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Gmail's search function has degraded to garbage now, can't even find emails I type the exact subject in word for word. Go with fastmail, protonmail or really an

Gmail's search function has degraded to garbage now, can't even find emails I type the exact subject in word for word. Go with fastmail, protonmail or really anyone else at this point.

infotainment 2y ago
Let's be realistic, it was always garbage. I always found it unbelievable that Google, a company whose entire brand was built around search, built such a poorly-functioning search into their own mail product.
- al_borland 2y ago
  Not to mention that Gmail was built around the idea that search would be all a user needed from day one. 1Gb of storage, and archive everything in on big archive, because a simple search will get you where you need to be. I always found this bad, because I can’t control when people title an email or put in the content. People who use really informal and non-descriptive email subjects drive me nuts. “Here you go”, “that thing you were asking about”, “important”… these are terrible email subjects and once they drift away from the top of the inbox they will be gone forever.
  - throwaway211 2y ago
    I worked in an organisation that replaced all directory structures including network drives and folders with what a friend called 'a swimming pool' where all documents were security/sharing the classified then tagged. 2002ish. Finding a document again was entirely down to search: title, author, date, meta data, full text. I loved it. I was in a minority. I loved Gmail's search.
    - al_borland 2y ago
      With documents I would me more OK with it, as I would be in control of what I’m naming my documents. In Gmail, if I wanted to me sure I could find something again, I would need to tag everything that hits my inbox, and make a mess of my tags.
- bitfilped 2y ago
  It's never been amazing, but I don't remember every having actual usability issues until the last maybe year or so.

Gmail's search function has degraded to garbage now, can't even find emails I type the exact subject in word for word. Go with fastmail, protonmail or really anyone else at this point.

infotainment 2y ago

Let's be realistic, it was always garbage. I always found it unbelievable that Google, a company whose entire brand was built around search, built such a poorly-functioning search into their own mail product.

al_borland 2y ago
Not to mention that Gmail was built around the idea that search would be all a user needed from day one. 1Gb of storage, and archive everything in on big archive, because a simple search will get you where you need to be. I always found this bad, because I can’t control when people title an email or put in the content. People who use really informal and non-descriptive email subjects drive me nuts. “Here you go”, “that thing you were asking about”, “important”… these are terrible email subjects and once they drift away from the top of the inbox they will be gone forever.
- throwaway211 2y ago
  I worked in an organisation that replaced all directory structures including network drives and folders with what a friend called 'a swimming pool' where all documents were security/sharing the classified then tagged. 2002ish. Finding a document again was entirely down to search: title, author, date, meta data, full text. I loved it. I was in a minority. I loved Gmail's search.
  - al_borland 2y ago
    With documents I would me more OK with it, as I would be in control of what I’m naming my documents. In Gmail, if I wanted to me sure I could find something again, I would need to tag everything that hits my inbox, and make a mess of my tags.
bitfilped 2y ago
It's never been amazing, but I don't remember every having actual usability issues until the last maybe year or so.