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Gmailify: The best of Gmail, without an gmail address

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Re: Gmailify: The best of Gmail, without an gmail address

#41

Post by danpalmer »

I still don't quite understand what's great about Gmail. Everyone goes on and on about how amazing it is, and I'm sitting here having to refresh the page every 5 mins because it won't update, or it's lost a toolbar button.

Inbox is worse for me (although I realise probably not for most) because automated emails are usually really important for me as they are telling me something stopped working, but emails from people might not be that important because I get hundreds a day.

Between the issues with the Gmail web client, and the problems I have with Inbox, the whole "Gmail" product is one of the worst products that I have to use, and I try to distance myself from it with good email clients as much as I can.

Re: Gmailify: The best of Gmail, without an gmail address

#42

Post by obelisk_ »

Artemis2 wrote: post #10
chrisamiller wrote: post #2

I assume that under the hood, they've just set up Gmail as an IMAP client that accesses your other account?

Given the specificity of the providers they list, they are probably using their APIs instead of IMAP, which is a lot easier.

Or they've just whitelisted said providers after having either verified that providers IMAP implementations comply with IMAP standards, or they've whitelisted said providers because those providers were big enough that it was worth the trouble for Google to work around issues with those providers IMAP implementations.

Re: Gmailify: The best of Gmail, without an gmail address

#43

Post by sleepyhead »

krrrh wrote: post #33
currysausage wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just an example: As far as I can tell, they are still the only provider that gets conversation view "right."

fastmail is pretty close.

I think the FastMail webapp is better than Gmail.

Re: Gmailify: The best of Gmail, without an gmail address

#44

Post by ossreality »

danpalmer wrote: post #41

I still don't quite understand what's great about Gmail. Everyone goes on and on about how amazing it is, and I'm sitting here having to refresh the page every 5 mins because it won't update, or it's lost a toolbar button. Inbox is worse for me (although I realise probably not for most) because automated emails are usually really important for me as they are telling me something stopped working, but emails from peopl…

>I'm sitting here having to refresh the page every 5 mins because it won't update, or it's lost a toolbar button.

Yeah, I assume you mean the manual refresh button that has gone missing? Pisses me off too when I know there is new mail.

You can click "Inbox" again to force a refresh. Still sucks, but better than reloading the entire page forcibly.

Re: Gmailify: The best of Gmail, without an gmail address

#45

Post by derwiki »

danpalmer wrote: post #41

I still don't quite understand what's great about Gmail. Everyone goes on and on about how amazing it is, and I'm sitting here having to refresh the page every 5 mins because it won't update, or it's lost a toolbar button. Inbox is worse for me (although I realise probably not for most) because automated emails are usually really important for me as they are telling me something stopped working, but emails from peopl…

Clearly you haven't had the privilege of using Lotus Notes ;-) My anecdotal counterpoint: Gmail is one of the most reliable products I regularly use.

Re: Gmailify: The best of Gmail, without an gmail address

#46

Post by 91bananas »

andybak wrote: post #30
mistermann wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The absolutely dreadful UI?

I've switched to Google Inbox rather than Gmail but I'd still be happier with Gmail than any other webmail - and nearly any desktop mail client (although I've seen a few glimpses of next-gen clients that have the potential to change my mind). How would you justify that it's 'dreadful'? Am I just deluded?

It's an email client, so they have a hard time fitting parallax and scroll-jacking in to it. This leaves something to be desired for more frontend minded folks from the 2010's methinks.

Re: Gmailify: The best of Gmail, without an gmail address

#47

Post by livingparadox »

andybak wrote: post #32

So mixed messages again. Is 'Inbox' the next-gen Gmail interface or a hobby project that will get closed down in a year? Momentum has slowed and I've become so dependent on it's workflow I'd be gutted if this was the case. However - I don't believe Google will maintain two email clients in perpetuity. On past experience - they'll fold the functionality of one into the other - partially and imperfectly leaving users i…

Its my understanding that they are trying to merge gmail into the new Inbox.

Re: Gmailify: The best of Gmail, without an gmail address

#48

Post by Numberwang »

andybak wrote: post #32

So mixed messages again. Is 'Inbox' the next-gen Gmail interface or a hobby project that will get closed down in a year? Momentum has slowed and I've become so dependent on it's workflow I'd be gutted if this was the case. However - I don't believe Google will maintain two email clients in perpetuity. On past experience - they'll fold the functionality of one into the other - partially and imperfectly leaving users i…

I have the same fears but from the opposite end. I need gmail in my life, and cannot understand why anyone would want Inbox at all. It shows my emails (fewer than in gmail) and combines it with a subpar task manager (in a world of subpar task managers) and wrecks on this "smart" categorization system which is just there for devious purposes and most importantly I cannot trust to do it's job properly.

I fear for gmail. I still hurt from google reader being removed. I would have paid £10 a month for google reader had they just asked.

Re: Gmailify: The best of Gmail, without an gmail address

#49

Post by Hurdy »

Selfcommit wrote: post #28
Johnie wrote: post #11

I wonder how this actually works. It seems like for Gmail to provide this functionality, it needs to copy your external email to Google's servers and do server side processing. I can't imagine that it does spam protection, Google Now cards, and search all client side.

Seems pretty straight forward - pretend you signed up for a Google account and also had that account connect to your other email addresses (Like people have been doing for years, and arguably one of gmail's best features) Now just rebrand it without the visible requirement of having a Google Account. I wouldn't be surprised if you're still getting a Google account in the process, it's just not advertised.

When you go through the sign up flow you can select whether you want to Gmailify your address into an existing or a new Google account. We make it very explicit that all your mails are being copied into Google servers.

By the way, while Gmail always has offered ways to just "import" your messages from a third party address, with Gmailify you get a full two way sync, so you can e.g. keep using the Yahoo UI and your changes will show up in Gmail.

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