Signal
Productivity
email editing extension
SHOW HN2013
151points
88comments
#125of 1,739 in 2013
Top 8%of 2013 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
9 positive, 26 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 20 critical, out of 59 comments about the project. Thread score -0.30.
Design: 1 for, 8 againstIdea: 5 for, 2 againstExecution: 0 for, 4 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 3 againstDocs: 1 for, 0 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Good idea that could be useful for to-do management
From 4 comments
I like the idea of re-naming these as a form of mini-notes. But now that Gmail is getting into providing context for emails (such as flight check-ins), I'd like it if the…
canistr on HNThis is such a great idea. Like if you could somehow turn the massive emails chocked full of garbage from airlines into something that just says: ``` MCO > JFK 9/18 1:00 PM…
tehwebguy on HNCool concept, lets see where it'll go!
chunky1994 on HNawesome! def like what i see so far!
mdork on HN
Clean interface and useful concept
From 2 comments
As an initial concept it's interesting but not very useful for most people in it's current state as it ultimately requires me to spend more time in my inbox. I think the real…
robertnealan on HNGreat application! One bug I noticed is that when I mark a message as unread, the subject line / summary text goes back to what it used to be. Maybe you guys could have an empty…
jonperl on HN
Objections
Edits are stored locally or in Firebase, not written back to Gmail, so mobile apps don't show them
From 2 comments
This is the one thing that has kept me from completely switching to Gmail. However, since these edits are not actually written back to the email, but stored locally (even synced…
Imagenuity on HNWhat is this actually doing? I.e. are the emails being edited on the server or is the extension storing a set of edits and applying them when you view the edited emails in Gmail…
rcthompson on HN
Interferes with Gmail keyboard shortcuts and defaults to edit mode
From 3 comments
Messes with keyboard shortcut workflow :(
oliversong on HNThis interferes with my GMail keyboard shortcuts (presumably because editing mode is on by default when I open an email). There should be some kind of option to make editing mode…
namanbharadwaj on HNSeems to open emails in "editing" mode by default. I filed an issue on Github.
tnorthcutt on HN
Excessive extension permissions and data privacy concerns
From 4 comments
Why does it need to access my data on all websites? Shouldn't it only need access to mail.google.com? Same question for the tabs and browsing activity permission.
drags on HNThis turns me off to almost every extension I am curious in trying out.
Tyrant505 on HNYeah, just what I need. More American corporations with access to my data ......
Beltiras on HNWhy not use a local datastore on the user's browser, like IndexedDB? I see no reason at all to install this and send my data to your external datastore when the same can be…
Sephr on HN
Branding confusion with Hubspot's Signals product
From 1 comment
There is a HUGE branding problem here. A few weeks ago, Hubspot launched their gmail add-on product called Signals. Now this company has launched their gmail add-on product…
pain_perdu on HN
Lack of priority inbox support and expands first conversation by default
From 2 comments
Lack of priority inbox support is a deal killer for me. Is usage of Prio Inbox not common?
taylorbuley on HNIt expands the first conversation for an email conversation. This change in default settings (Gmail by default expands the latest message) is very painful! I un-installed it…
shishir1 on HN
Requests
Option to turn off auto-edit mode
From 2 comments
We tried experimenting with having it always be on auto-edit mode (assumed most people don't heavily rely on shortcuts) so we definitely understand that this will interrupt your…
kartikt on HNThanks for doing so - we're adding a settings pane where you can turn off the auto-edit functionality. I'll update the gh issue once it's live.
gsundeep on HN
Support for Safari and Firefox
From 1 comment
We're actually testing Signal on Safari/FF as the majority of the codebase is the same. They should be out in the coming weeks.
gsundeep on HN
Mobile and iOS app
From 2 comments
If you guys are storing this data in Firebase, then the next logical step is a native mobile app, likely iOS. What's the timeframe for such?
kirbyk on HNThe iOS app is already in development, we're planning to launch it before January.
gsundeep on HN
API access
From 1 comment
I love this idea. I'd love it even more if they had an API and I could pull my todo list into my terminal.
phalanx101 on HN
Local-only storage such as IndexedDB
From 1 comment
Why not use a local datastore on the user's browser, like IndexedDB? I see no reason at all to install this and send my data to your external datastore when the same can be…
Sephr on HN
Questions
Are original emails preserved and how are they restored?
From 3 comments
Is the original email accessible somewhere after I create my edited version?
udfalkso on HNWhat is this actually doing? I.e. are the emails being edited on the server or is the extension storing a set of edits and applying them when you view the edited emails in Gmail…
rcthompson on HNI may have missed this, but do you offer any sort of revision control? Don't want to accidentally delete something important.
dan-g on HN
Where are edits stored and are they synced across devices?
From 2 comments
I love the idea, but I'm guessing that this extension stores your edits on the local machine you're using at the time? I jump from computer to computer and something like this…
Fuzzwah on HNStoring them where?
btn on HN
Alternatives named
TripIt for travel emails
From 2 comments
... and that's why i use tripit
finnh on HNTripit has saved me so much time (and helped my marriage too) by solving this problem. I just started using it this summer when I was doing a lot of international travel. Now, I…
jedberg on HN
Thunderbird with Header Tools Lite
From 1 comment
I do this with Thunderbird (IMAP access to gmail) and the Header Tools Lite plugin. Works for me. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/header-tools-lite/
ape4 on HN
Gmail labels
From 1 comment
Does Gmail labels fall short of your need?
stevenae on HN
Google Now cards
From 1 comment
I'm a big fan of the Google Now cards that pop-up with live flight details and information like when I have to leave in order to get to check-in on time with current travel…
Sulfolobus on HN