I think this is a good idea, but pretty poorly executed again.
Another user commented that you could just register your own domain and do this; that's great for the average hacker news reader, but not so great for the average Joe so a service like this (if done correctly) would be pretty convenient.
Things that jump out right away as bad about this NBox.
1) It just auto generates an email for me. That's going to be a pain in the ass to remember.
2) Wait; how do I login? I literally don't understand how to login to this app short of going to the site and I get auto logged in by the Chrome extension?
3) Why do I even need a Chrome extension to get my email; where is the password protection so I can login from a different device or god forbid my computer crashes?
4) Not every service asking for an email address is a web service. If I sit down for dinner at an Applebees and order a meal a server is going to tell me the appetizer is free if I just provide my email address... and I want that free appetizer minus the side of spam...
As someone else noted mailhero.io is basically the same service as this, but it's big flaw is that the real email address is exposed since it's always included in the provided email address.
spam.u.later@mailhero.io (ah; real address is later@mailhero.io) Also; many other email services (including GMail can do the samething as mailhero using + addressing and adding rules.
Understood; and I'm not being a hater. I'm just trying to provide some useful feedback after checking out your service.
In regards to the extension though; that's just such a bad direction to go IMHO. Most email is being read on phones these days anyway; does NBox even work from a phone today?
No harm taken, the service is not perfect yet and it lacks a lot of functionalities, that we can agree on.
It works on android phones with chrome, but like you said I wouldn't remember the generated addresses, so we think the extension is a big part of the service, and unfortunately, extensions are not available on mobile. We're working on the subject to find the best solution possible.
The service is fine as-is. It sounds like a perfect complement for a password manager like LastPass or 1Password. All the points brought up are addressed by the password manager: sync across multiple devices, use multiple browsers, etc.
A password manager generates random data for the password textbox. Your extension generates random data for the email textbox. Perfect!
That's the thing, it doesn't need to. Nbox fills the email text box with something random, and LastPass or 1Password takes it from there. It generates a password for you and asks you to save the login info for future use.
I've been wanting something like this for awhile to combine with my LastPass use. Now I can have different email addresses and passwords for everything.
Agree with all your points except your last. Many websites and services will disallow email addresses with + in them (and they're normally he ones I don't trust, like insurance comparison ones)
If you are running your own mail server (the open web is not yet dead) you can change the `recipient_delimiter` to another character. Mine is setup with a period. misc.ycombinator@domain.com
This is definitely a pro-tip! Using a dot instead is a great idea and much less likely to be "auto-removed" by a smart harvester that strips "+" extensions.
I agree that is an issue with those services, but that was sort of my point. Some websites are starting to catch on that people are doing this so they are starting to block + addressing the same way they block mailinator.
Somewhere in this issue of websites blocking + addresses there is a some irony as + addressing is a more recent email standard and so some people have legitimate email addresses with + symbols in them; in fact last I knew Microsoft Exchange still wasn't supporting + addressing due to the need to support legacy users.
Another user commented that you could just register your own domain and do this; that's great for the average hacker news reader, but not so great for the average Joe so a service like this (if done correctly) would be pretty convenient.
Things that jump out right away as bad about this NBox.
1) It just auto generates an email for me. That's going to be a pain in the ass to remember.
2) Wait; how do I login? I literally don't understand how to login to this app short of going to the site and I get auto logged in by the Chrome extension?
3) Why do I even need a Chrome extension to get my email; where is the password protection so I can login from a different device or god forbid my computer crashes?
4) Not every service asking for an email address is a web service. If I sit down for dinner at an Applebees and order a meal a server is going to tell me the appetizer is free if I just provide my email address... and I want that free appetizer minus the side of spam...
As someone else noted mailhero.io is basically the same service as this, but it's big flaw is that the real email address is exposed since it's always included in the provided email address.
spam.u.later@mailhero.io (ah; real address is later@mailhero.io) Also; many other email services (including GMail can do the samething as mailhero using + addressing and adding rules.