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I switched from Gmail to using my own domain via ProtonMail. I persisted about 6 months with its terrible UX. Tried Mailfence next, same problem, lived with pis

I switched from Gmail to using my own domain via ProtonMail. I persisted about 6 months with its terrible UX. Tried Mailfence next, same problem, lived with piss-poor UX for a few months before giving up. (I used Mailfence mainly with Apple Mail via IMAP, which was OK, but I frequently had to log in to their web interface to tweak settings etc, and it’s awful.) Looked at a few others, but my need for a reasonable UX pushed me back to Gmail last year, this time with my own domain on G Suite (I figured paying a fee means I’m marginally better protected from account lockouts and other Google shenanigans, and at least I can take the domain with me when I leave). It’s so nice not to be constantly battling with email these days. But... in the back of my mind I do still want to get my email off Google. For privacy, control, and because I think getting off other Google services will be easier after that. If I’m going to put the effort into switching again, I feel it might as well be to a somewhat privacy-focused email service (preferably not located in Australia or any jurisdiction that could force the company to break their own privacy guarantees without telling me). It doesn’t need to replicate Gmail’s feature set perfectly — I’m willing to put time into learning a whole different approach to email if necessary, but only if the UX/design is coherent and inspires confidence. Has anyone with similar requirements got any recommendations?

lowkeyokay 6y ago
So the argument here seems to be: ‘I want to ditch google because of privacy concerns but, I will not compromise on usability’. Bad UI should not be that hard but google has many popular feature because they can analyse user data. I hear the same argument with search and maps. Yes, DDG and Apple maps is not quite as good as Google’s. But, if you want privacy you will have to sacrifice something. Google has so many resources to put into their core product. Off course they will be better. And they use user data for some features which privacy focused companies just can’t provide. You just can’t have it all.
- playpause 6y ago
  I’m not making any argument. I’m stating my personal needs and asking if anyone has any recommendations so I can move off Gmail. Edit: I’m OK to sacrifice some UX quality btw, just not as much of a sacrifice as ProtonMail and Mailfence. And my love of Gmail’s UX has little to do with any creepy features that rely on data or fancy algorithms. It’s mostly stuff that any competitor could offer. Coherent design language across platforms, and generally well designed features that don’t compromise between flexibility and ease of use.

lowkeyokay 6y ago

So the argument here seems to be: ‘I want to ditch google because of privacy concerns but, I will not compromise on usability’. Bad UI should not be that hard but google has many popular feature because they can analyse user data. I hear the same argument with search and maps. Yes, DDG and Apple maps is not quite as good as Google’s. But, if you want privacy you will have to sacrifice something. Google has so many resources to put into their core product. Off course they will be better. And they use user data for some features which privacy focused companies just can’t provide. You just can’t have it all.

playpause 6y ago
I’m not making any argument. I’m stating my personal needs and asking if anyone has any recommendations so I can move off Gmail. Edit: I’m OK to sacrifice some UX quality btw, just not as much of a sacrifice as ProtonMail and Mailfence. And my love of Gmail’s UX has little to do with any creepy features that rely on data or fancy algorithms. It’s mostly stuff that any competitor could offer. Coherent design language across platforms, and generally well designed features that don’t compromise between flexibility and ease of use.