5 little Gmail annoyances Google needs to fix
Last week, I discussed why Gmail is the best e-mail service on the Web and took a look at all those features that earn it that title. But just because it's the best doesn't mean that the e-mail service doesn't annoy me sometimes. In fact, Gmail has a handful of quirks that Google needs to address.
E-mail scans for advertising
Call me a privacy nut or just way too worrisome, but I don't like that Google scans my e-mail to deliver more relevant ads. It's not that I'm against relevant ads--I think that's what makes Google's success online so compelling and the main reason why the company is in the place it is today--but I simply don't like knowing that my content is being watched by a public company so it can make more money.
I'm fully aware that the opportunities afforded to government branches allow them to do the same and I'm equally upset about that. But, Google? Come on! At least no one at the company actually reads my e-mails, I guess.
Labels
I know I'm probably walking into some fire for this, but I find Labels extremely annoying and useless. I enjoy being able to categorize all my content into different folders without getting bogged down with each e-mail that comes in. But with Labels, I don't have that luxury.
Instead of really filing my e-mails away into the various designations I provide, Gmail simply adds a "Label" to each message to tell me where each belongs. Great, but why can't it just give me a folder? It's not that labeling is awful--it does help me organize my messages somewhat--but it's simply not as useful as folders themselves, which make it much easier to organize my in-box. Oh, and some better filtering on those labels would be nice too.
Where's the drag and drop?
Doesn't it annoy you that you can't drag and- drop e-mails in Gmail? I can do it in Yahoo Mail and AOL Mail. Why should Gmail be any different? Instead of being able to drag and drop, the message is clicked and I have the option of reading it or sending it into the trash. Sometimes, I simply want to drag and drop a slew of e-mails into the Trash to save some time. It's not a big deal--I'm using my mouse anyway--but it is annoying.
Delete me
The fact that I can't delete messages in Gmail by using the Delete button on my keyboard drives me nuts. Maybe I'm an old-school user or I always look to the keyboard for my computing needs when I shouldn't, but the Delete button is one of the most useful keys I interact with each day, and yet it's useless on Gmail.
Try clicking on an e-mail and tapping the Delete button. Doesn't work, does it? Now try highlighting the e-mail and clicking the Delete button. That one doesn't work either, does it? But if you enable keyboard shortcuts in Gmail's settings page and click the Shift and 3 keys at the same time, you'll be able to send messages to the trash. OK, so it's better than nothing, but why not just use the Delete button? I think that's far more convenient.
Single signature
As someone who uses Gmail with multiple e-mail addresses, having the option of using just one signature simply isn't enough. I need different signatures for different e-mail addresses and, unfortunately, it simply doesn't work that way with Gmail. So, each time I want to use a different address, I'm forced to erase my signature and write a new one or use a generic signature that I can use for any e-mail address. Maybe it's a small gripe, but other e-mail services allow for the use of multiple signatures. It's a simple addition, and I don't see any reason to not include it.
If you are looking to do it though, the Black Canvas Email Signature Firefox add-on is worth trying.
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
At first I too missed folders, ala Yahoo, or Hotmail. But as said previously, for the situation where an email can be classified in more than one folder, labels are indispensable. For instance, when my dad emailed me his flight itinerary for his visit, I was able to label it "Dad" as well as "Itineraries". With folders, one is faced with being forced to pick one classification.
You've misunderstood how labels work. The only difference between labels and traditional folders is that a given item can only exist in one folder, but with gmail's labels, an item can have more than (or less than) one label. With traditional folders, there is never actually a folder in which your email/files reside. It's all tags in a database. gmail simply gives you the advanced functionality of the many-to-many relationship between emails and tags.
The real flaw is that gmail doesn't streamline it or explain it well enough for new users.
The Label complaint is moot.
Don't try to sell me that Firefox extension as a solution. I don't access my e-mail exclusively through Firefox.
I am not sure how folders are any better than labels. If you really like folders, you can assign one label for each folder you care about.
Granted, because it doesn't have the ads, you'll have to pay a bit for it - but I'm sure you'll find it worth it.
To each his own, I suppose.
I think your first complaint is pretty pointless. So some inanimate bot reads my emails. ahem. ... ? I really don't give a rip. For example, if I send an email to my buddy about the inauguration, it's not like I get telemarketer spammed by an overzealous Obama volunteer every time I mention the election, it just knows that political ads are more useful for me than daycare ads.
Similarly, I don't buy your second suggestion. Labels can work exactly like folders, if you want. You know you don't have to use filters for label, right? Just create some, then every time you want to move an email into that label/folder, just click "Apply X Label" in the dropdown menu. Then you can select that label on the right hand sidebar and see those emails.
Just use AdBlock -- the whole point of using Firefox. Done.
I know there are Firefox extensions that block ads, but those do me no good if I access my mail from another computer.
We're still waiting for you to finish writing the better service that everyone will like more. Do you have an ETA, yet?
No I don't mean hurry up and make it better so it can come out of beta, I'm saying if it's been that so long since it was released TO THE PUBLIC, AND it's fully functional, just with a few issues, then why can't they just remove the beta label from it. It doesn't have to be perfect. Besides, massive amounts of people already use it. I'm sure most people don't even know it's in beta. I've used Gmail for 2+ish years and I only noticed the word beta underneath the logo a few months ago (yes, you may argue that I'm just really unobservant).
Unless Google is just following a strict definition of what beta software really is, I just find it pointless.
svk1069, how is giving something a label and archving it different than putting it in a folder (besides an extra click)?
I'd rather have IMAP.
So, if you want to use IMAP, labels are going to act like folders because IMAP is folder-based. If you want labels to act like labels, then use Gmail's interface or wait for Google to invent an IMAP alternative which supports labels.
Thanks for the clarification. I point this example out as one where someone (like myself) who needs IMAP would prefer *folders* as opposed to labels. If I could use the GMail intermface everwhere, I might but right now that is not an option. A second problem with the labels in IMAP is when you add an e-mail to a label/folder, it shows as an unread message.
I have no doubt Google is working on a better IMAP solution, but until then I prefer regular folders.
Exactly the same as a folder.
I can't recommend Zenbe highly enough.
For those of you who aren't convinced to go to the site, I watched the demo video, here's the summary:
1. Web based email
2. Use your existing email address (I suppose to provide credentials and it logs in for you)
3. Clever way to view attachments
4. Supports standard documents, PDF, Word, Excel, right in the browser
5. Tag people as favorite and cut through to email just from that selected group.
I'm sure there's much more, but if you find your current webmail lacking, check out Zenbe - looks legit.
It also *automatically* checks those other e-mail services (like Gmail does), so you don't have to manually do it.
It also offers access to your calendar, Twitter, Facebook, and GTalk right in its interface.
Like Gmail, it has free IMAP or POP access.
I don't think current Gmail users necessarily will have a need for Zenbe (yet), but for the rest of us it's incredible. From what I understand, there is still a lot more planned for Zenbe, but they're introducing new features slowly because they don't want to overwhelm people.
Not quite sure what the block is.
Folders = labels with... a different label. ;-)
If you enable keyboard shortcuts, you can delete a message by simply hitting the X key. How is that so difficult for you? Also, labels are far more useful than folders, as other posters have commented and they offer several filter options. Not sure what more you're looking for. Labels work just like folders, if not better, for me. My inbox is very well organized.
- by zarrik December 22, 2008 2:24 PM PST
- Seriously, you could only come up with 5 annoyances? The big annoyance for me, and the only thing keeping me from using Gmail, is the god-awful conversation view interface. Because Google has a mandate to be different from everyone else, they couldn't in good faith use the folder system that every other email client on the planet uses. The end result is hands-down to worst way to manage email. The system is not smart enough to differentiate similar messages from the same sender as being different. They don't allow you to break a message out of conversation view. The delete option is buried in a menu. And there's no concept of sent messages, because everything is based on conversations.
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- by svk1069 December 22, 2008 2:42 PM PST
- I'm not a big fan of the conversation view either. Sometimes it gets confused and groups e-mails that are not part of the same conversation because of their subject line. I'd like the option to turn it off.
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- by toumei64 December 22, 2008 2:53 PM PST
- Which GMail are you using? Sure it has problems with similar E-Mails in conversation view and it would be nice to be able to separate something from conversation view, but uhh... There's a delete button at the top and bottom of the inbox pane and every email message. There's a link for filtering sent mail as well.
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- by Glenn_O December 22, 2008 8:30 PM PST
- I've used G-mail for7-8 months now and comments here indicate I must abandon all hope that the conversation view interface is inescapable and not just me not being smart enough to find a disable option. It is maddening!! My need to be able to reconcile different content to the same address has become too essential. Using FF3 now since the latest IE bugaboo. I guess I should give T-Bird a hard look. Yet the inertia of having to re-educate my current contacts (and more importantly, potential future contacts from cards in circulation) is really a dilemma.
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- by loose_screw December 23, 2008 5:30 AM PST
- I love the conversation view, instead of cluttering up my inbox with tons of replies they are neatly organized into one item.
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- by bdaniel December 23, 2008 9:26 AM PST
- conversation view is what happens to make gmail so great.
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