Keep your Inbox, Google

Unlike many people out there, I have no problem with email. It is a convenient way to communicate and maintains a permanent, searchable record of conversations. Sure you get the long-winded amateur novelists sending you page long emails, but for the most part I find it entirely manageable for the 40-100 emails per day I tend to get (which I acknowledge is not a lot, but my system held strong at 300-500 per day – which is definitely above average I'd bet).

Still, I use email on my phone and the Gmail web interface a lot, exclusively in fact (other than the iPad which tends to come in a distant third). So when a new paradigm comes along offering efficiency, email scheduling, and a slick UI, you have my full attention.

So here's a rundown of the upside and the downside for Google Inbox. The upside section is short, but that's largely because I'm focusing on the things I don't believe have been adequately covered yet.

Upside

Scheduling

Scheduling is wonderful. When I'm short on time, I use Boomerang on the desktop to help maintain a clean inbox without losing track of things. Having the ability to get an email out of your way temporarily and return it as a reminder when you need it (or as a just-in-case for event details at the time of that event, for example) is really convenient. Inbox takes this a step further and enables location-based return-to-inbox functionality. Two thumbs up. When using iOS's native email client, anything I want Boomeranged has to wait until I get to a computer; I rarely find this to be a noticeable inconvenience, but still worth noting. This is far and away the best feature of Google Inbox.

Design

Google made a focused effort to design this with elegance and simplicity in mind, and that is mostly clear to the user. They weren't shy about using colors, yet it isn't obnoxious. There are previews of certain things like images in the message preview from the inbox list view, some are even actionable like calendar invites. They manage to do this without cluttering the interface too much, though it does drastically change how many messages you might be seeing in the list at any given time. I'll leave the deep analysis to actual designers, but overall the look is appealing for the most part. 

Downside

Load... time...

I may not mind email, I even often prefer it, but that doesn't mean my life revolves around it. Using respectable broadband (though not the best), loading the app takes a shockingly long time. You can expect an average app load time plus an average website load time (a largely visual one, in fact), so expect 5-8 seconds to load the app even without many emails in your inbox. Once loaded, it begins the process of grabbing new emails. I understand how pedantic and ridiculous it sounds to complain about waiting 5 seconds, but doing this repeatedly throughout the day is extremely noticeable. Perhaps it is better to think of it as a 1000%+ increase* in load time compared to the native email client. If you're used to using the Gmail app for iOS, it shouldn't be much different.

*I tried measuring load time on my iOS client, it never took long enough that I could time it by hand, so I picked 1000% since it was certainly less than half a second.

This was one of the biggest complaints I have with Inbox. There is no excuse for it, iOS allows background downloading. The user experience on launch is terrible as a result. It is worsened by the fact that the list of messages you see on launch represents the inbox the last time you launched Inbox, meaning by the time you're skimming, reading, and reaching to tap one, the page will refresh and you'll be looking at (perhaps even unknowingly opening) an entirely different message.

Emails Get Lost

The new method for grouping messages can be useful, particularly to decrease your odds of losing an important email in the pile of update and promo emails that most of us wake up to. However, when you triage the inbox and get things trimmed down, what remains is effectively a to-do list, if anything remains at all. Then a new email comes in, then a few more, and suddenly the message that you had sitting right there as a reminder to do something is lost in a group somewhere. You could create a reminder with the (theoretically) handy reminders functionality, but that's an extra step and if I'm saving a message for later as a reminder I often am short on time to begin with.

I think some combination of pinned emails and reminders can solve this, so it is safe to chalk this one up to a lack of familiarity to some extent, but it was much easier to lose track of emails than it should have been.

Smart Features aren't That Smart

The "smart features" like detecting flights and reservations are nice, but most people don't realize that many daily (or frequent) benefits here. The smart event creation is either absent or utterly worthless when an email with subject "lunch on 12/2 at 12pm" can't be turned into an event on the spot like it can with the native iOS email client. Overall it is a neat idea that is useful when you need it, but the benefits aren't realized frequently enough to change the fact that the focus of Inbox is not on the content of the emails, it is on getting those emails out of your inbox.

More taps to semi-junk

You know those emails that you might skim, but almost never save or click on? Most of us have at least a few of those. I unsubscribe to the ones I don't want to get, but I do still get a a few. The new layout of Inbox means more taps to open them since they're now bundled in the "Promos" grouping. This has introduced a step (and subsequent load time) on messages that I barely consider worth the one tap they used to get. Yes, you can disable bundling of each message, but I barely cared enough to click once, I really don't want to have to go out of my way to manage rules for semi-junk. This isn't too big of a deal since it has the upside of making the initial view of your inbox more useful, but the downside of requiring weeks of training the app which ones to include or not include in the group. Ultimately, adding steps to manage the junk that's just barely important enough to make it to my inbox isn't a welcome change.

Missing Delete

I know some people have a hard time with archiving versus deleting messages, but there are those of us who pay for storage space from Google and don't love the image-heavy junk mail eating that space up. Trust us, there are enough people who can handle both the archive and the delete concept that we still want a delete feature. EDIT: It has been brought to my attention that delete still exists, it was just buried and I missed it. Not ideal, but that helps.

Missing the Details

I have a tremendous appreciation for apps that sweat the details – the tiny little things that most people don't even know took the developer hours or days of effort. Marco Arment using math and vectors to draw his graphics in Overcast, for instance. Tweetbot's tap-and-hold power features built in for fast account switching or retweeting from a different account. Path's clock as you scroll through the timeline and the animation when you tap + to add a post. Details matter.

Inbox is missing a few key ones. The design uses the concept of closing a message rather than going back, it seems subtle, but this means you're reaching for the X on the top left rather than using the swipe gesture from the left edge of the screen. My iPhone 6 (4.7" screen) makes this hard, I can't imagine using an iPhone 6 Plus.

I have had to dismiss or tap "Got it" on more tutorials than I care to count. I don't wholly agree with the following notion, but it has a point worth considering – if you need a tutorial, you failed in design. I don't remember who said it and I know the quote isn't verbatim, but the point remains. One tutorial/how-to I can live with, 5? 10? Come on. I understand that creating a whole new interaction model, structure, and experience to manage email requires some teaching, but there has to be a better balance than this.

I was surprised to see that my email signature from Gmail wasn't there when I used Inbox. This is the case in the Gmail app too, no signature at all. I can chose a mobile signature "instead of my desktop signature" (according to the setting in the Gmail app), but neither Gmail or Inbox adopts the desktop signature when that toggle is off and I don't even see relevant signature settings (or a place to add a signature, for that matter) in Inbox.

unread counts

I don't like seeing unread email counts, anywhere. The "mark all as done" feature is nice (though rarely do I blow off a whole chunk of emails without at least making sure they're okay to archive), but it keeps them marked as unread. This means that if they got auto-labled by my filters, as many do, I now have labels with unread counts. I understand that the alternative isn't ideal either though, marking an email as read when it wasn't actually opened is violating the basic understanding of read/unread, but it still makes the "mark all as done" feature much less useful.

Website

The website gets its own section since it was clearly an afterthought. I don't hold the app responsible for the faults of the website. I do, however, use email on a laptop often enough that the website matters; often I found myself back at the Gmail site to get things done. Let's move through these quickly:

  • It is Chrome only. I feel like it is 1998 getting "IE Only" notices. No thanks. (This is obviously temporary and likely for good reason, but it sends almost an alpha message on this beta product.)
  • There is no indication of how many unread emails you have; it doesn't say in the page title bar like Gmail does. When emails are grouped it tells you how many emails are in the group, then it makes the sender's name bold if there is a new email in that thread, but this isn't useful beyond a few new messages. You can count the number of bold names per message grouping, that gets you in the right ballpark, but that is ridiculous. 
  • I had Chrome open with one tab – Inbox – in the background while typing this. I noticed by battery dropped by 40% in less than an hour and checked which apps were sucking the power... Chrome, and only Chrome. I guess whatever Chrome-only-isms they are embracing are a work in progress with regard to efficiency also.
  • New hangouts messages don't flash, so unless you're on the page and paying attention to the conversation you really don't see that a new message has come in.  I also miss being able to click the header for the IM itself to minimize/maximize it, but that's not a big deal.
  • The initial look hides labels and Hangouts, which leaves a lot of white space. The simplicity is nice at first, but ultimately I wound up wanting Hangouts and labels visible all (or most) of the time. The resulting page looked like an afterthought rather than an intentionally designed webpage.

Closing Thoughts

The take-away is that Inbox focuses on getting emails out of your inbox rather than on the content of the emails themselves. In some cases the content is more of a burden than an asset, but I can't help but feel like Google assumes all email is spam unless proven otherwise – guilty until proven innocent if you will. As it stands today, I will not be switching to use Google's Inbox for my email needs. I will, however, be watching it grow and develop in hopes that with time they address some of the key issues. There is always the possibility that I return should they get these things sorted out.

The rave reviews for Inbox aren't entirely unjustified. It is an aesthetically pleasing app from a company that really knows email. I can't help but feel a hint of hope when I see this contemporary approach to addressing a pain point for millions of daily users – the inbox. If you're drowning in email and can't find a system to keep on top of it, this is worth a try, but in general I'd advise most people to steer clear, at least until the product matures more.

A Few Thoughts on the Apple Watch

A few months ago I made it very clear I had no expectation for there to be an "iWatch" (tentatively named at the time) in 2014. I even pegged 2015 as unlikely. I was partially right – there is no Apple Watch available to consumers in 2014, but there is very much an Apple Watch available only a few months later. 

The timeline isn't terribly relevant, but they were definitely ahead of where I expected them to be. It was no question that they had one in the works, but Apple did the exact thing that I wasn't sure they'd do – take direct aim at the fashion industry. I love that they did, and the general response is that the Apple Watch is more on par with premium watches than it is with the smart watches of today*.

What Is Missing, What Isn't

What Apple is doing here is what they've always done, with one fairly major missing piece. What they're doing is producing a device of extraordinary quality that feels incredible in the hand (or on the wrist), so incredible it elicits an emotional response whether you realize it or not. The feature list is simple yet compelling, and there is a new interaction model. This last part is critical and I cannot wait to see how it pans out. I have stated in the past that there will be an interaction model post-touchscreen that isn't voice, and I am curious to see if this is it (for small screened devices). It has strong ties to the original iPod from what I can tell.

These core strengths are in the experience and emotional response from using the device.  Experience or emotionally based "features" are challenging to capture in writing, I suspect this plays a part in why Apple has so much fashion exposure on it. In addition to the obvious fact that it is a fashion product, the fashion industry understands that beauty and craftsmanship reach people on an emotional level; this is true for all of Apple's devices, but I suspect the Apple Watch takes it to a whole new level.

So what is missing? Ben Thompson captured it well here – Apple never told us why we need the Apple Watch. What problem is it solving? Where does it fit in our digital lives? I think this is at least partially because they don't entirely know yet. They have some great ideas, intimate communication is going to be key. With voice being a primary interaction method there is no doubt that they're focusing heavily on the tap, haptic, and other aspects of the communication methods for the device. Their demos don't show it well because this is just too new. It is still tough to picture as a core piece of our interactions. We can't effectively communicate much substance with tiny doodles and we aren't all going to learn morse code, but there will be some intermediate level of brief communication that will become commonplace. 

Design

  • Shape - A circular design is appealing, but the drawbacks don't necessarily make up for the advantages. I have always liked certain square watches, the shape is not a negative as many have proposed (usually in comparison to the Moto 360).
  • Thickness - The device doesn't seem to be quite as thick as some of the promo shots make it look. I believe the roundedness of it make it appear thicker than it is, but I really don't know. It does look thick, but I'm a fan of very slim watches.
  • Size - Having two sizes was a no-brainer. There has to be substantial focus on smaller wrists, often generalized as "female wrists", but it applies more broadly. Many people do not like huge watches, and I suspect the watch will shrink substantially in overall appearance (by making it thinner) in coming years much like the iPhone did. It will be "too thick" when looking back on it in a few years, but it isn't necessarily too thick for a first generation device.
  • Bands - Apple created a genuinely elegant solution here, I think this will help sales substantially. Like others, I am curious what they will do considering the high end Edition watch's digital crown will be color matched to the band the watch was purchased with.

Price

I think John Gruber is on the right track.

Closing

Overall I like the watch. I am really excited to see what direction it heads and to see how they develop this new interaction model as well as the new intimate communication. I am also curious to see how the adoption is across sexes, classes, and outside the nerd community. My grandparents have iPhones and iPads; I am having a hard time picturing them getting an Apple Watch, but only because of what it looks like today, I think there is a big opportunity to change that very quickly.

Will I buy one? We'll see. My tentative thought at the moment is that I won't. I held off on the phone for a few generations (3GS), though that was largely because of the AT&T restriction, but I caved and switched in 2009. With the only restriction being my willingness to spend the money, there are fewer barriers than with the iPhone.

There is tremendous potential here and I cannot wait to see how it plays out. 

 

*At face value, this statement is easily refuted. The feature list comparison shows that the Apple Watch doesn't stand out compared to the current top tier Android smart watch, the Moto 360. This type of comparison overlooks the strengths that make Apple who they are, but neither Apple's strengths nor the feature list points are important to everyone, so of course it all comes down to what each person values in a device like this.

Apple's Opportunity to Take Two Factor Authentication Mainstream

Touch ID has brought a level of convenience, speed, and security to consumer electronics that has never been seen before. Your fingers are always with you, they're unique, and the fingerprint recognition is incredibly fast. In addition to that, an image of the fingerprint itself is not stored on the device, and what does get stored is kept in an ultra-secure enclave within the phone - never sent over the Internet. Each of these pieces is fundamentally critical to enabling mainstream adoption of two factor authentication. If the scanning were slower or less reliable, even only slightly, that could be enough to invalidation my entire assertion below.

Right now you've got people who not only avoid two factor authentication, many use the same password for everything, store passwords in a text file, use really simple and obvious words, or any number of other terrible practices. Then if they're hacked, they are surprised. Whether we like admitting it or not, the fact is that without an extraordinary amount of convenience, more secure practices will not become commonplace. 

The Potential

Apple has an opportunity to make two factor authentication commonplace; hopefully it will be instilled as a societal expectation that a hardware vendor provide a secure solution on par with this, but that's getting ahead of myself. So what does this hypothetical two factor authentication using Touch ID look like?

Apple releases an API so that websites support two factor authentication with Touch ID. When you log into the website with a username and password a request is sent to the device of your choosing, let's say an iPhone for now. Your phone lights up with the standard Touch ID authentication push alert with some basic information about the website that is making the request. Your fingerprint is never sent over the network, let alone to a third party website, but instead (much like third party apps in iOS 8) a simple "yes" or "no" is sent back to verify the user.

The push alert appears within a second or two, the scan doesn't require unlocking the device or anything, and in fractions of a second the fingerprint scan completes. Done. You now have an account that is nearly impossible to access without your permission (assuming the third party doesn't have some security loophole elsewhere).

Ultra fast. Ultra secure. Ultra convenient. Easy to understand and setup. It just works.

Longer Term

Longer term you could take this a step farther and include the Apple Watch. Right now, once authenticated, the Apple Watch doesn't require a PIN until contact with the skin is broken. Eventually the sensors on the back of the watch might to be able to use your biometrics (blood pressure, heart beat pattern, etc.) to create a unique identifier for you. The two factor authentication could be as simple as tapping "yes" on your watch face since the device already knows it is you.

What's the Hold Up?

There is nothing stopping Apple from doing this today. The hooks are already built into iOS to enable the Touch ID prompt from a third party. The API and third party implementation of the API is really the only big piece missing. It isn't trivial, but it is well within the scope of realistic.

One important consideration is how do you manage the situation where you've lost your phone? That's a tough one, likely a recovery password coupled with something else, maybe even a webcam based facial recognition option (which also has drawbacks). This isn't a perfect solution, but the benefits vastly outweigh the drawbacks as far as I can tell.

Closing Thoughts

I think Apple has a lot to gain here (for their image alone, if nothing else) and they're in a position to educate users how to take better care of their digital belongings. I cannot imagine any process that is more convenient that offers even a fraction of this level of security. Apple would be wise to roll this out as soon as possible, especially now that Touch ID equipped devices are numbering well into the tens of millions. I know I would use it for nearly everything, and I think this just might be enough for the average person to want to protect themselves.

Microsoft Buying Minecraft's Creator is a Long Play

If you haven't heard, Microsoft is buying Minecraft's creator for $2.5B. The young people hardly even know what Microsoft does and the older audience is thinking, "Mine what?" So here's why I think this, if positioned correctly, could be a vital long play for Microsoft.

It is no secret that Microsoft is having a miserable time launching Windows Phone into relevance. I suspect they'll keep up with the effort they have, however, by buying Minecraft's creator (who has a very loyal following) they can effectively admit defeat on the market of anyone 16 and over today and target those that are younger.

Obviously not many young teens or children buy flagship smartphones, but if Microsoft can slowly transition a Minecraft following into a Microsoft platform following, they'll have people (now grown up) with a decade of loyal love for the brand. Once these young buyers are the vital 18 to 25 year olds in the market there will be a decade of Windows Phone first (or Windows Phone exclusive) launches to bolster the image of their platform.

Microsoft is well aware they've lost the battle for now, but while all the competitors are fighting for sales today, Microsoft just made a wise long play for a decade from now. Keep in mind, execution of this is not guaranteed; in fact it will be challenging to keep their eye on a prize that far into the future, but make no mistake how loyal and enormous the Minecraft following is.