them well. Here is a side by side comparison to GMail - https://imgur.com/a/W6IqUrW https://imgur.com/a/W6IqUrW

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Nested Labels is a fantastic idea! Thank you so so much for your feedback. It's really not a difficult feature at all. Thank you for suggesting it. I can completely see your use case also, it is a must. I have added nested labels to the backlog and will work on it asap :)
DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Please check out our public roadmap to track progress on this! https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php

spectramax 7y ago

I really like text-only dense interfaces such as what Sourcehut.org is doing with Git repos. I would love to see this type of minimal interface for email - while others may like background images and such, I prefer text-only sense UI with minimal bloat for speed! Seriously though, DarwinMail is impressive! Could you tell us if custom domains are supported?

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
That's quite fascinating! Thank you for the interesting perspective :) I will mock up some minimal interface designs. Perhaps a mail distraction free mode (we currently support a distraction-free mode for typing emails). This could be very cool :D Thank you so much! They're not (I don't think ha!). Could you tell me more about how a custom domain would work with DarwinMail?
- spectramax 7y ago
  Custom domain as in, email@mydomain.com.
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    Thank you for your follow up :) I know what you mean by custom domains, I'm just not sure how they would be used with DarwinMail? What significance do they have in this context? Sorry I may be missing the point entirely! :)

dmix 7y ago

Feedback: your pricing section was a bit confusing. It says "Pro Lite" and "Pro Plus", and both list the same long list of features. In reality it's just "Pro Monthly" and "Pro Yearly" where the only difference is you save 30%. The "Lite" and "Plus" part makes it seem like there are three plans and the Plus one has the most features/benefits...

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
You are so right about the pricing. It's too confusing. I will change that asap as they are the same plan, it's just that the yearly plan works out cheaper :)
OJFord 7y ago
Huh, I missed that it was yearly, just saw a way bigger number and assumed it was basically a donation tear.
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Well, that is some feedback I will have to incorporate into the design of a new pricing table :L
  - giancarlostoro 7y ago
    Pro Monthly and Pro Annually might make more sense or Pro Yearly or whatever.
    - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
      Ahh yes, of course! Thanks
      - giancarlostoro 7y ago
        No problem, sometimes the best way to market something is to be explicit about meaning instead of trying to sound fancy and cool. Great web page and product otherwise btw! I hope you can gain enough traction to invest in more than just gmail.

fiatjaf 7y ago

I'm desperate for a Gmail replacement that uses the Gmail API. I'll give this a try because I didn't find any other one and the canonical Gmail web client is utterly broken, too heavy, too slow. I don't want any enhancements, just basic email threads. Does anyone have a recommendation?

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
That's quite fascinating! Thank you for the interesting perspective :) I will mock up some minimal interface designs. Perhaps a mail distraction free mode (we currently support a distraction-free mode for typing emails). This could be very cool :D

jlelse 7y ago

My privacy is important, that's why I'm not using Gmail. Great that you take privacy serious, but building a service that only works with Gmail doesn't really help with privacy.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Thank you for your feedback! Some of our features such as templates, dark mode, custom backgrounds are built on top of DarwinMail - and do not interact with Google or Gmails APIs whatsoever. Most of DarwinMail works via the Gmail API, but not all :) Edit: And the majority of the feature requests on this thread will not interact with Gmail either once they are created. So Google cannot track as much usage statistics as they would have otherwise. Google cannot demand I give them any of this information. To be honest, I will not even have most of it. It will all happen on your browser.

vijaybritto 7y ago

Opening an email with a calendar event in it downloads a file with some meta data. I think this is a bug. I opened a mail from meetup dot com and it downloaded a file multiple times.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
That is definitely a bug! Can you tell me more? Perhaps show me your console output? (Right click -> inspect -> click the console tab)
- ddalex 7y ago
  I had excellent experience with Sentry (https://sentry.io/welcome/ https://sentry.io/welcome/) to capture errors that happen on the client side in production. You need to be careful with the sensitive data that gets sent to Sentry, but it's a good tool. Not being affiliated with them in any way, just a tool I find helpful.
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    Thank you so much for the suggestion :) I love Sentry, but I don't think I should use it here. We are dealing with users emails, and I want to be as transparent as possible. I really should not add another product to the mix until I have earned enough trust and proven that DarwinMail is in no way malicious. I simply want DarwinMail to be a no-strings-attached upgrade for us.
- vijaybritto 7y ago
  Sorry I'm in mobile now
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    That's ok :) Please let me know when you can and I will look into fixing that right away :)

SpikeDad 7y ago

I was totally confused. It has nothing to do with Darwin, the open source components of macOS? And you refer to it as an .app which it isn't? Even more confusing is that you haven't tested it with Safari?

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Correct. Correct. Incorrect. DarwinMail is a mobile responsive web app :) I have tested DarwinMail with many browsers and found many differences in the way it behaves as many browsers tend to support various types of web functionalities in different ways. For example, clicking a button in Chrome does not behave the same way as clicking a button in Firefox or Safari. I have tested so many different behaviours on many different browsers. I am in the process of cataloguing every specific web functionality I require in DarwinMail and making a chart of those functionalities across several browsers to ensure I know exactly what needs to be tested, what is working and what needs to be fixed.

city41 7y ago

I'm glad someone is filling this gap. As a huge Inbox fan I'm intrigued. But when Google warns DarwinMail will be able to "View and modify but not delete your email", I don't know if I can take the plunge. For me, what I really want is reminders integrated into my mail routine (the killer feature of Inbox IMO), and I think that can be done in a way that maintains privacy better.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Hey there! I really wish Google would be clearer about what this means. This allows DarwinMail to create your email (when you use the compose functionality), modify your email, and send your email (when you click the send button). This also allows you to update and save drafts. https://developers.google.com/gmail/api/auth/scopes https://developers.google.com/gmail/api/auth/scopes I hope that helps alleviate your worries somewhat :) We have reminder functionality available! It is part of my everyday routine too! Could you suggest a way to allow people to use DarwinMail while 'maintaining privacy'? I am learning exactly what you would like here :)
- city41 7y ago
  You can read the emails I am composing, but not read the emails I receive? That is better, and I could always compose sensitive emails in gmail. So possibly I'd give this a shot with my personal email. I'd also like to use this at work, but Boomerang[0] was deemed not allowed, so I would imagine Darwin would also not be allowed. I'm guessing Darwin stores the reminder data on its own servers? That doesn't bother me, most reminders are quite benign. For reminders that maintain privacy, I would imagine one would need to write a browser extension that threads reminders into gmail. Which doesn't sound like much fun, but also a pretty primitive integration would probably be good enough. [0]https://www.boomeranggmail.com/ https://www.boomeranggmail.com/
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    DarwinMail packages your email before it's sent into a raw format (that's not comprehensible text, but a mix of letters and numbers - like IBASDBAA2982NFIUEXJWI02FDIEWD) - but a lot longer! When the mail is received on another client (Outlook, IMAP, etc) the client knows how to parse the email - to show it to you. I can't speak for other email clients, but I can tell you with all certainty, that DarwinMail does not store any of this email data. DarwinMail just displays it to you on your device. The code is all available for you to look at. On DarwinMail just right click -> inspect and you can see everything. Reminders are stored in your browser. They do not touch DarwinMail's servers :)

vldr 7y ago

I can't seem to get passed the authentication with firefox. chromium works fine.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Ohhh noes! Can you please take a screenshot & upload to Imgur? Show me your console please as I will know exactly what to do then! (From the loading screen -> right click -> inspect -> click the console tab) I will be able to see then and fix it for you!

dancedar 7y ago

Do you have an issue tracker/feature request a la git? This would be super useful for all to provide feedback in a cohesive manner. Also, a reddit thread would get a lot more feedback as I'm sure there are many more with a reddit account than hn...I just signed up to hn to post...

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Currently, the public issues are tracked via https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php And I have a private Trello board (which I'm going to make public). Here are two Reddit posts! https://www.reddit.com/r/inbox/comments/beaek8/how_come_nobody_has_talked_about_darwin_mail_yet/ https://www.reddit.com/r/inbox/comments/beaek8/how_come_nobo... https://www.reddit.com/r/inbox/comments/bfa6f3/i_built_darwin_mail_as_a_google_inbox_replacement/ https://www.reddit.com/r/inbox/comments/bfa6f3/i_built_darwi... Personally, I think this Hacker News thread is the best thing that ever happened to DarwinMail :)

appleflaxen 7y ago

I was excited to try darwinmail when I saw that keyboard shortcuts were front-and-center on the UI, anticipating a dev-centric tool for people who understand the efficiency of not having to use the mouse. But then I used the app, and found that all the keyboard shortcuts were different :( There was discussion on HN regarding the ability to customize them, but I think even more important is an option to "Use defailt GMail keyboard shortcuts"

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Using the existing Gmail shortcuts is exactly what I want. You are so right. Please bear with me as I make the necessary adjustments over the coming days. Thank you :)

appleflaxen 7y ago

your bug report / feedback form requires the creation of an account. many people who just tried the service and found a deal-breaking problem would give the feedback anonymously, but aren't going to want to create a new account just to provide feedback to a service they won't ever use again. There are issues with anonymous forms, but consider the consequences of requiring an account/email.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Hello, Thank you very much for your feedback. I have already decided that I am going to remove that feedback form and allow users to post anonymously, email me directly, tweet me or look at our public Trello board to see it their requests is already being considered or is in progress :)

scottgreenstone 7y ago

Started playing around with Darwin this week. It has great potential as an Inbox by GMail replacement. Looking forward to seeing a mobile version hopefully in the near future. Biggest thing missing rightn now is Reminders integration with Google Calendar and Home/Assistant. For some reason Gmail is using Google Tasks instead and that is useless without complete integration with the Google Ecosystem, so Reminders is the right way to go.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Hey Scott! :) Thank you. I too use Google calendar quite a lot. To add the reminders I create in DarwinMail to Google calendar would be an amazing lift in productivity. I personally want this feature and will work on it sooner rather than later. Thank you for your suggestion.

scottgreenstone 7y ago

Another requirement to make this truly an Inbox replacement and not just a skin for Gmail is auto bundling such as Trips and Purchases, as well as the ability to customize the auto bundling if necessary. In addition the need to show bundles only at specific times like in INbox would be perfect for productivity.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Wow wow wow, snoozing bundles you say? <3 Bundles have been requested a couple of times in this thread :) You can be sure that I will be working on it very soon! However snoozing bundles is a stellar use case. Thank you for the amazing feedback!
- DarwinMailApp 7y ago
  Bundling is at the top of the list! You can see how far along it is and check when it will be released here: https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php

jrazz1 7y ago

So far we've signed up and tested Darwin mail's free version using Brave browser. The layout looks very familiar to the now defunct Inbox by Google. Great job with the design and familiarity. In talking through the service, we've found that it is slow on mobile at this stage in the development. At one point the menu under your Google photo (the one with settings in it) got stuck on the screen even when opening the side menu with drafts, sent, etc. was open. Another thing we noticed and would like changed is that if you click drafts our sent mail or another category, you have to click again to close the side menu to see your chosen category. These are all things I think will be fixed soon if development persists. The one thing that's going to be interesting to see how it turns out it's the bundling. Hopefully he'll get it right!

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Thank you so much for your feedback! I have added it all to our public Trello Board :) https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php
DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Bundles are now available with DarwinMail! https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app

Jack1012 7y ago

I personally replaced Google Inbox with an app called Spike that turns your existing email into a chat like conversation. It has a unified inbox so you can manage all of your accounts simultaneously. It sits on top of your existing email (Gmail, Office365 (e.g Outlook), Exchange, iCloud, Yahoo and any IMAP account and is available on all platforms (web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android). It has a lot of unique features like: encryption, snooze, Amazing search capabilities, voice and video calls, unified inbox with all of your accounts, and it organises my emails automatically into the ones that are important and the ones that are not (like newsletters and various unknown senders). I also love that it is “conversation” like mail so the layout is really easy to read and follow.

Angie_orely 7y ago

Nice job! I still use Spikenow.com - the popular conversational Email that became the official alternative to Inbox by Google. Available on all devices...

lisq199 7y ago

I didn't really find Google Inbox that appealing, but this looks intriguing.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Wow!! Thank you so much for the lovely feedback <3 I really appreciate it! Please let me know if you want any features added!
- ranjitc 7y ago
  same here! i am toying with the idea of using darwin in supplement to gmail, maybe narrow down my mail to a todo list and then use darwin to work through it... will use it a bit more and get back to you with feedback
  - DarwinMailApp 7y ago
    Thank you so much buddy! Be sure to let me know of any feedback you have :) https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php

Fire-Dragon-DoL 7y ago

How are reminders implemented? Do they use google reminders behind the scenes?

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
They don't! The reminders exist on your browser -> however I have added a task to convert them to Google's reminders so that you can also add them to your calendar. You can track the progress of this on our roadmap :) https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php https://www.darwinmail.app/feedback.php

timvdalen 7y ago

I got really excited by the title, but as other people have mentioned, bundles are really important to me. Can I sign up for a mailing list somewhere?

DarwinMailApp 7y ago
Bundles are now available with DarwinMail! https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app You can also sign up for the mailing list on the homepage :)