How are you finding Inbox [poll results]

So, you have to hand it to Google, they do like to make some different products.  Sometimes they're groundbreaking, sometimes they're just weird.

Lately they've been tackling a way for us to handle email.  For those of you who remember Wave, their first foray wasn't exactly successful (however much I loved it).  The latest incarnation of inbox-0 is their new "Inbox by Gmail".

I've given it a shot and I'm still straddling the line of whether I like it or not.  It gets a spot on my homescreen and I'm giving it an honest effort.

But like most times when I'm unsure, I like to crowd-source my opinion, so I asked you your thoughts.

How'd you answer?



Well, first off, 80% of you are using Inbox, 18% aren't, and 2% aren't, but want to (seriously I have a few invites left, let me know).

But what did you think of it... and I've collated your responses into some positive / negatives (room for improvements).

Positives - The most common thread I kept hearing was that you liked the flow (i.e. the ability for automatic filtering, and reactiveness/quick responses for emails).  More mentioned the ability to snooze, set reminders and having categories (as well as automatic filtering).  Others mentioned the neat look, simiplicity and bulk action options.

Negatives - The biggest bone to pick was that there was not a simple way for it to let you know you have an email waiting (I'll play devil's advocate as it's probably auto filtering to a 'quiet' category) and right behind it the 'un-intuitiveness' of the app.  There is quite a bit of a learning curve with it as we have to learn to adjust our email behaviours.  The other point is that for some we'd prefer to 'delete' email whereas Inbox prefers 'archive' or 'done'.

Suggestions for Improvement:

  • Include other accounts (especially those using Google Apps).  We often receive most of our email from work type accounts, and personal so that could use the most 'organizing'.
  • Signatures
  • Creation of custom filters
  • 3rd party add-ons
  • Inclusion of a contact manager (I'd like to see it include 'groups' even Gmail doesn't do that).

Here's some of your actual comments (I've eliminated lots of the multiples)

  • very productive
  • Categories brings everything into one
  • I like the reminders and the bundles 
  • Automatic filtering. Ability to clear away emails that are dealt with and snooze others. 
  • Bulk archiving is handy, and pinning. 
  • "I've got an empty inbox for the first time ever! 

  • I always used by email add a to do list anyway so this just  makes it's easier and better "
  • I like how events and purchases and whatnot have a preview, so you can see the primary content without even opening it.
  • I like it,it enhances the filters I use and  I can select what type of emails I want to get notified of  just once a day or week.
  • very intuitive
  • categories efficient enough
  • Neat works well
  • It's much more organized than traditional Gmail.
  • Very fast 
  • simplicity
  • the whole idea
  • Keeps my inbox organized but I do not receive a ton of email in my personal account.  
  • Love it all. Makes me react to my email rather than just leave it sitting in an inbox. 
  • eye pleasing
  • snoozing!
  • there's a bit of a steep training curve
  • Still a bit primitive. But shows some promise.
  • I don't like how it seems a little vague on telling you there's a new email in a bundle.
  • These are just some of the things that make me go back to Gmail all the time because Inbox cannot handle them:
    • Downloading a group of attachments as a single file (you need to download one by one - a right PITA if you're sent several attachments)
    • Deleting emails with just one click or a single swipe (you need to tap several times until you get to the ""Move to Bin"" option)
    • Attaching a file directly in the reply box (it opens a secondary pop up if you need to attach something)
    • Signatures 
  • I'm finding that it doesn't suit my needs as expected.
  • I'd like to have the richer bundling options and reminders in Gmail, but the rest is not convincing."
  • The only thing I dislike is how there isn't really "trash" anymore. And even when there is, it's hard to empty it. And it's not really clear if the emails put in "done" ever go away.
  • Don't find ALL the mails I receive.
  • still doesn't let use or create filters
  • I don't like the set up. Gmail is still my go to mail app. I have no use for it
  • difficult to deal with several emails in one conversation.
  • It is supposed to be organized, but since my previous Gmail was a unorganized I found that it just carried over to Gmail. I fell that Google has the potential to make the process of organization simple and should provide an effective way to do so with future builds of inbox. 
  • lags
  • On the phone it's great, but not very good on tablets and desktop imo. 
  • Dislike the inability to sort the done emails by date received. When I first went through and cleared all my old emails they all just got lumped together on the date they were marked done.
  • buggy
  • not intuitive
  • not much different from tabbed gmail
  • No date and time on overview



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