
Wmail – Desktop client for Gmail and Google Inbox - Amorymeltzer
https://thomas101.github.io/wmail/
======
darren
I've used Mailplane for years -
[http://mailplaneapp.com](http://mailplaneapp.com)

Yes, it is "just" a wrapper, but it's nice having Mail and Calendar in a
separate dedicated app. I can restart my browser without impacting my mail,
and the integration with the desktop (e.g. mailto: links just work, I can use
quicklook on attachments, better drag and drop support, etc.) make it
worthwhile.

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songgao
Looks like the Google API client ID and client secret are stored in clear text
shipped with the released app:

    
    
      WMail.app/Contents/Resources/app/bin/shared/credentials.js
    

, and this seems to be used in authentication with Google:
[https://github.com/Thomas101/wmail/blob/master/src/main/Auth...](https://github.com/Thomas101/wmail/blob/master/src/main/AuthGoogle.js#L61)

~~~
AntiRush
I think "secret" is a misnomer here.

 _The process results in a client ID and, in some cases, a client secret,
which you embed in the source code of your application. (In this context, the
client secret is obviously not treated as a secret.)_

[https://developers.google.com/identity/protocols/OAuth2](https://developers.google.com/identity/protocols/OAuth2)
(under "Installed Applications")

~~~
songgao
Interesting. Thanks for the link! I wonder why they still require a
client_secret in installed application?

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Mikeb85
So it's just the website in a chromium wrapper? So I'd be downloading ~50mb
for something that I already have in Chrome? I'm trying to find a feature it
has that I can't get through Chrome...

~~~
seanalltogether
> I'm trying to find a feature it has that I can't get through Chrome...

An individually dockable app with a badge icon showing unread messages?

~~~
bmurphy1976
And if you use something like Fluid.app you can create an app per email
account and even have a separate app for your Calendar like me! Unfortunately
Fluid.app is poorly maintained and based on Safari...

~~~
moonlighter
Check out
[https://github.com/jiahaog/nativefier](https://github.com/jiahaog/nativefier),
it's like fluid in that it builds a standalone app for any website, incl.
support for badges and segregated cookies.

~~~
mercer
I've used nativefier to create apps for Gmail (two separate accounts),
facebook, trello, and soundcloud. Even though it feels ridiculous to create a
huge app to just wrap a website, it works quite well.

For some odd reason I couldn't get the badges to work well for gmail though.

~~~
moonlighter
The badges work, just not very well; I noticed that it takes a long time for
them to get displayed/refreshed. Like you, I created one for Google (mostly to
keep tracking cookies segregated), Facebook and GMail, but I've switched to
WMail because the new mail badge works flawlessly there (and I need a reliable
new email indicator).

------
jrcii
I use a mutt setup like this [http://stevelosh.com/blog/2012/10/the-homely-
mutt/](http://stevelosh.com/blog/2012/10/the-homely-mutt/)

Besides the efficiency of the CLI, I like having a local copy of my mail.

~~~
swiley
I use mbsync and alpine but obviously since alpine is just an interface to the
local maildir I can hop between different mail clients without anything
breaking.

------
mpinteractiv
So it's not an email client, it's some app exclusively for Gmail and Google
Inbox (using OAUTH for authorization ), not that it lessen the value of the
app in anyways but it's important to note.

~~~
nailer
That's more of a good thing than a bad thing for Gmail users: Gmail's search
based inbox does not logically map to IMAP and Google don't have a full public
API for Gmail.

------
Estragon
Are there any CLI gmail clients which can handle 2FA? I'd like to have a way
to read my work email in emacs, but I'm pretty sure work would be unhappy
about me putting an app-specific credential on my hard-drive without 2FA.

------
timmaah
I've been using Kiwi for a while now. I enjoy my email separate from my
browsing. And it keeps work and personal email accounts close. I can't forget
to open one and not the other.. etc.

Kiwi looks to be about the same as Wmail but without the Google Inbox. (and it
is a pay product)

[http://kiwiforgmail.com/](http://kiwiforgmail.com/)

------
tuananh
Electron apps are very big in size. It's like having multiple instances of
Chrome running. Remind me of Java apps all over again.

~~~
butz
This is even worse. While with Java you have to install one JRE instance,
Electron duplicates whole browser for each app.

------
amelius
Looks great. But it makes me really wonder why somebody is doing Google's job.

~~~
jhardcastle
It reminds me of Radiant[0], which does the same thing for Google Music.

Google has bet big on web apps. They are pushing hard to make the web app the
way of the future. I don't have a problem with that, and to an extent I'm
getting used to it (while simultaneously moving my clients in that direction
like I've been doing for ten years), but in an age when it's still very
transitional, it is nice to have these wrappers to make everything a little
smoother.

If they published desktop apps, folks would never migrate. They would complain
about the poor experience on the Chromebook, etc.

[0] [https://github.com/radiant-player/radiant-player-
mac](https://github.com/radiant-player/radiant-player-mac)

------
melted
Why "missing" though? On Windows 10, Mail is quite nice. On OSX there's
Airmail. On Linux there's bupkis, but that's really not what Linux is for.

~~~
zitterbewegung
This desktop client appears to load the inbox interface and gmail interface in
a iframe and has extra related functionality on the side . So it isn't just an
email client. Looking at it I don't see how it is much Of a desktop client
unless they added offline functionality .

~~~
Mithaldu
It's not actually a desktop client. It's just a webapp in a thin chromium
wrapper.

------
bikamonki
Speaking of it, can Google deny access to one's email from a non-google
client?

~~~
brbsix
Many people use third-party email clients via POP, IMAP, or an application-
specific password. Just think about all the people using Thunderbird, mobile
email clients, etc. The day they stop permitting that is the day they no
longer offer an email service.

------
smellf
Does anyone know if this is what Chromixium uses?

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benjismith
Top notch. This is really lovely.

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skrowl
Any ETA on the Windows version?

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qkhhly
> Wmail os open source.

There is a typo here.

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tomphoolery
haha I'm a huge fan of the vulcan salute icon!

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erwinkle
Windows support?

~~~
smellf
"Coming soon"

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voynich61
>the efficiency of the CLI

lol

~~~
dang
Please stop posting unsubstantive comments to HN.

We detached this comment from
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11155781](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11155781)
and marked it off-topic.

