Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#21

Post by djsumdog » Sat, Nov 17, 2018, 5:24 PM UTC

It's interesting how back when programs actually ran on your machine, you could just use an older version. I knew people who never upgraded Winamp. Today we do know this is problematic (due to security updates mostly) but when it comes to web applications we don't have a choice. Don't like the new look, well tough.

If the application has an API (like Reddit) you could write your own or use a better client. I could say that about Gmail/IMAP but their IMAP implementation is shitty and broken.

I moved entirely off gmail to self hosted in 2012 and I'm glad I did so I don't have to deal with their interface. When I need webmail, I've got roundcube and it's still nice and fast.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#22

Post by tyingq » Sat, Nov 17, 2018, 5:25 PM UTC

cimmanom wrote: post #18

tyingq wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making it a standalone chrome extension might be helpful, then your css changes over time will auto-update. Edit: I went ahead and made one, did a quick test by loading it unpacked, seems to work. https://github.com/tyingq/gmail-classic All yours if you want it.

Oh, man, I want this for Firefox.

It may just work. The differences in extensions are pretty minor: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/Web...

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#23

Post by momonga » Sat, Nov 17, 2018, 5:28 PM UTC

ramenmeal wrote: post #19

Was just implementing some email features on our application and we noticed that what we call "Friendly Reply To" doesn't work in desktop gmail. Setting the Reply-to field to "John Doe " won't show "John Doe" in the to section when you click reply. It will show "john.doe@gmail.com". What's odd is that google inbox, and gmail for android and iOS both will show "John Doe". Bug? Or opinion by Google?

Maybe it’s more of a security feature? What if phishing emails had a bogus email for the Reply-To name, E.g., “service@paypal.com ”

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#24

Post by Arnt » Sat, Nov 17, 2018, 5:34 PM UTC

djsumdog wrote: post #21

It's interesting how back when programs actually ran on your machine, you could just use an older version. I knew people who never upgraded Winamp. Today we do know this is problematic (due to security updates mostly) but when it comes to web applications we don't have a choice. Don't like the new look, well tough. If the application has an API (like Reddit) you could write your own or use a better client. I could sa…

What precisely is shitty and broken about gmail's IMAP implementation?

Gmail's IMAP implementation implements three RFCs I wrote; I haven't noticed anything wrong in those areas. Are my RFCs unusual or am I overlooking something?

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#25

Post by olig15 » Sat, Nov 17, 2018, 5:35 PM UTC

sehugg wrote: post #13

I can handle the new design, but on my (albeit underpowered) Chromebook, new Gmail takes ~30 seconds from initial page load to starting a reply to a thread. This is not progress.

I don’t use emails much on my MBP (2016), but I had to send one today. I loaded up gmail, waited a bit for it to load, then clicked ‘compose’ only for the interface to show ‘something is wrong’ in various places.

In the end I just setup email in the Mac email client.

This was in the latest Firefox, and I know chrome is supposed to perform better for gmail, but writing an email on a 3 year old laptop shouldn’t be a big issue, but here we are.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#26

Post by frutiger » Sat, Nov 17, 2018, 5:38 PM UTC

Arnt wrote: post #24

djsumdog wrote: post #21

It's interesting how back when programs actually ran on your machine, you could just use an older version. I knew people who never upgraded Winamp. Today we do know this is problematic (due to security updates mostly) but when it comes to web applications we don't have a choice. Don't like the new look, well tough. If the application has an API (like Reddit) you could write your own or use a better client. I could sa…

What precisely is shitty and broken about gmail's IMAP implementation? Gmail's IMAP implementation implements three RFCs I wrote; I haven't noticed anything wrong in those areas. Are my RFCs unusual or am I overlooking something?

Not the GP poster, but the most frustrating thing for me is that GMail labels are implemented as IMAP mailboxes instead of IMAP flags.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#27

Post by webdevetc » Sat, Nov 17, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

sehugg wrote: post #13

I can handle the new design, but on my (albeit underpowered) Chromebook, new Gmail takes ~30 seconds from initial page load to starting a reply to a thread. This is not progress.

You can load gmail is basic html mode, it might help.

According to https://support.google.com/mail/answer/15049?hl=en, the following link should set it to basic html mode (I haven't tested it) https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/h/1pq68r75kzvdr/?v%3Dlui

I've used the basic html mode before when the normal (js heavy) one was a bit slow, and it ended up being much faster even if every action requires a whole new page request/render.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#28

Post by petilon » Sat, Nov 17, 2018, 5:46 PM UTC

To me, Gmail Classic is this original look: https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/priority1....

I loved the "Original Classic". Every update since has worsened the look & feel.

When Steve Jobs passed away, the whole software industry took a gigantic step backwards in design. There are lots of great designers in the world (have a look at https://dribbble.com/ ) but the people who hire designers often can't tell a great designer from a mediocre one, and that's how we end up with the not-so-great design of the current generation of software, including those from Google and even Apple.

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#29

Post by ravenstine » Sat, Nov 17, 2018, 5:54 PM UTC

webdevetc wrote: post #27

sehugg wrote: post #13

I can handle the new design, but on my (albeit underpowered) Chromebook, new Gmail takes ~30 seconds from initial page load to starting a reply to a thread. This is not progress.

You can load gmail is basic html mode, it might help. According to https://support.google.com/mail/answer/15049?hl=en , the following link should set it to basic html mode (I haven't tested it) https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/h/1pq68r75kzvdr/?v%3Dlui I've used the basic html mode before when the normal (js heavy) one was a bit slow, and it ended up being much faster even if every action requires a whole new page req…

I thought the whole idea of JavaScript-heavy frontends was to make things faster. A rhetorical question: How is it that Google is somehow a leader in frontend technology and design when they often don't practice what they preach?

Re: Show HN: Gmail Classic – CSS for Reverting Gmail's New Look

#30

Post by Arnt » Sat, Nov 17, 2018, 5:54 PM UTC

frutiger wrote: post #26

Arnt wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What precisely is shitty and broken about gmail's IMAP implementation? Gmail's IMAP implementation implements three RFCs I wrote; I haven't noticed anything wrong in those areas. Are my RFCs unusual or am I overlooking something?

Not the GP poster, but the most frustrating thing for me is that GMail labels are implemented as IMAP mailboxes instead of IMAP flags.

You might be more frustrated if they'd done it the other way; IMAP clients have a terrible habit of downloading the entire mailbox. If they were to expose all mail in one mailbox with flags as the usual case, users with such clients and a lot of mail would suffer.