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I've been using Inbox at El Goog for a while now, and I am happy to answer questions (in between dealing with a newborn...) FWIW, I really like it, and use it

I've been using Inbox at El Goog for a while now, and I am happy to answer questions (in between dealing with a newborn...) FWIW, I really like it, and use it exclusively for my work and personal accounts. Inbox functions very much more like a ToDo list than it does an email client. Here are the workflows I have: Work: I filter all mailing lists into different clusters that I have appear at 7AM every morning. I then scrub through the subject lists to see what happened yesterday, pinning things that require my attention, and then sweeping the rest. At this point, everything pinned in my Inbox is now "something I need to look at". I then read the email, and decide if it has an action item or not. If it's actionable and I intend to do it today, I'll leave it pinned. If it's not something I'm going to do today, I'll Snooze it until I think I'll have time to do it, or at least evaluate another Snooze time. To make sure I don't miss important emails, I have a cluster that I put all email that has myself explicitly in the To: line, and have that appear whenever anything arrives. I do occasionally miss things that didn't have me in the To: and went to my 7AM clusters, but this is few and far between, and I hazard happens less than my Gmail inbox where I had far more cognitive load on managing the emails there. Home: The defaults are tuned well for home, and I use the clusters (like Travel, Purchases etc) like I do for work, having them appear at 7AM each day. Most things get swept immediately, and again I pin things that require my attention and are maybe ToDo items. Inbox is really opinionated about its workflow: if you struggle against it, you'll have a bad time, and you'll prefer Gmail's flexibility. However, if you are Inbox Zero or GTD minded, I think you'll love Inbox. Inbox is my ToDo list, and replaces Wunderlist/Things/Evernote/Google Tasks for me. I set reminders to myself for work items that don't have an email attached. I encourage everyone to give it a week to see if it suits them, but I'm afraid I'm all out of invites for now :(

piyush_soni 12y ago
First: Why do you think they created a completely new app rather than integrating features into the gmail app one by one? I understand it has a good integration of Google Now in it, but Google Now itself works very nice for me (Like showing important stuff from my gmail). Thanks!
- Lewisham 12y ago
  I'm not a PM so I can't speak to the decision itself, but I don't think grafting on the Inbox workflow to the Gmail interface would have worked out. It would have made both of them very muddled, and given the impression Inbox has more flexibility that it really wants to give. Two apps using the same backend data (you can switch between Gmail and Inbox if you like) seems a better fit.
- thrownaway2424 12y ago
  Every time they add features to gmail, people on forums like this one scream "OH MY GOD GOOGLE LITERALLY KILLED MY SISTER". It's a lot less irritating to make major changes in a new product.
- lotso 12y ago
  I assume they wanted a fresh start.
- Dwolb 12y ago
  From ethnographic research, this is a good move by Google. People enjoy a blank slate or 'fresh start'. By starting from Inbox 0, people can enjoy that feeling. Contrast this with integrating into Gmail where people have thousands of emails in their inbox.
  - thrownaway2424 12y ago
    That was a good guess except for being totally incorrect. Inbox starts with whatever is already in your Gmail.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > Why do you think they created a completely new app rather than integrating features into the gmail app one by one? As I see it, it lets people wanting to try the new thing do so, but has zero effect on people happy with what Gmail does now who don't want to be distracted either by more option clutter or the features themselves. Further, it lets people wanting to use the new workflow do so without clutter from the regular Gmail interface (and being a more focussed interface is the key "interesting feature".)
cjslep 12y ago
Does it work across accounts? For instance, I have a personal email and a university email that is gmail-based. I believe they are already linked account-wise, but having to manually swap between both inboxes in gmail is a constant annoyance. Edit: "Across" in the sense that everything comes in one workflow, and isn't two separate workflows. I dislike having to back out and select a new account to see each set of emails.
- tmhedberg 12y ago
  It doesn't integrate multiple accounts into a single inbox, if that's what you mean. It works the same as Gmail in that respect.
  - kristofferR 12y ago
    That's a massive shame. Weird that Mailbox/Dropbox manages to do it with Gmail, but Google doesn't.
    - ChristianBundy 12y ago
      Why don't you just have your emails forwarded from one account to another?
      - JoshGlazebrook 12y ago
        That defeats the point of separate emails...
        wutbrodo 12y ago
        Not really, given that you can quite easily filter emails that you receive from your other address. I use exactly this workflow and it's much more useful than having them in separate inboxes (i.e. doesn't "defeat the purpose").
        12y ago
codezero 12y ago
What are the hurdles to allowing Inbox for Google Apps users?
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- klausjensen 12y ago
  It is not yet possible. :( Got the invite for my google apps account, tried to sign in and was denied - because it was a google apps account.
  - theofpa 12y ago
    Only people who receive an invitation can use Inbox by Gmail, and they can only access Inbox through their personal Gmail account, not through their Google Apps accounts. People who receive an invite to their Google Apps account can forward it and use it on their personal account if they want to. https://support.google.com/a/answer/6082718 https://support.google.com/a/answer/6082718
- ascorbic 12y ago
  They can't be big, as I know Google employees can use it for Apps accounts already. No idea why they haven't enabled it for us mere mortals.
M4v3R 12y ago
What OS does this run on? From the screens I would say both Android and iOS, can you confirm that?
- Jabbles 12y ago
  inbox.google.com mentions iOS
- tensafefrogs 12y ago
  There's an app for iOS, Android, and a web app for desktop (and I think mobile web, though I've never used it).
mrtimo 12y ago
You have your work and personal email in the same account? How do you separate it? Standard Filters?
- isman 12y ago
  I'm sure Lewisham has two different accounts. Google employees have had access to Inbox for both work and personal use for a while now.
  - Lewisham 12y ago
    Yes, this. I have my @google.com address, and my @gmail.com address.
na85 12y ago
Does it have ads?
- aiiane 12y ago
  Not currently, to my knowledge.
kulkarnic 12y ago
I wrote a review of the Inbox on facebook (that was my deal with the person that invited me). Cross-posting here if it interests you. My review of Google's new Inbox, based on two hours of use (thanks [redacted] for the invite). First the good parts: 1. I really like bundles. The idea that I can "Sweep" all the promotional emails I get in one click fills me with glee (and marketers with anxiety, I imagine). It's also nice to have all the travel related emails in one place. Never again am I going to be confused whether I should be going to SFO or SJC. 2. I like the new compose. My emails are too long (both those I write and those you do), and I'm praying that showing just one line to write a response will make emails briefer. 3. Snooze/procrastinate: How I like the idea of "someday". Combined with my own future discounting, I'm not going to feel guilty about not responding anymore. The not-so-good parts: 1. Boy is this opinionated software! There is an inexorable push to empty your inbox. I guess I'll like it if I get with the program. 2. It's too pretty. No, seriously. The title-bar is too bright, there are too many people's faces, too many colors and font styles. I like my email drab so I can focus on what people are saying and not get distracted by the colors. That's all I see with two hours of use. Oh, also, I don't know how to invite people yet. If someone tells me, I'm happy to invite y'all. edit: formatting.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- gsharma 12y ago
  Thanks for the review. Would be great to get an invite and try out the product. gsharma at gmail
- banderon 12y ago
  I'm not sure if you have any invites left, but if you do, here is a link to the support page that has directions on sharing an invite: https://support.google.com/inbox/answer/6067582?p=invite_request&rd=1 https://support.google.com/inbox/answer/6067582?p=invite_req... Once you get Inbox, you'll have invites to send to your friends. Here's how to send an invite: 1. Open Inbox. 2. In the bottom right, go to the Create button . 3. Choose Invite to Inbox . If you could do that for me, I would be grateful! (banderon1 "at" gmail "dot" com)
- 12y ago
eitally 12y ago
One feature that's unclear to me, if you don't mind: when you sweep a bundle, does it sweep only the items displayed on the screen, or everything in that category? For example, if I have 500 emails in my Forums bundle and sweep what I can see, will it sweep just those 25 or all 500? I don't want to make a mistake by testing this myself. :)
- bubersson 12y ago
  I think it will "sweep" all unpinned emails, but even after the emails have been marked as Done, you can still easily access them by clicking on the bundle (e.g. "Travel").
ottumm 12y ago
Are changes that you make in Inbox reflected in Gmail? For instance, if you archive (sweep?) something in Inbox is it also archived in Gmail? Are clusters related to tags?
- timothya 12y ago
  Yes. Things marked as done in Inbox (including marking many things as Done by sweeping) are shown as archived in Gmail (and vice versa).
frik 12y ago
MS Outlook (since v2003) provides the same (?) useful feature out of the box. ToDo's based on emails, chat, sms, (or any other msg obj) and metadata based filters are very useful. I created dozends of advanced filters in GMail in 2006, as my first account grew to 5 GB (thanks to about 20 of mailing list) in 2009 my GMail account got unbearable slow. I had to create a new account (the advanced filters are still there, but there is no intuitive UI anymore, you have to type in their syntax). I occacionally login to my old account and it is still dog slow - so I have my doubts that advanced filter scale in GMail/Inbox.
dyscrete 12y ago
I'm kind of a big deal, so you need to send me an invite. sam@email.ly kthx
spazmaster 12y ago
I would also appreciate an invite! Thanks (daniel.spronk@gmail.com)
- jbverschoor 12y ago
  me too :) my username is my gmail
cengizkrbck 12y ago
I am excited. I really want to an invite. Please invite me at karabacakcengiz at gmail. dot com
- ChrisAntaki 12y ago
  Agreed, this is really exciting. Please give @cengizkrbck an invite!
  - alexnycman 12y ago
    Will anybody, please get me an invite for google Inbox, please? alex@allwrite.tk
joeblau 12y ago
I've been using Mailbox for a while on mobile and more recently on desktop and I'm wondering how it compares to that app? Also, are the new Inbox features in the app available on the web as well? I ask because desktop management of email is a great feature that Mailbox's beta desktop app provides.
mathattack 12y ago
"Inbox functions very much more like a ToDo list than it does an email client." This is very important. I've started using Evernote, and thought, "I really want to keep track of what gets done and who is doing what via email, without adding any complexity or forcing others into a system." I hope Inbox does this for me.
- eitally 12y ago
  It won't. It's not a shared task system (Trello/GQueues/etc).
ryanpardieck 12y ago
"Inbox functions very much more like a ToDo list than it does an email client." That's exciting to hear, since I've recently started turning Mailbox into a combination email client/to-do list/evernote replacement. I've found that having all those concerns in different apps meant that I never wound up using any of them often enough. The shared concern seems to be the triaging of things that hit an "inbox" of sorts. Email hits the literal inbox, to do's hit my "stuff I need to do" buffer, and notes hit my "categorize these notes later" buffer (I compulsively note things down for later). Ultimately triaging things as their hit the Mailbox inbox is most effective for me, so I've turned it into my single source of triaging. I'll definitely give this a shot if/when I ever get an invite ...
findjashua 12y ago
"only works in Chrome". Sorry, not interested.

piyush_soni 12y ago

First: Why do you think they created a completely new app rather than integrating features into the gmail app one by one? I understand it has a good integration of Google Now in it, but Google Now itself works very nice for me (Like showing important stuff from my gmail). Thanks!

Lewisham 12y ago
I'm not a PM so I can't speak to the decision itself, but I don't think grafting on the Inbox workflow to the Gmail interface would have worked out. It would have made both of them very muddled, and given the impression Inbox has more flexibility that it really wants to give. Two apps using the same backend data (you can switch between Gmail and Inbox if you like) seems a better fit.
thrownaway2424 12y ago
Every time they add features to gmail, people on forums like this one scream "OH MY GOD GOOGLE LITERALLY KILLED MY SISTER". It's a lot less irritating to make major changes in a new product.
lotso 12y ago
I assume they wanted a fresh start.
Dwolb 12y ago
From ethnographic research, this is a good move by Google. People enjoy a blank slate or 'fresh start'. By starting from Inbox 0, people can enjoy that feeling. Contrast this with integrating into Gmail where people have thousands of emails in their inbox.
- thrownaway2424 12y ago
  That was a good guess except for being totally incorrect. Inbox starts with whatever is already in your Gmail.
dragonwriter 12y ago
> Why do you think they created a completely new app rather than integrating features into the gmail app one by one? As I see it, it lets people wanting to try the new thing do so, but has zero effect on people happy with what Gmail does now who don't want to be distracted either by more option clutter or the features themselves. Further, it lets people wanting to use the new workflow do so without clutter from the regular Gmail interface (and being a more focussed interface is the key "interesting feature".)

cjslep 12y ago

Does it work across accounts? For instance, I have a personal email and a university email that is gmail-based. I believe they are already linked account-wise, but having to manually swap between both inboxes in gmail is a constant annoyance. Edit: "Across" in the sense that everything comes in one workflow, and isn't two separate workflows. I dislike having to back out and select a new account to see each set of emails.

tmhedberg 12y ago
It doesn't integrate multiple accounts into a single inbox, if that's what you mean. It works the same as Gmail in that respect.
- kristofferR 12y ago
  That's a massive shame. Weird that Mailbox/Dropbox manages to do it with Gmail, but Google doesn't.
  - ChristianBundy 12y ago
    Why don't you just have your emails forwarded from one account to another?
    - JoshGlazebrook 12y ago
      That defeats the point of separate emails...
      - wutbrodo 12y ago
        Not really, given that you can quite easily filter emails that you receive from your other address. I use exactly this workflow and it's much more useful than having them in separate inboxes (i.e. doesn't "defeat the purpose").
        12y ago

codezero 12y ago

What are the hurdles to allowing Inbox for Google Apps users?

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
klausjensen 12y ago
It is not yet possible. :( Got the invite for my google apps account, tried to sign in and was denied - because it was a google apps account.
- theofpa 12y ago
  Only people who receive an invitation can use Inbox by Gmail, and they can only access Inbox through their personal Gmail account, not through their Google Apps accounts. People who receive an invite to their Google Apps account can forward it and use it on their personal account if they want to. https://support.google.com/a/answer/6082718 https://support.google.com/a/answer/6082718
ascorbic 12y ago
They can't be big, as I know Google employees can use it for Apps accounts already. No idea why they haven't enabled it for us mere mortals.

M4v3R 12y ago

What OS does this run on? From the screens I would say both Android and iOS, can you confirm that?

Jabbles 12y ago
inbox.google.com mentions iOS
tensafefrogs 12y ago
There's an app for iOS, Android, and a web app for desktop (and I think mobile web, though I've never used it).

mrtimo 12y ago

You have your work and personal email in the same account? How do you separate it? Standard Filters?

isman 12y ago
I'm sure Lewisham has two different accounts. Google employees have had access to Inbox for both work and personal use for a while now.
- Lewisham 12y ago
  Yes, this. I have my @google.com address, and my @gmail.com address.

na85 12y ago

Does it have ads?

aiiane 12y ago
Not currently, to my knowledge.

kulkarnic 12y ago

I wrote a review of the Inbox on facebook (that was my deal with the person that invited me). Cross-posting here if it interests you. My review of Google's new Inbox, based on two hours of use (thanks [redacted] for the invite). First the good parts: 1. I really like bundles. The idea that I can "Sweep" all the promotional emails I get in one click fills me with glee (and marketers with anxiety, I imagine). It's also nice to have all the travel related emails in one place. Never again am I going to be confused whether I should be going to SFO or SJC. 2. I like the new compose. My emails are too long (both those I write and those you do), and I'm praying that showing just one line to write a response will make emails briefer. 3. Snooze/procrastinate: How I like the idea of "someday". Combined with my own future discounting, I'm not going to feel guilty about not responding anymore. The not-so-good parts: 1. Boy is this opinionated software! There is an inexorable push to empty your inbox. I guess I'll like it if I get with the program. 2. It's too pretty. No, seriously. The title-bar is too bright, there are too many people's faces, too many colors and font styles. I like my email drab so I can focus on what people are saying and not get distracted by the colors. That's all I see with two hours of use. Oh, also, I don't know how to invite people yet. If someone tells me, I'm happy to invite y'all. edit: formatting.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
gsharma 12y ago
Thanks for the review. Would be great to get an invite and try out the product. gsharma at gmail
banderon 12y ago
I'm not sure if you have any invites left, but if you do, here is a link to the support page that has directions on sharing an invite: https://support.google.com/inbox/answer/6067582?p=invite_request&rd=1 https://support.google.com/inbox/answer/6067582?p=invite_req... Once you get Inbox, you'll have invites to send to your friends. Here's how to send an invite: 1. Open Inbox. 2. In the bottom right, go to the Create button . 3. Choose Invite to Inbox . If you could do that for me, I would be grateful! (banderon1 "at" gmail "dot" com)
12y ago

eitally 12y ago

One feature that's unclear to me, if you don't mind: when you sweep a bundle, does it sweep only the items displayed on the screen, or everything in that category? For example, if I have 500 emails in my Forums bundle and sweep what I can see, will it sweep just those 25 or all 500? I don't want to make a mistake by testing this myself. :)

bubersson 12y ago
I think it will "sweep" all unpinned emails, but even after the emails have been marked as Done, you can still easily access them by clicking on the bundle (e.g. "Travel").

ottumm 12y ago

Are changes that you make in Inbox reflected in Gmail? For instance, if you archive (sweep?) something in Inbox is it also archived in Gmail? Are clusters related to tags?

timothya 12y ago
Yes. Things marked as done in Inbox (including marking many things as Done by sweeping) are shown as archived in Gmail (and vice versa).

frik 12y ago

MS Outlook (since v2003) provides the same (?) useful feature out of the box. ToDo's based on emails, chat, sms, (or any other msg obj) and metadata based filters are very useful. I created dozends of advanced filters in GMail in 2006, as my first account grew to 5 GB (thanks to about 20 of mailing list) in 2009 my GMail account got unbearable slow. I had to create a new account (the advanced filters are still there, but there is no intuitive UI anymore, you have to type in their syntax). I occacionally login to my old account and it is still dog slow - so I have my doubts that advanced filter scale in GMail/Inbox.

dyscrete 12y ago

I'm kind of a big deal, so you need to send me an invite. sam@email.ly kthx

spazmaster 12y ago

I would also appreciate an invite! Thanks (daniel.spronk@gmail.com)

jbverschoor 12y ago
me too :) my username is my gmail

cengizkrbck 12y ago

I am excited. I really want to an invite. Please invite me at karabacakcengiz at gmail. dot com

ChrisAntaki 12y ago
Agreed, this is really exciting. Please give @cengizkrbck an invite!
- alexnycman 12y ago
  Will anybody, please get me an invite for google Inbox, please? alex@allwrite.tk

joeblau 12y ago

I've been using Mailbox for a while on mobile and more recently on desktop and I'm wondering how it compares to that app? Also, are the new Inbox features in the app available on the web as well? I ask because desktop management of email is a great feature that Mailbox's beta desktop app provides.

mathattack 12y ago

"Inbox functions very much more like a ToDo list than it does an email client." This is very important. I've started using Evernote, and thought, "I really want to keep track of what gets done and who is doing what via email, without adding any complexity or forcing others into a system." I hope Inbox does this for me.

eitally 12y ago
It won't. It's not a shared task system (Trello/GQueues/etc).

ryanpardieck 12y ago

"Inbox functions very much more like a ToDo list than it does an email client." That's exciting to hear, since I've recently started turning Mailbox into a combination email client/to-do list/evernote replacement. I've found that having all those concerns in different apps meant that I never wound up using any of them often enough. The shared concern seems to be the triaging of things that hit an "inbox" of sorts. Email hits the literal inbox, to do's hit my "stuff I need to do" buffer, and notes hit my "categorize these notes later" buffer (I compulsively note things down for later). Ultimately triaging things as their hit the Mailbox inbox is most effective for me, so I've turned it into my single source of triaging. I'll definitely give this a shot if/when I ever get an invite ...

findjashua 12y ago

"only works in Chrome". Sorry, not interested.