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Gmail, Contacts, Assistant and Messages apps no longer support sending money
- unixhero 6y agoI have switched to Outlook.com for my main private business email and protonmail for emailing friends. Will back out of Google slowly over the next 5 years. The countdown has started.
- dilyevsky 6y agoGoogle pulls in more functionality into core services. Hn crowd: monopoly! Google pulls out rarely used features. Hn crowd: am I supposed use different app now?!? Not defending google here - there have been some highly questionable product decisions over the years, but this is just silly. Also how is outlook any better? Another public megacorp with even deeper government ties. As someone who grew up in the 90s i still remember Microsoft as more successful and meaner oracle.
- D895n9o33436N42 6y ago> Also how is outlook any better? Google: our business is ads, and you’re the product. Put more of your data into Gmail so that we can show you more ads and do a million other things that benefit us. Microsoft: our business is software and services and hardware and a bunch of other stuff you can pay us money for. E-mail service is the product, and you’re the customer.
- jeffbee 6y agoLiterally Microsoft: """Microsoft uses the data we collect to provide you with rich, interactive experiences. In particular, we use data to: [etc and so forth]; Advertise and market to you, which includes sending promotional communications, targeting advertising, and presenting you with relevant offers."""
- 0d311 6y agoThen why are there ads in my Windows 10 OS? Why the aggressive data sponging behavior? Microsoft is a lot better than Google, but I still feel like I am their product when I use their OS.
- tux1968 6y agoIt's much more insidious at the operating system level. It's easier to change email providers than your entire operating system. I'm shocked there isn't a louder outcry over Microsoft's intrusions this way into Windows.
- dilyevsky 6y agoIf Microsoft doesn’t show you ads why is “Upgrade to ad-free Premium” a thing? You can turn off ads by buying g suite (albeit its more expensive) or just use adblock of some kind.
- userbinator 6y agoThat's the old Microsoft. As of a few years ago, it has started to shift in the direction of Google too.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- esperent 6y agoSo what you're saying is that tech savvy people just don't like Google? Maybe it's because of the slow drop in quality of their search engine, their tendency to cancel projects that people relied on, and their questionable privacy practices? At least, that's why I don't like them. And that's not even mentioning the pit of conspiracy theory peddling, pedophile supporting nastiness that is Youtube.
- 40four 6y agoI don’t have a dog in the fight, I don’t choose Gmail or Outlook. But if I were to play devil’s advocate, I think I would argue Outlook is better on the grounds that Microsoft is not an advertising company. As a company, they don’t depend on distributing free software to folks who are willing to, or maybe ignorant they are trading their personal privacy in exchange. No doubt Microsoft is trying to monetize user data at this point as well, but their empire isn’t built on top of it. The parent comment said they use ProtonMail for personal, So I suspect they only reason they don’t choose that for business also is the weight the Microsoft name still holds. Many of us got sucked into the Google vortex a while back on the basis they gave us many of the best software options, in many categories. But at this point, there is nothing Google does that you can’t find an alternative of equal or better quality. So if one day a person realizes Google values don’t align with their own, slowly phasing out all Google services can only have a net positive.
- dilyevsky 6y agoMicrosoft business model is trying to insert themselves as a middleman between you and device in as many ways as possible and collect toll fees. I’m not a philosopher but not sure that’s ethically superior to showing ads (also they do show you ads)
- 40four 6y agoI don’t disagree, I think you’re right. I can just identify with folks trying to slowly de-google their lives, I’ve been on a similar mission around a year. The Microsoft name does still carry a lot of weight in the business world, so I suspect that’s the only reason the parent is still partially using them. If it were me I’d go ahead and go full protonmail (or others), but I get the reluctance.
- smt88 6y ago> trying to insert themselves as a middleman between you and device in as many ways as possible and collect toll fees So... they're a software company? Specifically an OS vendor? Seriously, how does your description imply anything unethical? You can't even buy a device today that forces you to use MS. You can always install something else or hack your Windows installation however you want.
- monksy 6y agoNot really.. it just becomes harder in some cases. For example Google Reader, that went no where and they just killed it. They really could have transformed mailing lists into rss feeds. Also, google trips. That was great to plan trips about. (Although their map collections is terrible)
- notriddle 6y agoIt's a basic You Moved My Cheese situation. Change can be good, but pointless change made for no user-visible reason is not.
- dgellow 6y ago> Google pulls in more functionality into core services. Hn crowd: monopoly! Google pulls out rarely used features. Hn crowd: am I supposed use different app now?!? As you surely know the HN crowd isn't a monolithic thing, it is made of a lot of people covering the entire spectrum of existing opinions. Different groups are complaining for different reasons, so that's really to be expected...
- garrettm 6y agoIf your address is still backed by Gmail, you could check out our new Inbox app at https://www.twobird.com https://www.twobird.com We think the inbox should support more than just mail. Currently Gmail-only, but working on Outlook (and more) support.
- WizardAustralis 6y agoI did the samething back in 2014. Instead of 5 years it only took about 6 months. Your mileage will vary.
- antpls 6y agoI tried Protonmail then I noticed they don't freely allow you to easily download all your data, as Google does. Denying a free easy access to your own data is borderline illegal, but Protonmail is probably too small to draw attention about it.
- dgellow 6y agoWhat do you mean by "download all your data"? ProtonMail Bridge allows you to connect to your account via any email client, from which you can download your complete mailbox: https://protonmail.com/bridge/ https://protonmail.com/bridge/ Edit: there is also the Import-Export tool https://protonmail.com/support/knowledge-base/export-import-emails/ https://protonmail.com/support/knowledge-base/export-import-.... And an export action from the web interface (though that's only for individual emails, so not practical for mass download).
- antpls 6y agoFirst sentence of your second link : "If you’re a ProtonMail free user, you can export emails individually and save them locally on your device". Good luck when you have 3000 emails and you are physically disabled. In other words, signing in and using the service is "free", but you must pay to quit it or move to another provider. There are also many other data than just emails : contact list, your private keys, the folders/tags you used, and all other personal data that Protomail may have about you. Facebook and Google allow you to download a single zip of _all_ your data, at any time you wish, _for free_. They do it because it is required by the _law_, not because they are being nice. So, yep. I would send a big warning to anyone who wants to try Protonmail, because Protonmail's terms of service uses dark pattern in that regard, and probably illegal in EU or California.
- dgellow 6y agoSo you’re talking specifically about the FREE tier, not the Prontomail service itself. If you want to get an export of all the data they have on you, you can send them a request via their support, they are compliant with Swiss privacy shield which is basically a more strict version of GDPR. They have 30 days to comply once the request has been sent to them. Nothing to do with a dark pattern.
- WaxProlix 6y agoI assume this is related to the other Google post today[1], wherein the moderators are accused of gaslighting their customers instead of responding appropriately. Not sure of the context here, so I'll let better informed voices prevail, I guess. 1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23969442 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23969442
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 6y agoSomewhat OT, but in what world does "This has been a running problem with Google Drive and there is no workaround for now. What we can do is to send feedback to the team so all of these can be heard." qualify as "gaslighting"? This term, at least until recently, meant dismissing abnormal behavior by making the questioner doubt their own sanity. I have a hard time getting that even from the least charitable interpretation of the above.
- beervirus 6y agoGaslighting is just a vogue term. Nobody who uses it nowadays knows or cares what it actually means.
- esperent 6y agoIn this case I assume it means that Google appears to solicit feedback but than responds by saying it's the users fault since not everyone used this feature. Calling this gaslighting may be hyperbole, but it does somewhat match the definition of the word as I understand it. Related: I live in Vietnam and Google maps won't load photos on desktop here. I and many others reported the issue, which has been going on for over a year. The solution: set your location to a rich country. Anywhere in the EU, US, Australia, New Zealand. Photos instantly work again. Set it to somewhere in the middle east, Africa, SEA, no photos. Support started replying to people on the thread with this workaround. Unfortunately, it breaks all localisation for search, shopping, and so on. When I brought this up, support asked me to provide proof that it breaks localization, and when I provided it, they then said that Google is a for-profit company and can't be expected to fix every problem in poorer countries where they make less money. At that point, I gave up in frustration. Gaslighting? Maybe not. Shitty support? Absolutely. At the very least they have made sure that I'll never try and use Google support again.
- scubbo 6y agoGenuinely surprised to hear that any of those apps ever supported payments in the first place. Not that this excuses sunsetting a feature that people depended on (It's The Google Way!), but...
- techntoke 6y agoHow do people depend on sending money with Gmail when you can send it in the browser or app? What is the problem?
- hbcondo714 6y agoI clicked the "Learn how to send money to friends" link and the first step is to "Open the Google Pay app" You lost me right there Google. I already have your Gmail app to send money and now you are taking functionality away from it and making me download another of your apps.
- ars 6y agoYou confirmed it was actually possible to send money in Gmail? Because I, and some other people who replied here, were unaware it was even possible.
- verdverm 6y agoI have emailed money through Gmail for two years now. Apparently no more...
- DaftDank 6y agoWhat were the previous limits you were allowed to send?
- jeffbee 6y agoIt might not have ever launched in your locale, perhaps. I used it a few times to send money to another person in the USA. For what it did, it was exceedingly simple and easy to use.
- oh_sigh 6y agoThere used to be a dollar sign right next to the paper clip sign you use to attach files, but it attaches money instead. Genius. But I would ask other American friends to send me money that way instead of venmo and they would tell me they don't have that option available to them. Once I would send them 5 cents, then they would get the money attach option, but not before.
- esperent 6y agoI'm not from the US but I've never seen that option either. Must be just a select few countries.
- ShamelessC 6y agoDidn't know you could in the first place.
- xeromal 6y agoNext to the attachment button was a little money icon. You could click it and bundle money with an email. It was pretty nifty.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- m3kw9 6y agoCalculated monopolistic move.
- jldugger 6y agoWouldn't the monopolist move be to move more features into apps everyone uses?
- oh_sigh 6y agoI loved the idea that you could attach money to an email just like you could attach a file. The Gmail interface was perfect, but unfortunately as usual Google messed up the implementation.
- techntoke 6y agoWhen you send money using Google Pay you still select an email address or phone number to send it to, and they get an email if that is what you select letting you know and you get one saying you sent money.
- tcbasche 6y agoMaybe I'm old-fashioned, but what's wrong with using a bank to send money? Not in US, so I don't even know if that's another one of those things you can't do like having to still use cheques
- jasonv 6y agoMy ex- asks me for $$ to cover a child expense and in Apple Cash she can have it a few seconds later, transferred right in Messages. Banks can do this, and they have integrations with Zelle and Venmo, but it isn’t as seamless, not by a mile (or a few km).
- tcbasche 6y agoYikes, interesting that banks don't try and facilitate it easily. Is it an issue of scale? Or just that they can get away without it ... or relegate the job of 'consumer' banking to other corporations e.g. Google or Apple
- kingbirdy 6y agoThere's very little incentive for US banks to implement these features due to a combination of regulatory burden, technology, and most US bank users aren't even aware things could be more convenient, it's just a given that banking sucks and that's how it is.
- fennecfoxen 6y agoIt's not just that, either. US banks have been slowly working on faster payments system (RTP, run by Clearing House Payments Co since 2017) and then in late 2019 their regulator, the Federal Reserve, told them "hey, we're going to make a competitor to this new system." There is some merit to the idea of Fed-operated system here, but, well, let's just say that investing money into a system only to end up competing with your regulator doesn't really help banks feel like they're in a stable regulatory environment where they'll be rewarded for doing the right thing and making investments in the future.
- maurys 6y agoIs Google Pay new in the rest of the world? It has been very successful in India as a UPI-based payment method. India has gotten aggressively cashless (at least in cities) and Google Pay definitely rode that wave here.
- rudiv 6y agoGoogle Pay has existed for a long time pre-UPI. The UPI app was known as Google Tez until the brands were combined last year, it's now called.Google.Pay but the app is still separate from the actual Google Pay app. (NFC wallet being the primary mobile functionality of the same)
- jeroenhd 6y agoGoogle Pay has never even been available in certain parts of Europe and isn't available in Africa, the Middle East, most of Asia and in most countries in South America. The exclusion of Asia and certain European countries surprises me somewhat, but that may be because there's not a large market for it (because local initiatives have already taken the market).
- mrweasel 6y agoBoth Google Pay and Apple Pay showed up a little to late in many countries. Local alternatives already dominated, so neither have really been able to gain traction. Seeming someone try to use Apple Pay in Denmark is a bit of a novelty. It works and is reasonably well supported by payment terminals, but why bother when you already have MobilePay, which have even wider support and more features? I have yet to encounter someone who uses Google Pay.
- emptysongglass 6y agoI use Google Pay every single day in Denmark. My wife uses Samsung Pay every single day in Denmark. It's hard to see what people use when they touch their silicon and glass rectangles to the terminal, harder still when COVID-19 distances are mandated in all stores here.
- diftraku 6y ago
- Ijumfs 6y agoClamping down on international funding of terrorism, and election integrity.
- psmithsfhn 6y agoDamn Sending money thru gmail was the best way to send money.