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Anxiety over the new Gmail Compose

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Re: Anxiety over the new Gmail Compose

#31

Post by onelovelyname »

colbyh wrote: post #22

I'm actually quite fond of the new compose window and I fall into essentially the same category of email user as you. My anxiety was in fact lessened a bit by the chat-like (and therefore more casual) vibe, thanks to large expanses of white space making me feel like I /must/ fill them with text. Email anxiety is no fun, maybe a native client would be the best way to ensure your workflow is optimized?

Makes sense. I do like it for casual mail - e.g., if I'm setting up a quick time to meet an advisor. But for more important things, it doesn't work well for me.

I am checking out Airmail thanks to an older HN thread. Cheers!

Re: Anxiety over the new Gmail Compose

#32

Post by rajivtiru »

ihnorton wrote: post #27

Lately I've had a persistent feeling of annoyance with several Google products. Each annoyance is small enough to tolerate individually, but in aggregate it seems to me that Google has really lost something in the attention-to-detail department; this kind of persistent annoyance was the same thing that led me to Google from other services years ago. Two examples: - maps: new interface is so terrible that I am activel…

I just figured out that last point about google URLs today.

I wanted to copy/paste a link in a chat window but the google redirect url is so long it takes up the whole chat window and more! Instead of the domain.com/word I wanted.

Re: Anxiety over the new Gmail Compose

#33

Post by alexholehouse »

The "full screen mode" is like a parody of poor user interface and false promises.

That said, Outlook 365 is also bloody awful in terms of usability. Say I've sent an email to a list of people, there's no way (as far as I can tell, which is all that matters really) to then copy those email addresses. You have to literally click through each one and get the address individually.

Re: Anxiety over the new Gmail Compose

#34

Post by gruseom »

I agree with this post's use of the word "ruined". That's what the new Compose did. It's a usability train wreck which I'm astonished they put out at all, let alone impose it on users against their will. There are big things wrong with it and there are little things wrong with it and the sum total is frustrating and disconcerting. It's one thing to redesign a website, but email is a huge part of my daily work, and this feels as if renovators just drove a post up through the living room floor.

Re: Anxiety over the new Gmail Compose

#35

Post by ProAm »

onelovelyname wrote: post #5
bnejad wrote: post #2

Really, anxiety? Use a native/local mail client and I'm sure it will solve your problems.

Yeah I'm kinda OCD about my email. Thanks, just found the HN thread about email clients. Checking out Airmail now.

I started using eM Client as a native desktop email app because of the new gMail reply feature. Feature-wise it does everything I expect/want for email.

It drives me absolutely insane when a company makes an 'enhancement' and reduces usable window space. If I am writing a long email I want to be able to use the maximum amount of window space and not be crammed into something that is 25% of my monitor size.

Re: Anxiety over the new Gmail Compose

#36

Post by onelovelyname »

dasil003 wrote: post #29

The self-righteous anger about the irredeemable horror of the new Gmail compose is starting to get a bit old. First of all, it's not as one-sided as people are making it out. I was also annoyed when it first came out, but there are some clear benefits. Being able to browse email in the background while composing email is a huge win for my email workload (CTO for a 30-person company). There are some important philosop…

Browsing email while composing isn't part of my workflow. Definitely makes sense as a use case, a few others mentioned it as well.

Agreed, for short emails (setting up mtgs, quick reviews) it works fine for the most part.

Personal preference wise - I feel more comfortable sending email when I'm able to see CC/BCC, text formatting, & attachments. Understand that not everyone feels the same way.

Re: Anxiety over the new Gmail Compose

#37

Post by sjbach »

ihnorton wrote: post #27

Lately I've had a persistent feeling of annoyance with several Google products. Each annoyance is small enough to tolerate individually, but in aggregate it seems to me that Google has really lost something in the attention-to-detail department; this kind of persistent annoyance was the same thing that led me to Google from other services years ago. Two examples: - maps: new interface is so terrible that I am activel…

Re: maps, you can revert to "classic" by clicking on the gear.

Re: Anxiety over the new Gmail Compose

#38

Post by rjbond3rd »

enochroot wrote: post #19

For my usage, the new compose has been a major step back. It now takes additional clicks to accomplish basic tasks (e.g. change the subject) and is less clear on what I am doing (e.g. when you cc someone and switch back to the body, the cc-ed names is now in To: line making it appear that you are sending it to them directly.) There are many other examples where the experience has become worse. I am not clear if Googl…

Oh man, I wish I knew. Have you noticed this one? You're editing a wrapped paragraph, you use the right-arrow key to move, and once you're at the end of -any- line, it suddenly jumps down to the "..." (the toggle for displaying the quoted message).

(Also, why hide the formatting bar...)

Re: Anxiety over the new Gmail Compose

#39

Post by cheapsteak »

rajivtiru wrote: post #32
ihnorton wrote: post #27

Lately I've had a persistent feeling of annoyance with several Google products. Each annoyance is small enough to tolerate individually, but in aggregate it seems to me that Google has really lost something in the attention-to-detail department; this kind of persistent annoyance was the same thing that led me to Google from other services years ago. Two examples: - maps: new interface is so terrible that I am activel…

I just figured out that last point about google URLs today. I wanted to copy/paste a link in a chat window but the google redirect url is so long it takes up the whole chat window and more! Instead of the domain.com/word I wanted.

If you're using chrome, you might want to check out this extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/remove-google-redi...

Re: Anxiety over the new Gmail Compose

#40

Post by rajivtiru »

cheapsteak wrote: post #39
rajivtiru wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just figured out that last point about google URLs today. I wanted to copy/paste a link in a chat window but the google redirect url is so long it takes up the whole chat window and more! Instead of the domain.com/word I wanted.

If you're using chrome, you might want to check out this extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/remove-google-redi...

Thank you. Installed.

Exactly what I wanted.

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