Using Inbox

Inbox is, in many ways, a step in a new direction for Google. Its launch page has, almost no information as to what it is, and it acts more as an intermediary layer on top of Gmail than a new product entirely. It uses Material Design, and unlike Gmail, which was partially a demonstration of how powerful AJAX apps could be, lacks any indication that it’s built on the same web technologies as its predecessor. Google isn’t marketing Inbox as a replacement for Gmail for new users, but is instead targeting people who are already fed up with email enough that sweeping most of the email out of the Inbox is the best way to go.

It’s worth comparing Inbox and Gmail side by side, but only for the sake of pointing out what Inbox doesn’t have. In order, these are Gmail and Inbox’s settings respectively:

Most Gmail users don’t have as many labels as I do, so expect these menus to be far less populated than mine. Many of the settings present in Gmail affect Inbox – such as filters, send mail as, and importing POP accounts – but all of these settings cannot be managed through Inbox directly. Presumably, these settings will come in the future, but it seems as if the two products are very closely intertwined right now.

Briefly, Inbox Zero #

The way I currently use Gmail is effectively traditional inbox zero. I check my email several times a day, archiving any email that is not immediately important at that time that I never want to see again. Typically, these would likely travel into the “Social” or “Promotions” tabs in Gmail, but I have them disabled entirely. Where my workflow differs from many inbox zero guides is in how I treat the inbox. I typically leave emails that I need to reply to in there, until I can read them and reply, and use Boomerang to return emails at more relevant times (such as prior to Domain renewals). I prefer Boomerang over using Mailbox because of its integration with the Gmail web app, which is, in my opinion, far superior to most other clients.

So, to summarize, I archive email most immediately, keep some emails in the inbox to read later, and Boomerang ones that are more relevant later (up to ten per month, for free, using their service).

Using Inbox with Inbox Zero #

Inbox, unsurprisingly, works well with my workflow out of the box. It attempts to do some classification as to importance, and right now it automatically has several ‘bundles’ on by default. Bundles are effectively groups of messages that can be marked as done (read: archived) immediately and in a single click. The advertised use cases are contextual, like travel and finances, but it doesn’t appear to do a good job at recognizing some messages just yet. Square, and a payment from DigitalOcean, for example, were categorized as low priority (which I corrected). Any email that Gmail would normally classify as “important” in Priority Inbox appears to skip the bundling process and will never be categorized as low priority. This is a nice touch, but if it is just the same technology, then I fear bundles will lose their edge quickly. Priority Inbox miscategorizations make relying on the system entirely next to impossible in Gmail, or at least, without extensive training that I haven’t done. For Inbox to get right, the initial bundles need to do a better job at identifying important-yet-automated emails. It’s too easy to miss a domain renewal or a missed payment to a service in the current implementation.

Reminders are interesting, to say the least. They’re the Google Now reminders (not anything from Keep or Google Tasks), and most of my ancient reminders to check laundry and tea were resurrected in the form of being pinned immediately in Inbox. This is a bug, I suppose.

I see a lot of uses for reminders here. Inbox could easily manifest itself into a todo-list, but a fairly low powered one at that if this is as deep as it goes. Reminders aren’t detailed enough to support sub projects, and aren’t really suited for anything more than “write a review of Inbox,” nor do they support accurate due dates except by digging into the snooze menu. They aren’t categorizable, color coded, or in any way more powerful than a note to self, at least, in this iteration.

I want to point out the compose button, for a second, because its design is intriguing, to say the least. Clicking on it launches a compose window, but hovering on the web app results in a pop-out list of choices: your top three most-contacted contacts, reminders, and invitations. Google could very easily add “calendar entry,” “task,” or another non-email type of task in this list, and make Inbox even more powerful.

Remaining bits #

Inbox has keyboard shortcuts, like Gmail.

If you have an entirely empty inbox (devoid of any reminders, emails, etc.), Inbox displays some nice artwork, on both the app and the web.

Conclusion #

I’m going to stick with Inbox for the foreseeable future, as it greatly emphasizes the workflow I already enjoy practicing. Even without some features working as well as advertised (bundles), Inbox is a more powerful tool for managing my daily email intake more efficiently than before.

Inbox invites will be enabled for all users that are currently able to access it come Friday. Each user will have three to give out. Googlers likely have more.

If you want to try Inbox and you don’t have an invite, email inbox@google.com and you’ll join the ranks of quite a few people on the waiting list. If you use email everyday, it’s worth giving a shot.