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Our plans for Thunderbird on Android

blog.thunderbird.net

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Re: Our plans for Thunderbird on Android

#261

Post by indymike »

sam_lowry_ wrote: post #83
subsection1h wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> An email client should be a webview + sql-lite, no? I strongly prefer Maildir. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maildir

Maildir vs mbox is like emacs vs vim.

Not really. Maildir does away with a host of problems ranging from file locking (the entire mbox file must be locked during writes, where maildir only requires the message being operated on the be locked), to network compatibility (no transporting a 4gb file back and forth), to corruption issues (mostly due to file size).

Re: Our plans for Thunderbird on Android

#262

Post by harry8 »

So this sounds interesting, first I've heard of K9.

Installed K9 from f-droid. Stick gmail credentials in. Fails to log on or function. I assume because gmail is actively blocking them.

No email notifications of the login attempt from gmail nor android popups. Just silent block.

I'm sure there is a reason that makes it all my fault or nothing else that google could possibly do other than that. So let's hear them.

Re: Our plans for Thunderbird on Android

#263

Post by matt_heimer »

harry8 wrote: post #262

So this sounds interesting, first I've heard of K9. Installed K9 from f-droid. Stick gmail credentials in. Fails to log on or function. I assume because gmail is actively blocking them. No email notifications of the login attempt from gmail nor android popups. Just silent block. I'm sure there is a reason that makes it all my fault or nothing else that google could possibly do other than that. So let's hear them.

Google stopped allowing 3rd party apps to log into your mail account using usernames and passwords on May 30, 2022.

https://github.com/thundernest/k-9/issues/6020 https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255

Re: Our plans for Thunderbird on Android

#264

Post by wolverine876 »

justinclift wrote: post #256
wolverine876 wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> What basis is there for your accusations? > History That's all you have? They are baseless then.

Not really. It's more of a wait and see, "lets hope for the best, but plan for the worst" kind of scenario.

Yes, really! There is no basis. "History" isn't a basis - try it in another context.

Re: Our plans for Thunderbird on Android

#265

Post by UberFly »

Multicomp wrote: post #260

Not that it matters to most, but as a K9 and Thunderbird user, and a user who often jumps on the complain/concern bandwagon when acquisitions etc. are announced: I'm pleased with this news. Wary of future problems? Sure. But I don't think I could imagine a better set of news for my two favorite email clients. Well. Unless some big moneybags company started investing in DeltaChat. But let's do one pipe dream at a time…

I hadn't heard of DeltaChat but just looked it up. Looks interesting. Thanks for mentioning it.

Re: Our plans for Thunderbird on Android

#266

Post by drschwabe »

pmontra wrote: post #223
decrypt wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask what Thunderbird local storage means? Does that mean that emails are delivered and stored on the device, vs on a cloud server?

I don't use IMAP because I don't want to leave my email on my email provider servers. I download messages over POP3, filter to folders (one per person or customer) and backup as any other file. I use K9 to read those messages over POP3 before I download them with Thunderbird. I delete notifications and anything that doesn't have to be stored forever. The obvious downside is that I can't access old mail when I'm away…

Another option, hypothetical, is you export your emails to a common format like markdown (with embedded meta directly in each file; 1 per email or in a pair where the secondary file is the same name but stores meta only ie- in json) and then open them in any note-taking app or wiki or static site generator that works on markdown files (with some extent of configuration presumably, extra points if the app makes it sensible to easily organize your emails for optimal viewing). You could serve the files over HTTP, probably less hassle than running a secondary IMAP server, or alternatively you could sync them to your device(s) over ssh via git or zfs or an app like Syncthing.

Re: Our plans for Thunderbird on Android

#267

Post by woojoo666 »

Zak wrote: post #236
woojoo666 wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a lot of Firefox extensions are still broken on mobile. For example, I can't find a single tab manager / session manager that works on mobile

Users can only easily install extensions from the "recommended" collection. Installing anything else requires running a development build and jumping through hoops. The Firefox team has been very clear that simply developing a reasonable working extension that some people might want does not create an expectation it will ever be recommended. So why would anybody bother writing an extension for Firefox mobile?

There are already plenty of tab managers that work on desktop, and they shouldn't require a rewrite to work on mobile. I think Mozilla just hasn't finished making Firefox mobile support all the web extension APIs yet, so that's why they haven't opened the mobile app up for installing arbitrary extensions

Re: Our plans for Thunderbird on Android

#268

Post by harry8 »

matt_heimer wrote: post #263
harry8 wrote: post #262

So this sounds interesting, first I've heard of K9. Installed K9 from f-droid. Stick gmail credentials in. Fails to log on or function. I assume because gmail is actively blocking them. No email notifications of the login attempt from gmail nor android popups. Just silent block. I'm sure there is a reason that makes it all my fault or nothing else that google could possibly do other than that. So let's hear them.

Google stopped allowing 3rd party apps to log into your mail account using usernames and passwords on May 30, 2022. https://github.com/thundernest/k-9/issues/6020 https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/6010255

Thunderbird logged in on my laptop right now.

Blocking 3rd party apps seems relevant to this discussion.

Blocking without notifiying as to WHY to make it look like another kind of failure is pretty anti-competitive at best. Bait, "yes we let you use your client with imap" becomes switch "we have enough market share to throw our weight around to hurt the competition"

/Me waves to the google employees who found the original post somehow not meeting the guildelines here.

Anyway K9 does not work with gmail, apparently since 2 weeks ago. I wonder if joining mozilla 2 weeks after that will change things.

Re: Our plans for Thunderbird on Android

#269

Post by autoexec »

LoveGracePeace wrote: post #252
fnord123 wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A wish: an IMAP server backed by Thundebird's local storage and K-9 as client Isn't Thunderbird using some weird file based system? Wouldn't an SQLite backed client be a better idea in general? What would the advantage of thunderbirds local storage have aside from maturity?

If Thunderbird moves away from file based I will find a new email client. I already have to deal with the monstrosity that is systemd, don't want my email subjugated to a database. Databases are fine for data. I want my email in files so I can easily move away if needed, to another client.

Yeah, we're sticking with thunderbird in large part for their MBOX support and if they ever dropped it we'd move to something else. MBOX makes it dead simple to parse or grep through your messages.

Re: Our plans for Thunderbird on Android

#270

Post by pmontra »

drschwabe wrote: post #266
pmontra wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't use IMAP because I don't want to leave my email on my email provider servers. I download messages over POP3, filter to folders (one per person or customer) and backup as any other file. I use K9 to read those messages over POP3 before I download them with Thunderbird. I delete notifications and anything that doesn't have to be stored forever. The obvious downside is that I can't access old mail when I'm away…

Another option, hypothetical, is you export your emails to a common format like markdown (with embedded meta directly in each file; 1 per email or in a pair where the secondary file is the same name but stores meta only ie- in json) and then open them in any note-taking app or wiki or static site generator that works on markdown files (with some extent of configuration presumably, extra points if the app makes it sen…

Thunderbird to HTTP looks simple enough to be a side project sometimes in the future. It could integrate with a backup server I'm planning to setup. Thanks.
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