
Show HN: I miss Google Inbox and built a replacement - DarwinMailApp
https://www.darwinmail.app/index.php?ref=HN_inbox_replacement
======
DarwinMailApp
Hello HN I’m Joey, the maker of DarwinMail [1].

DarwinMail enhances Gmail to get your Google Inbox features back.

Features - bundles, snoozing, reminders, dark mode, bulk actions, undo send,
custom backgrounds, templates, & much more.

Darwin Mail will evolve to become great over time, thanks to its users, and
thanks to you [2].

I would love to answer any questions you have!

PS: Would you like 20% off the yearly plan? [3]

[1] [https://www.darwinmail.app](https://www.darwinmail.app) [2]
[https://www.darwinmail.app/roadmap.php](https://www.darwinmail.app/roadmap.php)
[3]
[https://www.darwinmail.app/mail/index.php?promotion=true](https://www.darwinmail.app/mail/index.php?promotion=true)

~~~
nielsole
I use fastmail instead of gmail, but would love to be able to use inbox
features. Maybe you can support other email providers as well?

~~~
DarwinMailApp
Hey there!

I am really sorry if you cannot use DarwinMail right now. I'm currently
building out features that users have requested and keeping the bugs to a
minimum.

Adding more clients is high on my todo list though as I don't want anyone to
be left out :)

------
merricksb
Already submitted as Show HN 3 months ago:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19705440](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19705440)
(218 points/222 comments)

~~~
DarwinMailApp
Hello, The post from 3 months ago was for the launch. For months and months
before the launch I was working hard on DarwinMail.

I received so so much helpful feedback and support on launch day... I was
simply blown away.

Since the launch, I have been improving DarwinMail and implementing new
features that have been requested.

Early morning, after hours, weekends and during dinner time is when I work on
DarwinMail and I love doing so. One of the main features requested since the
launch was bundles and I only recently added that feature to DarwinMail.

Please, allow me to receive the same kind of valuable feedback I once
received. It was wonderful to hear so many valuable thoughts and I would be
over the moon if it happened again.

~~~
dang
Your mistake was in using the same title and presenting this as a fresh Show
HN. Three months is not long, especially when the original thread got major
attention, as yours did. People routinely try to milk this cow too frequently,
and users really don't like it.

If you read the Show HN guidelines you'll notice that they say: " _New
features and upgrades ( "Foo 1.3.1 is out") generally aren't substantive
enough to be Show HNs. A major overhaul is probably ok._" If there really has
been a major overhaul, you should explain in detail what is new, and link to
the previous discussion.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html)

HN's FAQ also says that once a story has had significant attention, we mark
reposts as dupes after about a year.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html)

~~~
DarwinMailApp
Hello Dang,

Thank you so much for taking the time to clarify this.

I would like to explain in detail what has been changes have been made in
DarwinMail since the previous discussion [1]

Browser Support - For several desktop and mobile browsers, DarwinMail was not
loading. This was because many of the code level functions being used were not
compatible with all major browsers. This required a significant overhaul of
the existing codebase, removing all of the logic that was not incompatible
with some browsers and finding new ways to accomplish the same actions in our
codebase.

Bundles - Bundles were the most requested feature since the beginning of
DarwinMail. As such, I spend a substantial amount of time designing how
bundles would work for DarwinMail. After several failed attempts I finally
found a way to replicate the bundling behavior that was once in Google Inbox
into DarwinMail. I have also added the system bundles Social, Updates, Forums,
Promotions.

Website Redesign - Mobile apps were the second most requested addition to the
DarwinMail toolset. However, this request was in no way taken lightly.
DarwinMail had previously been designed for desktop. A redesign of the entire
website was needed to allow the user to operate on mobile. Every view, modal,
menu, email, heading and more had to be redesigned to fit on mobile as it was
previously broken and largely incompatible on mobile.

Progressive Web App - Furthermore, DarwinMail was converted into a progressive
web app. This required over 30 steps (many complex and time consuming) to be
completed in order to satisfy the requirements specified here:
[https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-
apps/check...](https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-
apps/checklist)

Speed Enhancements - DarwinMail was terribly slow and oftentimes inoperable
when it was launched. As a result, many changes had to be made in order to
create a smooth experience for users. JS & CSS files needed to be cached &
minified. All external scripts needed to be stored locally & minified or used
via a CDN. Many exhaustive blocks of the logic needed to be cut down to reduce
page execution times. Page load speeds were increased by cutting down image
sizes and resolutions.

Server Improvements & Security - Much work was needed to be done to our server
in order to ensure the security of the website. There was a lot of user input
sanitization carried out on all forms of user input. Countless mods were
researched for our server and several were added to our server. The server was
also upgraded. This required substantial work as much of DarwinMails
underlying infrastructure broke after the upgrade.

Largescale Code Changes - A large amount of DarwinMails code was developed in
a rush to create a product that users would like to use. As a result, a code
cleanup & change overhaul was needed to move forward. Thousands of lines of
code needed to be changed in order to facilitate this move forward.

Referral System - A referral system was developed so that users can earn a fee
for any friends they referred. This referral system required countless paper
prototypes and redesigns.

User Testing & Bug Fixing - There have been hundreds of bug fixes in the last
three months. This is largely due to the generous feedback received from our
users. Bug fixes for all manner of issues have been completed such as broken
nav bars, emails not appearing properly, menus not working, signatures not
loading, broken modals, etc.

Keyboard Shortcuts - DarwinMails keyboard shortcuts were mapped to work the
same way Gmails keyboard shortcuts work. This required substantial
investigation to ensure a 1:1 mapping.

Swipe Functionality - In order for users to achive increased levels of
productivity while dealing with their emails, swipe functionality was added to
DarwinMail. This allows users to swipe left or right to carry out actions such
as pinning, starring and deleting their emails.

Bulk Actions - There is nothing worse than having to deal with a block of
emails one by one, so one of the major features developed for DarwinMail was
bulk actions. This allows a user to apply an action such as archiving,
deleting, starring or pinning on a large group of emails in one click.

I strongly believe DarwinMail has been vastly changed since the initial launch
[1]. I have made many changes, serious bug fixes, website upgrades, huge code
changes, redesigns and implemented numerous features.

The above is the result of many late nights, early hours before work and
weekend coding sessions. In fact, my girlfriend almost broke up with me I
spent so much time coding DarwinMail.

I hope the above are detail enough to warrant this new post.

Please let me know if you have any questions as it will be my pleasure to
answer them.

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19705440](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19705440)

------
dkersten
I used Inbox very heavily when it came out and loved it, but then I moved away
from GMail in my attempt to de-google as much as possible. I now use the
Spark[1] mail client. Its good, not amazing, but good.

This looks nice, but of course being tied to gmail means I can't use it.

[1] [https://sparkmailapp.com/](https://sparkmailapp.com/)

------
nexuist
Kudos to OP for replying to every comment with the type of unbridled innocent
optimism that is devoid from most marketing materials. I'm not sure I can use
this until it gains a companion mobile app; but I'm glad someone is working in
the space and that they happen to be very, very kind.

~~~
DarwinMailApp
Awhhh you are so kind!!

It truly warms my heart to hear such positive feedback, and personal feedback
even!

I really appreciate it. And I am smiling from ear to ear.

The mobile apps are perhaps the most requested add on! I'm currently building
out our features as requested by users and ironing out the bugs.

I hope to convert the web app into mobile apps / create native apps very very
soon.

Thanks again :)

------
xyzal
Unfortunately, does not work with third party cookies disabled.

~~~
DarwinMailApp
Hello and thank you for your feedback.

I am really terribly sorry for any trouble this has caused.

DarwinMail currently uses a cookie for your email address once you have
authenticated with it.

I am however in the process of removing this cookie and using local storage
instead :)

If you have any issues enabling third party cookies, I have created a guide
for every major browser in the FAQ section of our homepage :)

~~~
swinglock
I've been using the web for probably 10 years without 3rd party cookies
enabled and I'm not about to start now.

It's good that you're getting rid of that dependency. It's usually only few
crummy web shops and flight/hotel booking that have issues working without a
secondary insecure browser.

------
NamPNQ
[https://simpl.fyi/](https://simpl.fyi/) that's enough for me

------
danielkempe
Love Darwin Mail!!!

~~~
DarwinMailApp
Thank you so so much, Daniel.

Your kind words mean the world to me. It's such an amazing feeling to receive
positive feedback on something you built from the ground up.

I will continue to make improvements to DarwinMail each and every day.

