

Show HN: A new way to manage your inbox - Maascamp
https://lightermail.com/blog/2013/02/12/lightermail-is-going-public/

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juriansluiman
This seems like a great tool I have been waiting for a while. As I understand,
it is rather an IMAP _client_ , but will you store my emails on your servers
as well? Or do you only connect to the GMail email storage?

Also, do you keep GMail's messages intact? Or are you authorized to update
filters, apply labels and make a mess of my greatly organized emails?

Another question comes to mind: how about mobile? I read more than half of my
emails on my phone or tablet. Is lightermail able to handle this as well? I
haven't seen an app in the Google Playstore and there is no mention on your
site. How do you think you will handle mobile access? (I see the sms text on a
phone with a link to a lighermail.com page)

~~~
Maascamp
Great questions! I'll address them one at a time. We _DO NOT_ store any of
your emails on our servers. We scan only the from header when an email arrives
and keep a reference to the message's unique ID if it should be acted upon. We
also don't mess with your filters/labels. We strip the inbox label for
deferred messages so they don't show up until you're ready for them, but all
other labels are left intact. As for mobile, we built the site to be
completely usable on smartphones. Mobile apps are in the cards, but we're
still very young and have tried to make the mobile web experience first rate.

Thanks for asking. Feel free to contact me any time (gordon AT lightermail DOT
com) with questions or suggestions!

------
Maascamp
Hey guys, been on HN for a while, but Lightermail is my (our) first attempt at
a startup. Looking forward to any and all feeback from my fellow HNers and
answering whatever questions you may have!

For those interested in the tech stack, the application's built with
Backbone.js, Python, Redis, and Postgres. We use both tornado and gevent on
the backend (with tornado being my personal favourite) and we're using Jekyll
for the blog. If you want to get a little deeper just ask!

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akirk
I have a little trouble understanding whether you are actually a web-based
pop/imap client or whether I would get a @lightermail.com address. (I assume
the former, as it says " Gmail Support with more to come..." but I think you
should explain that better)

~~~
Maascamp
Looks like we need to work on the messaging. We're not an email client. We're
a tool you use _with_ your email client to help control the flow of email.

~~~
akirk
Ok but how so? I see screenshots which seem to come from a web page.

I think you need to explain that before I would be willing (would I be using
gmail) to register with your service.

~~~
Maascamp
Yeah, as I mentioned above we're a web based service. Set your preferences
through the site then just use your regular client as per usual and reap the
benefits.

~~~
akirk
Still don't quite get it. You will manipulate my inbox and I can control the
way you do it through the web interface?

~~~
Maascamp
Pretty much, yes.

~~~
smonff
I feel it's dirty.

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smonff
I like the idea. I like the features. It looks nice. But I won't give you my
Gmail credentials.

~~~
Maascamp
Thanks!

We don't ask for your Gmail credentials though. We connect via OAuth. You can
revoke our access at any time from your Google account without waiting for us.

~~~
smonff
Are you Open Source? How can I be sure? However, I'm sure some people are so
much busy and worried by their mails that your tool will be helpful.

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ricknew
Looks like it might be a great tool.

However, it _seems_ like it might be a bit complex. This seeming complexity is
accentuated because of the "lighter" expectation created by the name.

Why is it called "lightermail"?

~~~
Maascamp
Oh sorry, didn't see the last part of your comment! It's called Lightermail
because once you start using it your inbox and email flow get a whole lot
lighter :)

~~~
ricknew
How will your email flow get lighter? :-)

~~~
Maascamp
Hehe, this is why I need to work on our message.

Lightermail allows you control when and from whom you receive email (from the
global level to individual TLDs to specific senders). The who and when are
highly configurable. You can also combine your unimportant email into
summaries to reduce the actual quantity of email that lands in your inbox.

There's more of course, but that's the gist.

