Dropbox closing Carousel and Mailbox(blogs.dropbox.com)
blogs.dropbox.com
Dropbox closing Carousel and Mailbox
https://blogs.dropbox.com/dropbox/2015/12/saying-goodbye-to-carousel-and-mailbox/
421 comments
Ugh. Yet another intriguing email startup being acquihired and killed off by a more-established tech company (see also: Sparrow). It's 2015 and I still bounce around email clients every couple months because all of the major options have substantial flaws.
I felt this coming given my experience using the Mailbox desktop app since it launched:
- Good experience, fairly regular releases, stability increasing with each one.
- Stagnation in releases, but app is in a fairly good working state.
- Out of the blue, big update comes in, application changes completely. For the worse, as it loses a bunch of features and is sporting a far less polished look and finish. I believe the new version is now an OS X native application as opposed to a webview.
- Frantic releases over the following weeks, killing some bugs but introducing more.
- Stagnation in releases, in its fairly broken state.
- This announcement.
From the outside, it looks like a case of an engineering team that decided it would rewrite the application from scratch in the native stack. Widely regarded as a bad idea. [1]
After numerous months spent burning money in refactoring and rebuilding features that already existed and worked, management pressure builds up, and they decide to release their "good enough" native version. After torturous weeks of back to back frantic releases to fix all of the complaints coming in, some factor or another (developer churn possibly) caused them to cease development and decide to sack the project altogether.
This is of course just speculation, a narrative I made up. That's how it looks like from the outside to me, but I'd like to hear from the developers inside, since I know they must be reading this thread.
I loved this application and I'm saddened to have to move away from it.
[1] http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?RewriteCodeFromScratch
- Good experience, fairly regular releases, stability increasing with each one.
- Stagnation in releases, but app is in a fairly good working state.
- Out of the blue, big update comes in, application changes completely. For the worse, as it loses a bunch of features and is sporting a far less polished look and finish. I believe the new version is now an OS X native application as opposed to a webview.
- Frantic releases over the following weeks, killing some bugs but introducing more.
- Stagnation in releases, in its fairly broken state.
- This announcement.
From the outside, it looks like a case of an engineering team that decided it would rewrite the application from scratch in the native stack. Widely regarded as a bad idea. [1]
After numerous months spent burning money in refactoring and rebuilding features that already existed and worked, management pressure builds up, and they decide to release their "good enough" native version. After torturous weeks of back to back frantic releases to fix all of the complaints coming in, some factor or another (developer churn possibly) caused them to cease development and decide to sack the project altogether.
This is of course just speculation, a narrative I made up. That's how it looks like from the outside to me, but I'd like to hear from the developers inside, since I know they must be reading this thread.
I loved this application and I'm saddened to have to move away from it.
[1] http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?RewriteCodeFromScratch
I wish they could open source Mailbox at least... That way it might survive.
[1] "Will Mailbox be open-sourced?
Unfortunately not. We gave a lot of thought to open-sourcing the underlying system, but this is ultimately not something we will support."
[1] https://www.mailboxapp.com/faq/
[1] "Will Mailbox be open-sourced?
Unfortunately not. We gave a lot of thought to open-sourcing the underlying system, but this is ultimately not something we will support."
[1] https://www.mailboxapp.com/faq/
This is very sad news and I don't really get the decision.
The thing with Mailbox is that it was truly a great product before it switched hands to Dropbox. Once they bought it, that was the end of good functions and the product only went downhill from there.
There's a lot of potential with email clients that will help you work better, Mailbox was definitely one of those products that helped. With good clients for Mac and PC along with smartphones it would also be profitable IMHO.
The only thing I can think of is that Dropbox is headed for major firing rounds and they want to save up on resources.
I have switched to Airmail on my Mac and I am much happier now.
The thing with Mailbox is that it was truly a great product before it switched hands to Dropbox. Once they bought it, that was the end of good functions and the product only went downhill from there.
There's a lot of potential with email clients that will help you work better, Mailbox was definitely one of those products that helped. With good clients for Mac and PC along with smartphones it would also be profitable IMHO.
The only thing I can think of is that Dropbox is headed for major firing rounds and they want to save up on resources.
I have switched to Airmail on my Mac and I am much happier now.
I thought Carousel looked really cool, eagerly installed it on release.
Then I discovered that when Carousel is installed, the Dropbox app stops automatically uploading photos from your phone. You have to now open Carousel to do so. Broke my existing upload process, and due to iOS permissions for the new app or not launching it frequently or something the new Carousel upload process wasn't reliable.
Discovered this by noticing that weeks of pictures weren't backed up to Dropbox. Glad I didn't lose my phone.
Ended up just deleting the Carousel app rather than figuring it out. The Dropbox app started syncing reliably again.
Then I discovered that when Carousel is installed, the Dropbox app stops automatically uploading photos from your phone. You have to now open Carousel to do so. Broke my existing upload process, and due to iOS permissions for the new app or not launching it frequently or something the new Carousel upload process wasn't reliable.
Discovered this by noticing that weeks of pictures weren't backed up to Dropbox. Glad I didn't lose my phone.
Ended up just deleting the Carousel app rather than figuring it out. The Dropbox app started syncing reliably again.
Crap. I absolutely adored Mailbox; it did everything I wanted, but especially:
1) The ability to snooze emails
2) A really nice UI on both OS X and Android letting me quickly swipe emails to archive or snooze them.
3) A unified inbox that showed multiple email accounts as a single inbox.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a mail client that meets these requirements? I'm quite happy to pay.
Edit: Google Inbox doesn't have a unified inbox, which drives me nuts, and nothing else I know of has message snoozing. ANY suggestions welcomed.
1) The ability to snooze emails
2) A really nice UI on both OS X and Android letting me quickly swipe emails to archive or snooze them.
3) A unified inbox that showed multiple email accounts as a single inbox.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a mail client that meets these requirements? I'm quite happy to pay.
Edit: Google Inbox doesn't have a unified inbox, which drives me nuts, and nothing else I know of has message snoozing. ANY suggestions welcomed.
Sad, Drew had said it's not going anywhere when the acquisition was announced.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5381572
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5381572
Is this Dropbox cleaning up their balance sheet in an attempt to IPO?
There's a pretty loud rumor floating around, heck it was reported on CNBC today, that Dropbox can't come close to IPOing anywhere near its $10 Billion dollar valuation. Though Fidelity did mark them up slightly at the end of November!
And for better or worse, they are going to be closely compared to Box, which has been a pretty big disaster since IPOing. For the record, BOX is valued at 1.65 Billion currently. And it has an awful lot of short interest current( a measure of the ratio of shares sold short vs the total outstanding shares).
There's a pretty loud rumor floating around, heck it was reported on CNBC today, that Dropbox can't come close to IPOing anywhere near its $10 Billion dollar valuation. Though Fidelity did mark them up slightly at the end of November!
And for better or worse, they are going to be closely compared to Box, which has been a pretty big disaster since IPOing. For the record, BOX is valued at 1.65 Billion currently. And it has an awful lot of short interest current( a measure of the ratio of shares sold short vs the total outstanding shares).
This is the reason why I stick to the native mail on iOS or Gmail app for the emails i need instantly without fetch. Yeah they may have their cons, but I don't have to worry about Apple dropping Mail app.
Mail should be simple, I think the best apps are the lightweight ones that don't require too much work to keep alive, and definitely don't require a backend server process.
Also, Mailbox had access to all your mail, and when Dropbox bought it while having M̶r̶s̶Miss.Rice on the board of directors, well...that just felt yucky.
My simple solution to keeping my mail under control:
ONE filter on the Gmail side of things, called "Good Spam". Any reoccurring email I like, but don't want to keep manually archiving everyday, SKIPS inbox and goes into that folder. The filter is literally a huge list of email addresses from senders. (ex snippet "[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]....")
Anytime I get an email I don't consider "Good Spam" I unsubscribe from.
Then on my phone, I just get important or new mail.
BONUS from using filter instead of unsubscribing: When you are in that store and you need that BANANA REPUBLIC coupon at the register, you still have access to it. Open email app, search for it, and use it. And you don't need to keep looking at their emails everyday just to archive it. Or in case of Mailbox, swiping right....thumbs get tired too.
Mail should be simple, I think the best apps are the lightweight ones that don't require too much work to keep alive, and definitely don't require a backend server process.
Also, Mailbox had access to all your mail, and when Dropbox bought it while having M̶r̶s̶Miss.Rice on the board of directors, well...that just felt yucky.
My simple solution to keeping my mail under control:
ONE filter on the Gmail side of things, called "Good Spam". Any reoccurring email I like, but don't want to keep manually archiving everyday, SKIPS inbox and goes into that folder. The filter is literally a huge list of email addresses from senders. (ex snippet "[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]....")
Anytime I get an email I don't consider "Good Spam" I unsubscribe from.
Then on my phone, I just get important or new mail.
BONUS from using filter instead of unsubscribing: When you are in that store and you need that BANANA REPUBLIC coupon at the register, you still have access to it. Open email app, search for it, and use it. And you don't need to keep looking at their emails everyday just to archive it. Or in case of Mailbox, swiping right....thumbs get tired too.
Assholes.
Getting sick of big companies buying great small products, and shutting them down after "trying" to make them work out.
Still hadn't had time to get over MS killing Sunrise, and now this.
Getting sick of big companies buying great small products, and shutting them down after "trying" to make them work out.
Still hadn't had time to get over MS killing Sunrise, and now this.
For fans of the genre, I strongly recommend Our Incredible Journey:
http://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/
http://ourincrediblejourney.tumblr.com/
Mailbox and Sunrise, two productivity apps that I liked, got acquired (Dropbox 2013, Microsoft 2015), and discontinued in 2015.
@teej nailed it:
> teej: "... They signed the keys away to Drew Houston and the management team at Dropbox. Mailbox dies the moment Drew decides to kill it."
> dhouston: it's not going anywhere :)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5381671
> teej: "... They signed the keys away to Drew Houston and the management team at Dropbox. Mailbox dies the moment Drew decides to kill it."
> dhouston: it's not going anywhere :)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5381671
Can anyone explain to me, someone who's more than happy with GMail, what these apps offer that aren't being offered by Google/Microsoft?
It seems like Mailbox had a loyal following but I guess my email use is just not sophisticated enough to understand.
It seems like Mailbox had a loyal following but I guess my email use is just not sophisticated enough to understand.
The message from this: outside of backup, Dropbox can't/won't sustain a small scale but profitable business for the long term (e.g. Basecamp style).
So don't even consider adopting and trusting their new "Paper" collaboration offering.
So don't even consider adopting and trusting their new "Paper" collaboration offering.
For those disppointed with Mailbox's abandonment, I'd love to hear your feedback on Polymail (https://polymail.io). We're in private Alpha right now, but we have many similar features to Mailbox like Read Later + some better ones like Email Tracking & Send Later. Feel free to DM me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/foolywk) if you'd like to be added to our next Alpha release!
That's abrupt. It wasn't that long ago I was bribed into downloading Mailbox by some notification in the Dropbox app.
Bummer too, because I really like it. They're not even going to leave it and let it slowly decay until time takes it's toll and nature wins like with Sparrow.
"As you evaluate alternatives, you might consider the stock apps like iOS Mail (Apple) and Gmail (Android)"
I guess they didn't have much time to research other mail clients.
Bummer too, because I really like it. They're not even going to leave it and let it slowly decay until time takes it's toll and nature wins like with Sparrow.
"As you evaluate alternatives, you might consider the stock apps like iOS Mail (Apple) and Gmail (Android)"
I guess they didn't have much time to research other mail clients.
I've been a Dropbox user for--I don't know how long. A long time. I would say since...maybe 2009?
I do not know what those products are for sure. By their names I'm guessing something with photos and something with email. I feel like an old evangelist like myself would have known more about those products. Thus, I wonder if this was a marketing failure as much as a product-market-fit failure.
I do not know what those products are for sure. By their names I'm guessing something with photos and something with email. I feel like an old evangelist like myself would have known more about those products. Thus, I wonder if this was a marketing failure as much as a product-market-fit failure.
I haven't used Mailbox, but I'm glad to see Carousel being rolled back into the main Dropbox app. It's already good for photos, and didn't warrant a separate app.
Ooh, this is very sad. I rely heavily on Mailbox and its follow-up functionality. Any advice for ios-capable replacements out there?
EDIT: The FAQ recommends Google Inbox, Apple Mail and Outlook. I just looked at Inbox again after quite a while away, and it seems like it may be feature-complete with Mailbox.
EDIT: The FAQ recommends Google Inbox, Apple Mail and Outlook. I just looked at Inbox again after quite a while away, and it seems like it may be feature-complete with Mailbox.
I only recently switched to Mailbox because I got tired of an annoying UI bug in Sparrow that was never going to be fixed.
I was just starting to get used to Mailbox. What mail app should I be using now?
I was just starting to get used to Mailbox. What mail app should I be using now?
"In 2013, we acquired Mailbox ... In 2014, we launched Carousel ... Mailbox will be shut down on February 26th, 2016, and Carousel will be shut down on March 31st, 2016."
Someone should track the lifespan of cloud products. It's not long; the median is probably less than five years. Dependence on a cloud product is risky. They can go away so fast.
Someone should track the lifespan of cloud products. It's not long; the median is probably less than five years. Dependence on a cloud product is risky. They can go away so fast.
Not surprised at all, there hasn't been any updates or improvements in awhile, especially for the desktop app, it's nearly unuseable with its current bugs. Seemed like Dropbox never put enough resources into it for it to really get off the ground.
I've switched to airmail for the time being, but I'm definitely going to miss snoozing emails to specific dates.
I've switched to airmail for the time being, but I'm definitely going to miss snoozing emails to specific dates.
This Gmail strategy helped me transition from Mailbox: http://lifehacker.com/this-gtd-workflow-is-how-i-finally-got...
Essentially use Multiple Inboxes as well as some filters/labels to create the basic GTD categories. I've modified it to use Labels since I find the various stars inefficient. I have inboxes for "Work On" (label:Priority), "Someday" (label:Someday), "Waiting" (label:*Waiting), and "Reference" (is:starred). This combined with services offered from Boomerang (http://www.boomeranggmail.com/) get pretty close to what I was trying to accomplish with Mailbox. It's not as elegant but I don't have to worry about using a proprietary email client that might not be around.
Essentially use Multiple Inboxes as well as some filters/labels to create the basic GTD categories. I've modified it to use Labels since I find the various stars inefficient. I have inboxes for "Work On" (label:Priority), "Someday" (label:Someday), "Waiting" (label:*Waiting), and "Reference" (is:starred). This combined with services offered from Boomerang (http://www.boomeranggmail.com/) get pretty close to what I was trying to accomplish with Mailbox. It's not as elegant but I don't have to worry about using a proprietary email client that might not be around.
Here is more detail about Dropbox Paper: http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/15/dropbox-paper-team-collab...
Oh man this is sad news. I'm currently using Mailbox as my default mail app on Android. I'll pay for it is there was an option.
Cool products coming and going doesn't really even surprise me anymore. I've become a little jaded to the whole come and go of all the different tools and apps.
Anyway, if you guys haven't checked out Boxer [1] for email, it's the best. I went a little obsessive, tested every email client on iOS, and this one was without a doubt is my favorite:
* Push notifications
* Doesn't hijack labels with archive/to-do/completed nonsense
* Universal inbox
* Nice labeling/archiving/customizing via swiping
* Beautiful interface
I love it and highly recommend
[1] http://www.getboxer.com/
Anyway, if you guys haven't checked out Boxer [1] for email, it's the best. I went a little obsessive, tested every email client on iOS, and this one was without a doubt is my favorite:
* Push notifications
* Doesn't hijack labels with archive/to-do/completed nonsense
* Universal inbox
* Nice labeling/archiving/customizing via swiping
* Beautiful interface
I love it and highly recommend
[1] http://www.getboxer.com/
> The Carousel and Mailbox teams have built products that are loved by many people
And now those people will hate Dropbox.
And now those people will hate Dropbox.
When Carousel came out, I thought it was a great opportunity for Dropbox to go up the stack and blogged about it: http://kiyototamura.tumblr.com/post/82662241570/dropboxs-car...
Ultimately, I am beginning to think that Dropbox simply does not have the product DNA =/
Ultimately, I am beginning to think that Dropbox simply does not have the product DNA =/
Ug. Carousel solved so many problems for me. Is it just that people don't like having multiple apps? Is the barrier to entry too high? I thought carousel struck a nice balance in not really forcing anyone to use the app, if they were simply on the receiving end.
I hope Dropbox keeps their word on incorporating the carousel functionality into the main app. I don't particularly care what they want to call it.
I hope Dropbox keeps their word on incorporating the carousel functionality into the main app. I don't particularly care what they want to call it.