6 ms·

I think the problem here is with Google's Multi Sign In[1], which makes it look like all accounts that are loged in are related, when in fact they are not, it j

I think the problem here is with Google's Multi Sign In[1], which makes it look like all accounts that are loged in are related, when in fact they are not, it just gives you an "easy" way of switching between accounts across Google services. Both Molly and Amy (in the OT) have gotten confused and assumed that the accounts had been merged indefinitely (who can blame them? This is as much PEBKAC as horrible UI) so they attempted to "unmerge" them, ending up deleting one of the accounts. The way to "unmerge" them is to log out of Google. Then, next time somebody logs in, there will only be one account. This UI is horrible, I had a similar uncomfortable moment trying to log one account but not the other, even though I knew that they had not gotten merged, it sure seemed like it. The intention was good, the execution lacking (my guess is that there were lots of technical reasons this couldn't be done cleaner). As soon as Chrome introduced Multiple Users[2], I started using that and it's much better, with less mental overhead to check which account is loged in (I use a black theme for one account, a white theme for the other). For other people/accounts, I just use Incognito mode. For most end users, this is still too much overhead for them, but in that case the only solution I could see is autologout, which has its own problems. 1: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1721977?hl=en https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/1721977?hl=en 2: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2364824?hl=en https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/2364824?hl=en

ishener 13y ago
you're right. it's a UI bug
tsm 13y ago
Multi Sign In is more useful to me though (now that I'm used to the UI). I really value having my first four tabs look like this: http://i.imgur.com/cnSZtTW.png http://i.imgur.com/cnSZtTW.png (ignore the favicon inconsistency...it's a known and frustrating bug in Chrome). With Multiple Users, there's a bit more overhead with seeing you received a new email/chat and switching to the appropriate tab.
- eli 13y ago
  You mean the unread message count in the favicon? That's a labs feature you have to turn on for each account.
  - tsm 13y ago
    It's turned on in all four accounts. At times all of the unread counts show, currently none of them do, sometimes refreshing helps, sometimes it doesn't. It's a known issue. So far I haven't found a good solution or explanation. https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=167717 https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=167717 https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=179822 https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=179822 http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/FCcFN2N9qlo http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/FCcFN2N9...
    - elliottcarlson 13y ago
      This is such an annoying bug - it works perfectly on my home computer; but only works for 2 out of 3 on my work machine - I've tried everything and the third one never works - thankfully, it's not a high priority mail box and I don't count on it for work. Glad to know I'm not the only one.
- staz 13y ago
  I use the multi sign it for the same reason as you but I have to admin the UI is clunky as hell and the level of support greatly differ between Google Product; I often have to manually edit urls by hands.
  - JungleGymSam 13y ago
    "admin the UI" This is just like how I type "server" instead of "serve" all the time. (In fact, I just made this mistake while typing serve and had to concentrate not to do it that time too.)
asm89 13y ago
I agree on the Multiple Users being very useful. I have a user for my private browsing, one for company related user accounts and more. The benefit for me is that this does not only work for for Google related products (gmail/analytics), but also for other products you use. In our case Outlook Web Access, but also for example Trello and GitHub.
corresation 13y ago
Just to offer a counter-point, I find the UI for multiple users excellent. Of course I don't share account contexts with other people, nor should anyone else, so the various accounts are all my own.
- d23 13y ago
  If it actually worked, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But a good portion of the time I am unable to actually access the account I have signed in with. I also randomly see mysterious "d098d983@gmailtemp.com" accounts on there, as well as other users on our google apps domain that I have never signed in as.
- danudey 13y ago
  The UI is not so bad, it's the behaviour which is awful. I'm constantly finding myself logged into YouTube with my work account after logging into Google Drive to see a document shared to me by the coworker. Except after clicking on the link in the 'so-and-so shared a…' I just get a regular 401 'You're not allowed to access this content', because I'm logged in as a different account, but not provided an option to change accounts. I have three google accounts: work, 'Google-related stuff' (gmail, calendar, other google services), and YouTube, and I'm constantly logged into the wrong one. Google seems to assume that everyone has a Google account, and only one, and they're always logged into only that. As soon as you break those assumptions, things start behaving in unfortunate, unpredictable, and inconvenient ways. Even with their new ability to change between profiles, it doesn't work all the time, and when it fails it's overly confusing and arbitrary.
rayiner 13y ago
The multi sign-in UI is one of the worst bits of UI fail I've ever encountered. I had to struggle with it for three long years (my university used a Google-based e-mail, plus I had my personal gmail). Why the hell can't I just see multiple inboxes on the left hand side, like every e-mail app for oh the last 15 years or so.
- raverbashing 13y ago
  And that's why I use two separate browsers. Ugly, but it works
  - dumitrue 13y ago
    A less ugly alternative, which I much prefer, is to use multiple Chrome profiles -- keeps the worlds separate and the end-result is much cleaner!
  - simonh 13y ago
    I do this at home. Chrome is for me and Firefox is for my wife and kids. It's partly for historical reasons though. Originally we all used Firefox, but when I switched to Chrome they didn't. The benefits to them, versus having to learn a different UI, wasn't there.
- chetanahuja 13y ago
  Because browser "apps" are not.
  - claudius 13y ago
    Then why would one want to use them? :|
    - chetanahuja 13y ago
      They are web pages with some heroic contortions to maintain a facade of a stateful application. Web pages that connect you to useful information (and perhaps even, your useful information) are certainly very useful things. But they've never been anywhere near the power and flexibility of native apps on any platform (at the time) and never will be. In this particular case, the best email "app" on the web still struggles to match the functionality of 15 year old native applications in the same category.

ishener 13y ago

you're right. it's a UI bug

tsm 13y ago

Multi Sign In is more useful to me though (now that I'm used to the UI). I really value having my first four tabs look like this: http://i.imgur.com/cnSZtTW.png http://i.imgur.com/cnSZtTW.png (ignore the favicon inconsistency...it's a known and frustrating bug in Chrome). With Multiple Users, there's a bit more overhead with seeing you received a new email/chat and switching to the appropriate tab.

eli 13y ago
You mean the unread message count in the favicon? That's a labs feature you have to turn on for each account.
- tsm 13y ago
  It's turned on in all four accounts. At times all of the unread counts show, currently none of them do, sometimes refreshing helps, sometimes it doesn't. It's a known issue. So far I haven't found a good solution or explanation. https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=167717 https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=167717 https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=179822 https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=179822 http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/FCcFN2N9qlo http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/FCcFN2N9...
  - elliottcarlson 13y ago
    This is such an annoying bug - it works perfectly on my home computer; but only works for 2 out of 3 on my work machine - I've tried everything and the third one never works - thankfully, it's not a high priority mail box and I don't count on it for work. Glad to know I'm not the only one.
staz 13y ago
I use the multi sign it for the same reason as you but I have to admin the UI is clunky as hell and the level of support greatly differ between Google Product; I often have to manually edit urls by hands.
- JungleGymSam 13y ago
  "admin the UI" This is just like how I type "server" instead of "serve" all the time. (In fact, I just made this mistake while typing serve and had to concentrate not to do it that time too.)

asm89 13y ago

I agree on the Multiple Users being very useful. I have a user for my private browsing, one for company related user accounts and more. The benefit for me is that this does not only work for for Google related products (gmail/analytics), but also for other products you use. In our case Outlook Web Access, but also for example Trello and GitHub.

corresation 13y ago

Just to offer a counter-point, I find the UI for multiple users excellent. Of course I don't share account contexts with other people, nor should anyone else, so the various accounts are all my own.

d23 13y ago
If it actually worked, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But a good portion of the time I am unable to actually access the account I have signed in with. I also randomly see mysterious "d098d983@gmailtemp.com" accounts on there, as well as other users on our google apps domain that I have never signed in as.
danudey 13y ago
The UI is not so bad, it's the behaviour which is awful. I'm constantly finding myself logged into YouTube with my work account after logging into Google Drive to see a document shared to me by the coworker. Except after clicking on the link in the 'so-and-so shared a…' I just get a regular 401 'You're not allowed to access this content', because I'm logged in as a different account, but not provided an option to change accounts. I have three google accounts: work, 'Google-related stuff' (gmail, calendar, other google services), and YouTube, and I'm constantly logged into the wrong one. Google seems to assume that everyone has a Google account, and only one, and they're always logged into only that. As soon as you break those assumptions, things start behaving in unfortunate, unpredictable, and inconvenient ways. Even with their new ability to change between profiles, it doesn't work all the time, and when it fails it's overly confusing and arbitrary.

rayiner 13y ago

The multi sign-in UI is one of the worst bits of UI fail I've ever encountered. I had to struggle with it for three long years (my university used a Google-based e-mail, plus I had my personal gmail). Why the hell can't I just see multiple inboxes on the left hand side, like every e-mail app for oh the last 15 years or so.

raverbashing 13y ago
And that's why I use two separate browsers. Ugly, but it works
- dumitrue 13y ago
  A less ugly alternative, which I much prefer, is to use multiple Chrome profiles -- keeps the worlds separate and the end-result is much cleaner!
- simonh 13y ago
  I do this at home. Chrome is for me and Firefox is for my wife and kids. It's partly for historical reasons though. Originally we all used Firefox, but when I switched to Chrome they didn't. The benefits to them, versus having to learn a different UI, wasn't there.
chetanahuja 13y ago
Because browser "apps" are not.
- claudius 13y ago
  Then why would one want to use them? :|
  - chetanahuja 13y ago
    They are web pages with some heroic contortions to maintain a facade of a stateful application. Web pages that connect you to useful information (and perhaps even, your useful information) are certainly very useful things. But they've never been anywhere near the power and flexibility of native apps on any platform (at the time) and never will be. In this particular case, the best email "app" on the web still struggles to match the functionality of 15 year old native applications in the same category.