8 ms·

I miss Inbox, so I hacked Gmail with a little CSS magic (2019)

65 points by awiesenhofer 7y ago

nathias 7y ago
yay -S neomutt
niceworkbuddy 7y ago
There is another way. GMail allows to use compact interface. There is option to turn it on: click on 'gears' icon in top right on the top of table/list with e-mails and switch onto compact view. You can also turn off those "Primary", "Promotions", etc. labels.
- janvdberg 7y ago
  Yes, this. With no external (CSS) tweaks my Gmail interface looks just fine, tight and compact: https://piks.nl/upload/upload/chrome_2020-01-24_13-26-06.png https://piks.nl/upload/upload/chrome_2020-01-24_13-26-06.png
- beowulfey 7y ago
  Those are options but definitely don’t come anywhere near what the author has achieved! I’m actually very impressed with the new interface. I can’t believe it, but I’m actually at the point where I no longer enjoy using Gmail. I have an easier time using the Windows Mail application at this point... which is really telling I think.
bovermyer 7y ago
I solved the Gmail UX problem by switching to a completely different email provider, Migadu.
z58 7y ago
I use https://simpl.fyi/ https://simpl.fyi/, much more radical.
- tyingq 7y ago
  "Simplify was made by me, Michael Leggett. I was Gmail's lead designer from 2008 to 2012 and co-founded Google Inbox." I suppose there's not going to be a better "make Gmail look like Inbox" solution than this.
torgard 7y ago
I had no idea that there are ads in Gmail. This is infuriating. I would be absolutely fuming, but I don't use the web client, so I didn't realize this was a thing. But holy shit! How is that okay?
- beowulfey 7y ago
  There have been ads for over a decade, but they didn’t appear within the interface as if they were mail.
  - torgard 7y ago
    Yeah I should probably have clarified. It seems like such a dark pattern. It's astoundingly evil to me.
    - jrockway 7y ago
      I am sure many agree with you and would happily use your free email service that doesn't have ads.
- LeonM 7y ago
  It's a free service. Free as in free beer. There are real costs in hosting an email service, they need to pay for it somehow. If you don't want ads, just pay for a G-suite account.
  - torgard 7y ago
    Well that would certainly explain why I haven't seen these ads - I pay for G-suite. Nonetheless, I find this to be heinous. Practically the same as Google vouching for spam emails, pushing them directly into your inbox.
codazoda 7y ago
Some of these suggestions are just settings. For example, you can turn off the Hangouts integration and turn off the tabs. I like some of the others, such as turning off ads and widening lines. One odd thing... I don't think I've ever seen ads. Maybe my ad blocker is clearing those for me already.
Lucasoato 7y ago
Is there anyone else who has problems with medium.com? :/
- rtp 7y ago
  Yes, it requires me to create an account to be able to read the article. And this, kids, is why you shouldn't use Medium if you want people to read your stuff!
Snetry 7y ago
GMail has ads? Never noticed so UBlock origin did its job well I find the GMail UX to be a simple for basic tasks e.g. opening an email But anything more is rather annoying
- degenerate 7y ago
  uBlock Origin + these settings make gmail very clean and distraction-free. It's also much easier to use for non-techies (parents, grandmas) with these settings: [General] Hover actions: Disable [General] Smart Reply: Off [General] Button labels: Text [Inbox] Inbox type: Unread first [see note] [Inbox] Importance markers: No markers [Inbox] Filtered mail: Don't override [Chat] Chat off [Advanced] Unread message icon: Enable [Settings icon] > Display Density > Compact NOTE: I find the [Inbox type] setting of "Unread First" works extremely well for myself and others, but this is a preference you will want to set based on the user. Either way, get rid of the multi-tabs!
- savingGrace 7y ago
  My first thought was, here is someone technically skilled enough to modify the css of a page they do not own, yet they aren't blocking ads with an adblocker? I hope they did not waste the time on hiding the ads manually..
  - bilekas 7y ago
    I know many SW engineers that will keep ads on as a matter of principle. They like to support the sites they use the most and believe that giving back in views/clicks is okay. I'm with you but different folks different strokes!
    - jbarberu 7y ago
      That's what you have exceptions for. (whitelisting)
  - mywittyname 7y ago
    I use Firefox with noscript + ABP for general purpose browsing and default Chrome for Google-related tasks. I find that ads serve as a reminder to think about whether I should be doing something in Firefox instead.
grandpoobah 7y ago
The pain of maintaining this long term (look at those CSS identifiers with jibberish names, you know those aren't set in stone) is going to be worse than the pain of adapting to crappy Gmail. You know what else sucks about Gmail, other than just the design? * There's no option to consolidate multiple emails into a single thread (so you're at the whim of the sender to maintain the same thread) * There's no "Send after X duration" or "Send at X time", so you can't write something at 3am and schedule it to be sent during work hours. [Edit: I stand corrected, there is a Scheduled Send option now] * There's no way to add private notes to email threads. So if I'm told something over the phone which is relevant to the email conversation (but private), I have to dump it into some other notes app where I'll lose it. [Edit: No, confidential mode is not what I'm looking for] I've said the same thing about FastMail before, these email guys SUCK at innovation. The only thing good about Gmail is the spam detection and the superior deliverability of using a Gmail address.
- discreditable 7y ago
  > There's no "Send after X duration" or "Send at X time" They added scheduled send recently. https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9214606 https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9214606
- jeremyvisser 7y ago
  > There's no "Send after X duration" or "Send at X time", so you can't write something at 3am and schedule it to be sent during work hours. Actually, this exact feature exists: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9214606 https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9214606
- freddex 7y ago
  Agreed on the point about maintainance! As to your other points: * There actually is a "scheduled send" send feature, but it is a bit hidden: The "Send" button has a little dropdown arrow, there you can select "scheduled send". Don't know how long that has been there, I remember missing that feature, too. * There is "confidential mode", which I haven't used extensively, but that might be what you are looking for. It's one of the buttons next to "Send".
- 7y ago
zojirushibottle 7y ago
oh my god i do miss inbox! funny how time flies because i even almost forgot about it. what i miss most is the auto grouping (tagging? or whatever it was called) and the one column layout. i found it less distracting. never had the sidebar opened! inbox was email that simply worked. never got in your way. not for the "pros", that's what gmail is for. it had its place. and yet...
- veritas3241 7y ago
  Google dropping inbox was what finally got me abandon their products as much as I could. Switch to Firefox and use DDG as my primary search provider. FYI, Darwin Mail[0] was made soon after Inbox shuttered as a paid alternative. I gave it a spin but didn't stick with it mainly out of apathy. [0] https://darwinmail.app/ https://darwinmail.app/
Aaargh20318 7y ago
People use the web interface for GMail ? I just have it set up via IMAP on my laptop, tablet and phone. No need to ever use it via the web interface. What would be the advantage of using the web interface vs. just using a native mail client ?
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
  The first circumstance that comes to mind is when you don’t have app installation privileges.
  - raxxorrax 7y ago
    Thunderbird portable can help you here. But my first step would be to escalate while not having those privileges. Let yourself be put in another network if there are security cocerns.
- XelNika 7y ago
  > What would be the advantage of using the web interface vs. just using a native mail client ? For a generation of people who have only ever had a single email provider, the web interface works well enough. Native mail clients have disadvantages too. Few native mail clients are cross-platform whereas Gmail's web interface is consistent across devices. The web interface is also very obviously not tied to the device. I know that it merely is out of ignorance, but I can't tell you how often someone has told me that they can't check their email right now "because it is on the computer at home". Not to mention that IMAP/SMTP configuration might as well be black magic to most people.
- javagram 7y ago
  A lot of native mail clients don’t work well with GMail labels or “archive” feature. Labels are represented in IMAP as individual folders, so emails get duplicated multiple times locally if they have multiple labels. Also, Filters and other settings can’t be managed through IMAP. I used to use Apple Mail with IMAP, but nowadays I split the difference and use Mailplane to access my Gmail on desktop (essentially an application that shows the web app in a window), and the Gmail native apps on iPhone/iPad.
cinnamonheart 7y ago
Basic HTML Gmail hasn't changed in years and works perfectly fine for all of my needs for gmail: reading and sending emails. I find the current UI to be quite unusable, but at least there's still the basic html option.
- longtom 7y ago
  Same here. It load amazingly quickly and fulfills all my email needs. I'm using this simple userscript for VIM-like keyboard shortcuts: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/389680-google-mail-gmail-basic-html-version-keyboard-shortcuts https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/389680-google-mail-gmail-b...
- ubercow13 7y ago
  Yep it's great. It loads way faster than IMAP would, I can see more than 40 emails on my screen at one time, and it has a very nice practical 2000s aesthetic with no unnecessary whitespace.
neilsimp1 7y ago
I've never understood why people don't prefer desktop email clients. Thunderbird is really great. I remember growing up, we used Outlook with our ISP-provided email addresses. The first time I ever saw webmail (it was probably Yahoo or Hotmail at the time) I was just confused. To me, web browsers are for browsing the web, and email clients are for accessing email. Eh, but what do I know. The article was interesting though.
- Accacin 7y ago
  I love Thunderbird, have used it for years and use it on all my laptops and desktops. But the search is absolutely awful! I can search for something using Mail App on my iPhone and it'll mostly find pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. On Thunderbird it never seems to even get close.
- savingGrace 7y ago
  +2 for Thunderbird I prefer my legacy desktop client that everyone else at my company bemoans.
- sweeneyrod 7y ago
  Gmail's keyboard shortcuts are good (at least if you're a vim user). You can easily get them in a desktop client with Mailspring though.
- efdee 7y ago
  On the other hand, I used Thunderbird for almost a decade, then switched to Gmail and never looked back. Mileages vary.
- aequitas 7y ago
  I've been only using desktop mail until Inbox by Gmail came along (and it's most important features where ported to Gmain). For me email has become my main TODO management. So everything goes into email and I heavily rely on Gmail's snooze to schedule stuff. On mobile the Gmail app is great but I haven't found a desktop client that is nothing more than 'Gmail in a standalone browser'. So I'm sticking with just having an extra tab open with Gmail.
- 7y ago
rb666 7y ago
To fix this once and for all, just use Fastmail. It has a beautiful and fast interface. And you can use your own domain, so you're not stuck with Google 4 life...
cfontes 7y ago
I miss Inbox too, it was a pleasure to use it. My inbox was always empty, no spam e-mails no useless stuff. Only actionable e-mails and scheduled tasks The people behind it should start a new business based on it.
roland35 7y ago
Yes, Inbox was great! Now that I can quickly archive or delete emails (on Android at least) with swipes I at least get by with Gmail. I agree with everyone else who recommends an email client like Thunderbird if you want to avoid the web client!
bla3 7y ago
For the tabs, Settings -> Inbox -> Inbox Type can disable them.
DarwinMailApp 7y ago
I’m Joey, the maker of DarwinMail. — DarwinMail 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 DarwinMail, which aims to replace and become better than Google Inbox ever was. — How & Why - How can DarwinMail become better than Inbox by Google? - Why would we use you over competitors? 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. — Features - Snoozing Running late? Or need to forget about an email for now? Snooze your emails and take care of them later. - Reminders Clear your mind with our reminders feature. Jot down your reminder so you don't forget about it. - Dark Mode A sleek and less distracting option for managing your email & todos while ensuring you're at your most productive. - Undo Send Do you ever wish you could take back what you just said in that email? - Custom Backgrounds Choose a custom Unsplash HD background to be displayed behind all your emails, ensuring you feel at home in your Inbox. - Templates Create multiple email templates (product launch, feedback, promotion, testing, recruiting etc) and use them in your emails to save you loads of time. - & much more according to your requests! Just let everyone know exactly what you would like! — Darwin Mail will evolve to become great over time, thanks to its users, and thanks to you. [1] https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app [2] https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous
- bilekas 7y ago
  There's a small irony in you advertising your platform in the wake of all the comments and OP complaining about ads in Gmail.
bilekas 7y ago
> Gmail is not designed for the user. It is designed to maximize your time spent in Gmail. When I read this, all those weird unrequested changes Google made to Gmail made so much more sense.
cpcallen 7y ago
I really don't understand why everyone has spent the last decade trying to get rid of colour in the GUI. Google themselves are one of the worst offenders (e.g. Docs and Sheets toolbar buttons), but Apple isn't far behind (e.g. finder sidebar icons). Even for someone with mild colourblindness, removing all traces of colour from a set of icons / buttons / labels just makes it harder to find the right one quickly.
Macha 7y ago
I never thought the intention was people actually look in the promotions or social tab, so it's odd here it's being viewed as a way to keep people in Gmail. To me it felt like a way to quarantine the Facebooks and linkedins of the world which email you every time a contact sneezed, or the stores that opt you into promotional emails in a way that doesn't shame those companies enough into trying to bypass it or complaining about anti-competitive behaviour if they got rightfully classed as spammers.
bArray 7y ago
To be honest, I think the way to go about implementing this would be to either use the basic HTML version of the web page (which seems to change rarely) or to build a native app and communicate with something like POP. This solution, as nice as it is, is really quite flakey. In the same breath, I can really recommend switching to Thunderbird. I run all my emails, RSS feeds and instant messaging through it all whilst being able to keep local backups of this valuable data.
jressey 7y ago
Why the hell is email so hard for people? You just answer an email or ignore + archive it when it comes in, it takes 15-20 minutes a day. Everything is searchable from there in a simple search bar. I have been in management so don't use 'too many emails' excuse. I was honestly surprised when people started talking about 'inbox zero' a couple years ago. I legit could not believe professional software people can't manage their email.
chadlavi 7y ago
Those CSS classes they're overriding look _awfully_ fragile.

65 points by awiesenhofer 7y ago

yay -S neomutt

There is another way. GMail allows to use compact interface. There is option to turn it on: click on 'gears' icon in top right on the top of table/list with e-mails and switch onto compact view. You can also turn off those "Primary", "Promotions", etc. labels.

janvdberg 7y ago
Yes, this. With no external (CSS) tweaks my Gmail interface looks just fine, tight and compact: https://piks.nl/upload/upload/chrome_2020-01-24_13-26-06.png https://piks.nl/upload/upload/chrome_2020-01-24_13-26-06.png
beowulfey 7y ago
Those are options but definitely don’t come anywhere near what the author has achieved! I’m actually very impressed with the new interface. I can’t believe it, but I’m actually at the point where I no longer enjoy using Gmail. I have an easier time using the Windows Mail application at this point... which is really telling I think.

bovermyer 7y ago

I solved the Gmail UX problem by switching to a completely different email provider, Migadu.

z58 7y ago

I use https://simpl.fyi/ https://simpl.fyi/, much more radical.

tyingq 7y ago
"Simplify was made by me, Michael Leggett. I was Gmail's lead designer from 2008 to 2012 and co-founded Google Inbox." I suppose there's not going to be a better "make Gmail look like Inbox" solution than this.

torgard 7y ago

I had no idea that there are ads in Gmail. This is infuriating. I would be absolutely fuming, but I don't use the web client, so I didn't realize this was a thing. But holy shit! How is that okay?

beowulfey 7y ago
There have been ads for over a decade, but they didn’t appear within the interface as if they were mail.
- torgard 7y ago
  Yeah I should probably have clarified. It seems like such a dark pattern. It's astoundingly evil to me.
  - jrockway 7y ago
    I am sure many agree with you and would happily use your free email service that doesn't have ads.
LeonM 7y ago
It's a free service. Free as in free beer. There are real costs in hosting an email service, they need to pay for it somehow. If you don't want ads, just pay for a G-suite account.
- torgard 7y ago
  Well that would certainly explain why I haven't seen these ads - I pay for G-suite. Nonetheless, I find this to be heinous. Practically the same as Google vouching for spam emails, pushing them directly into your inbox.

codazoda 7y ago

Some of these suggestions are just settings. For example, you can turn off the Hangouts integration and turn off the tabs. I like some of the others, such as turning off ads and widening lines. One odd thing... I don't think I've ever seen ads. Maybe my ad blocker is clearing those for me already.

Lucasoato 7y ago

Is there anyone else who has problems with medium.com? :/

rtp 7y ago
Yes, it requires me to create an account to be able to read the article. And this, kids, is why you shouldn't use Medium if you want people to read your stuff!

Snetry 7y ago

GMail has ads? Never noticed so UBlock origin did its job well I find the GMail UX to be a simple for basic tasks e.g. opening an email But anything more is rather annoying

degenerate 7y ago
uBlock Origin + these settings make gmail very clean and distraction-free. It's also much easier to use for non-techies (parents, grandmas) with these settings: [General] Hover actions: Disable [General] Smart Reply: Off [General] Button labels: Text [Inbox] Inbox type: Unread first [see note] [Inbox] Importance markers: No markers [Inbox] Filtered mail: Don't override [Chat] Chat off [Advanced] Unread message icon: Enable [Settings icon] > Display Density > Compact NOTE: I find the [Inbox type] setting of "Unread First" works extremely well for myself and others, but this is a preference you will want to set based on the user. Either way, get rid of the multi-tabs!
savingGrace 7y ago
My first thought was, here is someone technically skilled enough to modify the css of a page they do not own, yet they aren't blocking ads with an adblocker? I hope they did not waste the time on hiding the ads manually..
- bilekas 7y ago
  I know many SW engineers that will keep ads on as a matter of principle. They like to support the sites they use the most and believe that giving back in views/clicks is okay. I'm with you but different folks different strokes!
  - jbarberu 7y ago
    That's what you have exceptions for. (whitelisting)
- mywittyname 7y ago
  I use Firefox with noscript + ABP for general purpose browsing and default Chrome for Google-related tasks. I find that ads serve as a reminder to think about whether I should be doing something in Firefox instead.

grandpoobah 7y ago

The pain of maintaining this long term (look at those CSS identifiers with jibberish names, you know those aren't set in stone) is going to be worse than the pain of adapting to crappy Gmail. You know what else sucks about Gmail, other than just the design? * There's no option to consolidate multiple emails into a single thread (so you're at the whim of the sender to maintain the same thread) * There's no "Send after X duration" or "Send at X time", so you can't write something at 3am and schedule it to be sent during work hours. [Edit: I stand corrected, there is a Scheduled Send option now] * There's no way to add private notes to email threads. So if I'm told something over the phone which is relevant to the email conversation (but private), I have to dump it into some other notes app where I'll lose it. [Edit: No, confidential mode is not what I'm looking for] I've said the same thing about FastMail before, these email guys SUCK at innovation. The only thing good about Gmail is the spam detection and the superior deliverability of using a Gmail address.

discreditable 7y ago
> There's no "Send after X duration" or "Send at X time" They added scheduled send recently. https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9214606 https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9214606
jeremyvisser 7y ago
> There's no "Send after X duration" or "Send at X time", so you can't write something at 3am and schedule it to be sent during work hours. Actually, this exact feature exists: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9214606 https://support.google.com/mail/answer/9214606
freddex 7y ago
Agreed on the point about maintainance! As to your other points: * There actually is a "scheduled send" send feature, but it is a bit hidden: The "Send" button has a little dropdown arrow, there you can select "scheduled send". Don't know how long that has been there, I remember missing that feature, too. * There is "confidential mode", which I haven't used extensively, but that might be what you are looking for. It's one of the buttons next to "Send".
7y ago

zojirushibottle 7y ago

oh my god i do miss inbox! funny how time flies because i even almost forgot about it. what i miss most is the auto grouping (tagging? or whatever it was called) and the one column layout. i found it less distracting. never had the sidebar opened! inbox was email that simply worked. never got in your way. not for the "pros", that's what gmail is for. it had its place. and yet...

veritas3241 7y ago
Google dropping inbox was what finally got me abandon their products as much as I could. Switch to Firefox and use DDG as my primary search provider. FYI, Darwin Mail[0] was made soon after Inbox shuttered as a paid alternative. I gave it a spin but didn't stick with it mainly out of apathy. [0] https://darwinmail.app/ https://darwinmail.app/

Aaargh20318 7y ago

People use the web interface for GMail ? I just have it set up via IMAP on my laptop, tablet and phone. No need to ever use it via the web interface. What would be the advantage of using the web interface vs. just using a native mail client ?

TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
The first circumstance that comes to mind is when you don’t have app installation privileges.
- raxxorrax 7y ago
  Thunderbird portable can help you here. But my first step would be to escalate while not having those privileges. Let yourself be put in another network if there are security cocerns.
XelNika 7y ago
> What would be the advantage of using the web interface vs. just using a native mail client ? For a generation of people who have only ever had a single email provider, the web interface works well enough. Native mail clients have disadvantages too. Few native mail clients are cross-platform whereas Gmail's web interface is consistent across devices. The web interface is also very obviously not tied to the device. I know that it merely is out of ignorance, but I can't tell you how often someone has told me that they can't check their email right now "because it is on the computer at home". Not to mention that IMAP/SMTP configuration might as well be black magic to most people.
javagram 7y ago
A lot of native mail clients don’t work well with GMail labels or “archive” feature. Labels are represented in IMAP as individual folders, so emails get duplicated multiple times locally if they have multiple labels. Also, Filters and other settings can’t be managed through IMAP. I used to use Apple Mail with IMAP, but nowadays I split the difference and use Mailplane to access my Gmail on desktop (essentially an application that shows the web app in a window), and the Gmail native apps on iPhone/iPad.

cinnamonheart 7y ago

Basic HTML Gmail hasn't changed in years and works perfectly fine for all of my needs for gmail: reading and sending emails. I find the current UI to be quite unusable, but at least there's still the basic html option.

longtom 7y ago
Same here. It load amazingly quickly and fulfills all my email needs. I'm using this simple userscript for VIM-like keyboard shortcuts: https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/389680-google-mail-gmail-basic-html-version-keyboard-shortcuts https://greasyfork.org/en/scripts/389680-google-mail-gmail-b...
ubercow13 7y ago
Yep it's great. It loads way faster than IMAP would, I can see more than 40 emails on my screen at one time, and it has a very nice practical 2000s aesthetic with no unnecessary whitespace.

neilsimp1 7y ago

I've never understood why people don't prefer desktop email clients. Thunderbird is really great. I remember growing up, we used Outlook with our ISP-provided email addresses. The first time I ever saw webmail (it was probably Yahoo or Hotmail at the time) I was just confused. To me, web browsers are for browsing the web, and email clients are for accessing email. Eh, but what do I know. The article was interesting though.

Accacin 7y ago
I love Thunderbird, have used it for years and use it on all my laptops and desktops. But the search is absolutely awful! I can search for something using Mail App on my iPhone and it'll mostly find pretty much exactly what I'm looking for. On Thunderbird it never seems to even get close.
savingGrace 7y ago
+2 for Thunderbird I prefer my legacy desktop client that everyone else at my company bemoans.
sweeneyrod 7y ago
Gmail's keyboard shortcuts are good (at least if you're a vim user). You can easily get them in a desktop client with Mailspring though.
efdee 7y ago
On the other hand, I used Thunderbird for almost a decade, then switched to Gmail and never looked back. Mileages vary.
aequitas 7y ago
I've been only using desktop mail until Inbox by Gmail came along (and it's most important features where ported to Gmain). For me email has become my main TODO management. So everything goes into email and I heavily rely on Gmail's snooze to schedule stuff. On mobile the Gmail app is great but I haven't found a desktop client that is nothing more than 'Gmail in a standalone browser'. So I'm sticking with just having an extra tab open with Gmail.
7y ago

rb666 7y ago

To fix this once and for all, just use Fastmail. It has a beautiful and fast interface. And you can use your own domain, so you're not stuck with Google 4 life...

cfontes 7y ago

I miss Inbox too, it was a pleasure to use it. My inbox was always empty, no spam e-mails no useless stuff. Only actionable e-mails and scheduled tasks The people behind it should start a new business based on it.

roland35 7y ago

Yes, Inbox was great! Now that I can quickly archive or delete emails (on Android at least) with swipes I at least get by with Gmail. I agree with everyone else who recommends an email client like Thunderbird if you want to avoid the web client!

bla3 7y ago

For the tabs, Settings -> Inbox -> Inbox Type can disable them.

DarwinMailApp 7y ago

I’m Joey, the maker of DarwinMail. — DarwinMail 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 DarwinMail, which aims to replace and become better than Google Inbox ever was. — How & Why - How can DarwinMail become better than Inbox by Google? - Why would we use you over competitors? 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. — Features - Snoozing Running late? Or need to forget about an email for now? Snooze your emails and take care of them later. - Reminders Clear your mind with our reminders feature. Jot down your reminder so you don't forget about it. - Dark Mode A sleek and less distracting option for managing your email & todos while ensuring you're at your most productive. - Undo Send Do you ever wish you could take back what you just said in that email? - Custom Backgrounds Choose a custom Unsplash HD background to be displayed behind all your emails, ensuring you feel at home in your Inbox. - Templates Create multiple email templates (product launch, feedback, promotion, testing, recruiting etc) and use them in your emails to save you loads of time. - & much more according to your requests! Just let everyone know exactly what you would like! — Darwin Mail will evolve to become great over time, thanks to its users, and thanks to you. [1] https://www.darwinmail.app https://www.darwinmail.app [2] https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous https://twitter.com/joeytawadrous

bilekas 7y ago
There's a small irony in you advertising your platform in the wake of all the comments and OP complaining about ads in Gmail.

bilekas 7y ago

> Gmail is not designed for the user. It is designed to maximize your time spent in Gmail. When I read this, all those weird unrequested changes Google made to Gmail made so much more sense.

cpcallen 7y ago

I really don't understand why everyone has spent the last decade trying to get rid of colour in the GUI. Google themselves are one of the worst offenders (e.g. Docs and Sheets toolbar buttons), but Apple isn't far behind (e.g. finder sidebar icons). Even for someone with mild colourblindness, removing all traces of colour from a set of icons / buttons / labels just makes it harder to find the right one quickly.

Macha 7y ago

I never thought the intention was people actually look in the promotions or social tab, so it's odd here it's being viewed as a way to keep people in Gmail. To me it felt like a way to quarantine the Facebooks and linkedins of the world which email you every time a contact sneezed, or the stores that opt you into promotional emails in a way that doesn't shame those companies enough into trying to bypass it or complaining about anti-competitive behaviour if they got rightfully classed as spammers.

bArray 7y ago

To be honest, I think the way to go about implementing this would be to either use the basic HTML version of the web page (which seems to change rarely) or to build a native app and communicate with something like POP. This solution, as nice as it is, is really quite flakey. In the same breath, I can really recommend switching to Thunderbird. I run all my emails, RSS feeds and instant messaging through it all whilst being able to keep local backups of this valuable data.

jressey 7y ago

Why the hell is email so hard for people? You just answer an email or ignore + archive it when it comes in, it takes 15-20 minutes a day. Everything is searchable from there in a simple search bar. I have been in management so don't use 'too many emails' excuse. I was honestly surprised when people started talking about 'inbox zero' a couple years ago. I legit could not believe professional software people can't manage their email.

chadlavi 7y ago

Those CSS classes they're overriding look _awfully_ fragile.