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Show HN: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail

mimestream.com

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Re: Show HN: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail

#2

Post by njhaveri »

Hi HN! In the past, I spent over 7 years working on Apple Mail, and today I am really excited to share a new email client I'm building: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail.

Mimestream is written in Swift, and uses AppKit+SwiftUI for a clean, stock appearance. It's designed to be fast, lightweight, and use a minimal amount of disk space. Mimestream's advantages over using the Gmail web interface includes features like multiple accounts, a unified inbox, system notifications, swipe actions, dark mode, (some) offline support, tracker prevention, multiple keyboard shortcut sets, and more.

Mimestream differs from other email clients because it uses the Gmail API rather than IMAP, so it supports more Gmail-specific features like categorized inboxes, Gmail's search operators, first-class labels support (apply multiple via ⌘L, set colors, etc), synced aliases, synced signatures, etc. I'm planning a lot more work in this area, including server-side filter configuration, Google Drive support, G Suite directory autocomplete, and more.

The app is a traditional email client that makes direct connections to Gmail and stores your data on your Mac. There are no intermediary servers with access to your account or copies of your messages. Mimestream is free for a limited time during the public beta, but will eventually be a paid app by the time it gets to the Mac App Store.

I hope you enjoy trying out the beta, and I look forward to hearing your feedback!

Re: Show HN: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail

#3

Post by jkarneges »

Nice to see a native app and not something Electron-based.

I wonder about native app viability these days though. Years ago I used native email apps like Outlook, KMail, and Thunderbird, but lately I just use the websites made by the service providers (Fastmail for personal, Gmail for work). As an open standards person I find my behavior kind of depressing, but the websites just tend to work better.

Re: Show HN: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail

#4

Post by robenkleene »

njhaveri wrote: post #2

Hi HN! In the past, I spent over 7 years working on Apple Mail, and today I am really excited to share a new email client I'm building: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail. Mimestream is written in Swift, and uses AppKit+SwiftUI for a clean, stock appearance. It's designed to be fast, lightweight, and use a minimal amount of disk space. Mimestream's advantages over using the Gmail web interface includes…

This is a great point: "There are no intermediary servers with access to your account or copies of your messages." A number of popular email clients use intermediary servers and that's a complete deal breaker for me. I'd argue that should be a deal breaker for almost anyone. I'm not a security expert, but as far as I can tell, for most people the single biggest security vulnerability is an attacker gaining access to their email. Using a mail client with an intermediary mail server essentially doubles the surface area attackers can exploit.

Re: Show HN: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail

#5

Post by sjroot »

This looks amazing. I am so glad that you kept it as close to the native Mail experience as possible.

My only question relates to payment. This is an app that I would gladly pay a solid price to own (in the ballpark of $50?). I would _much_ prefer that over a subscription model.

Because the site mentions eventual payment, but doesn't specify a pricing model, would you be willing to elaborate on your intentions?

Re: Show HN: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail

#6

Post by sjroot »

jkarneges wrote: post #3

Nice to see a native app and not something Electron-based. I wonder about native app viability these days though. Years ago I used native email apps like Outlook, KMail, and Thunderbird, but lately I just use the websites made by the service providers (Fastmail for personal, Gmail for work). As an open standards person I find my behavior kind of depressing, but the websites just tend to work better.

SwiftUI will make the native application development experience much easier for Apple platforms. It still has a little ways to go, but once it's the "de-facto standard" for new apps, you will certainly see an explosion in innovative native development.

Hoping other platforms follow suit. Preferably using SwiftUI...hey, I can dream right?

Re: Show HN: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail

#8

Post by m_b »

njhaveri wrote: post #2

Hi HN! In the past, I spent over 7 years working on Apple Mail, and today I am really excited to share a new email client I'm building: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail. Mimestream is written in Swift, and uses AppKit+SwiftUI for a clean, stock appearance. It's designed to be fast, lightweight, and use a minimal amount of disk space. Mimestream's advantages over using the Gmail web interface includes…

Hi, i browsed through the website but didn’t find a comprehensive comparison with Apple Mail. Why not just using the default macOS email client?

Re: Show HN: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail

#9

Post by mronge »

I've been using the beta for a while and I'm happy to see it land here on HN. The two things I love most about Mimestream are:

1. It's wicked fast (seriously) 2. It has Gmail style shortcuts

The only thing I wish it had was a generic IMAP support for some of my other accounts. Either way I've been liking it!

Re: Show HN: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail

#10

Post by Gaelan »

m_b wrote: post #8
njhaveri wrote: post #2

Hi HN! In the past, I spent over 7 years working on Apple Mail, and today I am really excited to share a new email client I'm building: Mimestream, a native macOS email client for Gmail. Mimestream is written in Swift, and uses AppKit+SwiftUI for a clean, stock appearance. It's designed to be fast, lightweight, and use a minimal amount of disk space. Mimestream's advantages over using the Gmail web interface includes…

Hi, i browsed through the website but didn’t find a comprehensive comparison with Apple Mail. Why not just using the default macOS email client?

It sounds like the biggest difference is that it uses Gmail's API instead of MIME, so it has better support for Gmail features like labels.
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