What features do you wish Mail.app had?

[chaos86]

yeah, you may have more luck with a different business model.

for instance, a $5, $10 and $15 optional donation and Google AdSense on the website where they have to go to get updates. Or maybe a $5 or $10 license and google adsense on the site if its a really compelling addon.

 

[chaos86]

ah it's not an addon. it's a replacement so, ground up brand new application that i hope to at least somewhere along the line, support everything that Mail.app does besides the new stuff i'll be adding. no worries, i think i have enough ideas to get your $25-50 especially if you get lots of email.

btw, it will support Address Book, Spotlight, and Automator for starters. Leaving it in 10.4+ territory.

ok, just make sure it can take my existing mail mailboxes and use them because they are one of the main reasons I'm using apple mail. and make it so I can go back to mail if I want. in fact, make a program that converts any mainstream mail program's mailbox files into any other apps type of mailbox files. and it does bookmarks too. you might even be able to create a universal standard for these formats and have apple adopt it (then the world will follow of course). god i wish i was a programmer because I know theres a market for this stuff.

 

[chaos86]

Better spam handling. I'm still using Panther Mail, but I haven't heard that Tiger's any better. I've tried some anti-spam plugins, but they were WAY too complicated. I want something simple, that works!

I've installed Spam Karma on my blogs, and it successfully filters out EVERY spam post, and was a breeze to configure. Why can't Mail do that?

im pretty sure that your blog spam catcher and mail's spam catchers are not even in the same game. the one on your blog probably looks where the poster linked from to discern real posters from bots. if they came via the link on your blog that says 'post comment' then theyre legit, if they came from elsewhere (as a bot would) theyre a bot. on the other hand, mail can't look at where a message came from, just what it contains (like 'viagra' 'enlargement' and 'degree').

 

[chaos86]

wow i posted 4 times in a row

 

[DXoverDY]

ok, just make sure it can take my existing mail mailboxes and use them because they are one of the main reasons I'm using apple mail. and make it so I can go back to mail if I want. in fact, make a program that converts any mainstream mail program's mailbox files into any other apps type of mailbox files. and it does bookmarks too. you might even be able to create a universal standard for these formats and have apple adopt it (then the world will follow of course). god i wish i was a programmer because I know theres a market for this stuff.

yup, you will be able to convert back and forth. i don't plan to stiff anyone into losing their data. that's one reason why i am so keen on using the standards within OS X. some people were saying on another board that spotlight was too slow (they wanted me to use a third party searching library instead of spotlight). and since i plan on implementing smart mailboxes, that's one thing i can simply move back and forth that much more easily. no worries, the trial will not stiff you in any way whatsoever. whenever i make changes to the app, i'll make sure anything that can be converted back to Mail.app can and will be done if you so choose.

 

[DXoverDY]

im pretty sure that your blog spam catcher and mail's spam catchers are not even in the same game. the one on your blog probably looks where the poster linked from to discern real posters from bots. if they came via the link on your blog that says 'post comment' then theyre legit, if they came from elsewhere (as a bot would) theyre a bot. on the other hand, mail can't look at where a message came from, just what it contains (like 'viagra' 'enlargement' and 'degree').

some of them actually use the same information from your email spam i know textpattern (a blog engine) uses spamhaus to filter comment and pingback spam in much the same way your email client does.

 

[wordmunger]

im pretty sure that your blog spam catcher and mail's spam catchers are not even in the same game. the one on your blog probably looks where the poster linked from to discern real posters from bots. if they came via the link on your blog that says 'post comment' then theyre legit, if they came from elsewhere (as a bot would) theyre a bot. on the other hand, mail can't look at where a message came from, just what it contains (like 'viagra' 'enlargement' and 'degree').

It's actually a lot more sophisticated than that. It considers a variety of factors that may signal that a post is spam, then adds them together to get a "karma" score. You can individually adjust how various items add together to get that score. Certainly a mail spam detector can do more than just look at the subject line and text -- it can examine the headers and other information about the file.

I've heard people say that gMail's spam detector works quite well -- why can't Apple Mail match Google's performance?

 

[DXoverDY]

on that note, keep the conversation up ... criticism is good too, it gives me a feel for what you don't like and what you don't want, which is just as important as what you do want.

spam stuff, i'm hoping to have something in place but probably not on the first initial version but the next revision after, say, 1.1. i'm not expecting people to drop everything and switch, expect neato videos of how it works though. i'll certainly have the hype machine in full gear come time to sell. while some of you are skeptical now, i hope that once you see it in action you'll think "wow, that is freakin awesome" and want to purchase it. i feel like it'll be more powerful than Mailsmith ever thought of being and half the cost.

 

[DXoverDY]

It's actually a lot more sophisticated than that. It considers a variety of factors that may signal that a post is spam, then adds them together to get a "karma" score. You can individually adjust how various items add together to get that score. Certainly a mail spam detector can do more than just look at the subject line and text -- it can examine the headers and other information about the file.

I've heard people say that gMail's spam detector works quite well -- why can't Apple Mail match Google's performance?

i still get at least one spam email a day that slips through gmail. my web hosting provider has some great spam tools in place, i haven't recieved a single spam message in about a month. that's some great stuff. this is kinda why spam will take a backseat until after i get the cooler stuff figured out. where spam will then become a big focus.

 

[chaos86]

why can't Apple Mail match Google's performance?

Google can watch their servers and if 100,000 gmail accounts get the exact same email from uzbekistan it's spam. apple mail can't do that.

 

[alexstein]

I want to be able to switch the mailboxes back to the right-hand side.

Yeah I got so used to that...and then they took it away. Maybe make it moveable left or right, top or bottom that would be cool.

wow i posted 4 times in a row

That is illegal!!j/k

 

[DXoverDY]

interface will be customizable. removable pieces essentially, with the unified look (itunes and mail). hoping to have the mailbox pane movable from side to side.

 

[chaos86]

interface will be customizable. removable pieces essentially, with the unified look (itunes and mail). hoping to have the mailbox pane movable from side to side.

i like this idea. movable left to right, right? i dont think the poster above who said top or bottom really thought that through. well maybe bottom with angled text, but i fear it would look tacky.

ooo make it switchable from brushed metal to normal, i like both (my system prefs is now brushed metal).

 

[DXoverDY]

i like this idea. movable left to right, right? i dont think the poster above who said top or bottom really thought that through. well maybe bottom with angled text, but i fear it would look tacky.

ooo make it switchable from brushed metal to normal, i like both (my system prefs is now brushed metal).

yes, i hope to make it available on either side for those who want it on one side or the other. as far as the different theme (metal or unified), it's possible i think, though i've never tried changing it in an app through code. i'll have to see what i can do...

 

[emutree]

I'd like to see a built-in iCard sender from within Mail. So a button on the toolbar "New iCard" that would launch a sheet or something to pick from the different categories. I'm not sure about you guys but I use iCards a lot so I'd love further integration.

 

[chaos86]

I'd like to see a built-in iCard sender from within Mail. So a button on the toolbar "New iCard" that would launch a sheet or something to pick from the different categories. I'm not sure about you guys but I use iCards a lot so I'd love further integration.

sorry mate but i dont think icards are really commonly used service, especially among the people who are likely to seek out and adopt a new mail app. (i assume were talking about the .mac version of ecards)

 

[toneloco2881]

I'd like to see a built-in iCard sender from within Mail. So a button on the toolbar "New iCard" that would launch a sheet or something to pick from the different categories. I'm not sure about you guys but I use iCards a lot so I'd love further integration.

Sounds like a great idea! I use iCards alot also, and this would make it that much easier.

 

[DXoverDY]

ok, i added iCards to the list under possibilities. probably not in the initial version if ever, but we'll see down the road if there's a good way to implement it i may do so.

 

[subzero]

What...?

You can use Mail preferences -> Signatures to set (different) default signatures on all the Mail accounts you have. But you can still change signature on new massages you create, if you would like one of the other signatures for that spesific message (even if no signature is defined for that account by default)...

I am pretty certain that it is not possible to do what I would like mail to do.

Let's make an example.
Situation 1 - I am writing a new e-mail in which I would like to include the signature "Full signature" (which contains my address etc.)

Situation 2 - I am replying to an e-mail in which I would like to include the signature "Short signature" (which only contains my name e.g.)

Both of those situations should be using the same e-mail address.

I know that I can manually select "Short signature" when replying to e-mails however, this is certainly annoying when replying to a lot of e-mails.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

So basically, you want Mail to guess when you want to use the long sig and when to use the short sig...?

 

[DXoverDY]

So basically, you want Mail to guess when you want to use the long sig and when to use the short sig...?

my simple solution to this is a nice little menu at the bottom upon which you can click and display all of your signatures... but.. there's a hidden secret so you won't have to use the menu at all... no worries, this is certainly on the list and will be implemented, and you'll like it

 

[subzero]

So basically, you want Mail to guess when you want to use the long sig and when to use the short sig...?

Indeed I do, and it's a 100% win-guess. When replying to mails I want to use the short sig., when writing new mails I want to use the long sig.

MS Outlook has supported this feature for years now.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Ah... that made more sense (you have to explain things thoroughly for us on the slow side)...

I guess that could be an option, but I wouldn't bet on it. Apple likes to keep things a lot simpler than our friends in Seattle, and you already have a lot of other signature options...

 

[DXoverDY]

Indeed I do, and it's a 100% win-guess. When replying to mails I want to use the short sig., when writing new mails I want to use the long sig.

MS Outlook has supported this feature for years now.

quite possible to implement. i'll make a note of it.

 

[Project]

Honestly, its a crowded market already. I feel new players wanting to make any real grounds should try to redefine what a mail client should be, similar to what Gmail did to web mail.

Better use of Stars / flagging. I should be able to add the star or flag to the message with one click, not via a pulldown menu or a key command. Then have a smart mailbox in the source pane for items starred, automatically. Shouldnt have to make a smart mailbox to see them.

Mail Tags - something like this built into the app. Maybe a small side panel on every mail that you have open with space to enter keywords and other metadata. Makes it much more usful for creating smartfolders. Again, it should be seamlessly integrated and quick. I have a message open I want to add the metadata instantly. Much quicker than the way iTunes does it for instance (get info, click to comments then add them)

Labelling - similar to the above, but you can predefine your labels. Again, something similar to the way Gmail does it would be superb. Just have a drop down menu with your list of labels there and drop them onto it. Again, its all about the smart folders. With Mail.app, I cant assign two labels to a message. Its still basically the old school folder system. Sure I can copy to another, but this is clumsy.

Anybody seen zimbra? Astonishingly nice for a web mail app. A lot of features could be implemented into Mail.

- For isntance, in Zimbra, if somebody sends you an email saying something like "hey lets go out next Friday", you can hover the mouse over next friday and it picks it up and displays a small calendar to see if yours is free. You can then easily add the event to your calendar right from the message text itself, without having the other person send you an invite.

- This works the same way for telephone numbers. If somebody emails you a telephone number you can right click it and add it to a contact etc.

Ill be back with more later.

http://www.zimbra.com