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FastMail app for iOS and Android now available

blog.fastmail.com

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Re: FastMail app for iOS and Android now available

#91
post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fastmail customer here. This is a perfect place to answer the question: it's visible, it's the right audience, and it's relevant. Talking about whether we should be using Fastmail at all is, to me at least, related to the question of whether I should install the app. Besides, this is an internet forum. It has threads. This is how these things work. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096768/Woody-Harrel...

At this point, there are no new laws. Its still being debated in Parliament and submissions are still being reviewed, so its not clear what the final act is going to look like, assuming it passes. So we can't really comment on its impact until we know what's actually in it. We just don't know yet how this is going to play out.

Thank you.

By the way, I like the app. First load must be hitting the network, seems like that could come from a stored cached and refreshed asap.

Also, it would be really nice if you could archive or delete a message from the reading view. (a) there's plenty of room for 2 more icons and (b) I have to believe people are way more likely to archive a message than forward it, yet somehow forward gets the spot.

Re: FastMail app for iOS and Android now available

#92
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are no new laws (yet). But lets not get into this discussion here. Contact privacy@fastmail.com with your questions and we'll be happy to respond to them.

I'd love to a response on Fastmail's blog or something similar regarding this. Gosh our government frustrates me :(

Us too. We don't want to blog every time our government postures about something, but we agree that there are problems with the way policy and laws are being made in Australia.

So far there haven't been any new laws actually passed which change our operating environment. When/if there are, then we'll have to respond to them.

If the laws change such that we need to say anything different in our privacy policy, then we will definitely make a public statement about those changes.

For now, our privacy policy still accurately reflects our understanding of the legal framework we operate within.

Re: FastMail app for iOS and Android now available

#93
post #89

FastMail looks tempting. But, excusez-moi, it seems quite expensive for what (you seem to) get. I have an email archive that's around 20GB on server. That would cost me $120 a year. Right now I'm paying for a Dreamhost account. For around $100 a year I get "unlimited" storage, IMAP access, Roundcube access and support for domains. And this is only besides all the shared hosting features has never let me down so far.…

I'm not sure what Dreamhost's e-mail offering is like, but I chose FastMail over running my own e-mail server because I'm not enough of a sysadmin to be confident in setting up and maintaining my own e-mail server without opening it up to abuse (there are enough involuntary spam relays already). When I compared the major e-mail providers at the time, FastMail won because it was the closest to running your own server…

Actually, with any reasonable smtp server, the defaults these days are pretty good -- so email abuse/open relay isn't the problem it once was. The hurdle (if any) these days is making sure email you send isn't flagged as spam, and to a lesser extent to avoid receiving spam (I say lesser, but then I've been running greylisting from day one, which is a minor nuisance, in and off itself).

That said, using a good service (like fastmail) vs running your own will always be a trade-off -- and it's perfectly reasonable to not run your own email.

Re: FastMail app for iOS and Android now available

#94
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point, there are no new laws. Its still being debated in Parliament and submissions are still being reviewed, so its not clear what the final act is going to look like, assuming it passes. So we can't really comment on its impact until we know what's actually in it. We just don't know yet how this is going to play out.

Thank you. By the way, I like the app. First load must be hitting the network, seems like that could come from a stored cached and refreshed asap. Also, it would be really nice if you could archive or delete a message from the reading view. (a) there's plenty of room for 2 more icons and (b) I have to believe people are way more likely to archive a message than forward it, yet somehow forward gets the spot.

The application gets cached but the data does not. We're looking at ways to improve the initial load time.

If you tap the message area when reading, a row of action buttons will appear. You can archive, delete, report spam, move to folder and mark from here.

Re: FastMail app for iOS and Android now available

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (I live in Australia, so things are very fast) I'm pretty certain the Fastmail servers are in New York; so that's a bit of a funny reason ;-)

Haha. Yeah, they're in New York. Our offices are in Australia though, so its in our best interests to make sure things go fast! I can only imagine what it must be like for people actually in the US :)

It was pretty nice while I was on the US East Coast in particular a few weeks ago... yay.

(and ssh into the servers, bliss - even the VPN connected faster)

Re: FastMail app for iOS and Android now available

#96
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does that new Australian law allowing manipulation of data effect fastmail?

There are no new laws (yet). But lets not get into this discussion here. Contact privacy@fastmail.com with your questions and we'll be happy to respond to them.

Sorry, but this is pretty much the best place on the Internet for that particular kind of discussion.

Re: FastMail app for iOS and Android now available

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Haha. Yeah, they're in New York. Our offices are in Australia though, so its in our best interests to make sure things go fast! I can only imagine what it must be like for people actually in the US :)

1. Does your app have a passcode to open? 2. Can I move mails from spam to inbox and from inbox to Spam?

> 1. Does your app have a passcode to open?

No. We'll look into it.

> 2. Can I move mails from spam to inbox and from inbox to Spam?

Yes, tap the message while open and use the "report spam" or "not spam" button (the shield icon).

Re: FastMail app for iOS and Android now available

#98
post #57

Please be aware FastMail is subject to Australian law. [1] The government is scrambling to pass laws for mass surveillance [2] and controversial data retention laws. [3] [1] https://www.fastmail.com/help/legal/privacy.html [2] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/09/australian-government-... [2] http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/oct/16/privac...

I find such warnings to be distasteful.

Especially given that most people are using Gmail, or Outlook / Office365, or Yahoo! Mail, all of them coming from companies that can be and have been coerced by the NSA, without the people finding out about it until those leaks. In fact, as a European citizen, I would be more comfortable with an Australian company, than with a US-based one, simply because the governmental agencies in non-US countries are less competent than the US is at mass surveillance.

But the fact of the matter is ... if you do not encrypt your email on the client-side, you can't expect privacy protections from a global enemy that has the resources for MITM attacks. All the protection you can hope for is against local enemies (organized crime syndicates, competition, etc.)

So here we have a smaller player that's competing against big companies such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo and the first comment is about fear mongering about some laws that haven't even passed yet and targeting a company that has nothing to do with it. Don't take this the wrong way, but seeing this from a community of entrepreneurs is disappointing.

Re: FastMail app for iOS and Android now available

#99
post #93
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what Dreamhost's e-mail offering is like, but I chose FastMail over running my own e-mail server because I'm not enough of a sysadmin to be confident in setting up and maintaining my own e-mail server without opening it up to abuse (there are enough involuntary spam relays already). When I compared the major e-mail providers at the time, FastMail won because it was the closest to running your own server…

Actually, with any reasonable smtp server, the defaults these days are pretty good -- so email abuse/open relay isn't the problem it once was. The hurdle (if any) these days is making sure email you send isn't flagged as spam, and to a lesser extent to avoid receiving spam (I say lesser, but then I've been running greylisting from day one, which is a minor nuisance, in and off itself). That said, using a good service…

Sure, but it can still be quite daunting if you're not much of a sysadmin. I'm a web developer primarily and though I feel confident setting up a basic web server and SSH, I'm not even entirely sure what software I need or should use (when there are multiple alternatives) to set up a fully working e-mail server.

Add to that messing with cryptic configuration files while reading about the dangers of doing it wrong and the general impression is that you shouldn't be touching any of it unless you fully understand it all. As far as beginner friendliness goes, it's a bit like desktop Linux was ten years ago.

Re: FastMail app for iOS and Android now available

#100
post #37

Does FastMail have push for native iOS Mail.app yet?

No, and it won't happen unless Apple open up their IMAP push channel. Now that our app is released we're unlikely to pursue this further.

There are free and open source implementations of Exchange ActiveSync that would allow native push support on iOS. Any particular reason you haven't pursued this?
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