Hi all,

People updating from the AppStore might have seen this already but in case you haven't: we have renamed the Inbox2 for iPad app to Fileboard (www.fileboard.com).

We will not be posting updates anymore regarding the iPad app here, please head on over to our new blog at http://blog.fileboard.com to stay up to date with the latest releases.

Thanks!

Waseem Sadiq
CTO, Fileboard 

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Hi,

We have just released version 1.8 of Inbox2 for iPad. As always we have several bugfixes and usability improvements, the biggest new user facing features are:

Imap idle support

When the Inbox2 app is active on your ipad we keep a connection open to GMail. As soon as new messages arrive in your gmail inbox, we get notified and are able to show it immediatly.

Push notifications support

When the app is not active, we still keep you up-to-date about the number of unread messages. Our cloud backend checks for new messages periodically and sends a push notification when new messages are available.

None of your data whatsover is stored or retrieved on our servers, just the number of unread messages. As always because we use OAuth to login to GMail, you can remove access at any time.

What's next?

Major improvements in the way you work with files and attachments on the ipad... coming soon.

What do you think of these improvements? Are they helpfull or do you need other things to work more effectively on the ipad? Talk to us: getsatisfaction.com/inbox2

Waseem Sadiq
CTO, Inbox2

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Hi all,

A couple of days ago we have released a new version for the iPad. This is not just a “new version” as it is a complete ground-up redesign of the iPad client. In this post I would like to highlight some features and talk a bit about the rationale behind our thinking.

Inbox view

After talking to a lot of users we found that our idea of the people centric (or “faces”) view was not as valuable as we had expected it to be. People found it difficult to get an overview of who and what needs attention in their inbox. So we redesigned this view completely based on all this feedback and we went from this… 

We reduced the emphasis on the users avatar and went to a more traditional inbox look & feel. We have however taken into consideration the nature of the tablet and the way touches & swipes work; and have tried to give it a much more natural feel on the iPad (instead of just copying a traditional desktop client).

Message details view

The new message details view has also been redesigned from the ground up. The biggest complaints we have heard from in-depth interviews about email (specifically on the iPad) we have done with our users are:

• Context switching: clicking a link or opening an attachment causes a context switch, either to a different app or a different view, this causes you to loose track of where in the “inbox management process” you last were.
• Data integration: it is very hard to perform common tasks due to the “silo apps” model that Apple has created. Have a document in your Dropbox and need to attach that to a reply in response to a customer inquiry? Good luck… Same goes for the other way around: have data in your inbox that needs to be logged in Salesforce? Again this is a task that we put off until getting to the PC.
• Actions: people usually have no idea what will happen in Gmail when they press for example the “archive” button

With these things in mind we set out to redesign the message details view, this is what it ended up looking like this:

We have introduced a model that allows you to always keep track of which emails you have already seen. If you click an attachment or hyperlink, the app will not loose focus or switch to an external web browser for navigation.

Additionally on the top, buttons have been added for data integration with Dropbox and Evernote (these will be enabled very soon) and for starring/performing other actions against your Gmail inbox.

Lastly there is a quick reply feature that allows you to send short and concise replies to messages (because often that is what you do on the iPad anyway). In the actions menu you can always choose “reply all” to write a longer reply.

So what’s next?

This is just the tip of the iceberg, the very first version that lays the groundwork for things to come. We are very excited about opportunities that tablets such as the iPad create and see a lot of ways we can improve your daily workflow saving you time and money.

The next version will bring numerous enhancements such as: speed, stability, better document management, etc.

You can give your valuable insights and ideas for future development of Inbox2. Head on over to our support page and let us know what you think: http://www.getsatisfaction.com/inbox2

Thanks for using Inbox2 and help us by spreading the word.

Waseem Sadiq

CTO, Inbox2 

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Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE

For the last one week, a considerable number of people who have downloaded the Inbox2 app have had issues.

The main reason for this was that our infrastructure was not scaling fast enough at the rate the app was being downloaded. 

I would like to share our commitment that we have been working really hard since then to make the service work for everybody. I would like to re-iterate the fact that our service is secure and that none of our users are sharing any passwords with us. The fact that some users had no data due to the infrastructure problems raised concerns whether we were some kind of malware app trying to steal people's passwords and this is of course not true. We do however take the blame for coming across as such.

The current problems should be solved in the next day or two. I will keep you posted.

Inbox2 Team

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I call it marriage because in the past years we have practically built everything that there is to build in email space. But the entry of new devices such as tablets and smart phones into the market provides yet new opportunities for creating products around email. More on this in later posts but for now here is quick recap of what we have done till date.

1. Launch of Inbox2 app for Facebook - within the hour our servers overheated and we realized that we would need tons of money to support and scale the infrastructure to deliver this service for free. (around Oct 2009)

2. Launch of Inbox2 desktop - So instead we focused on the desktop a product which we could offer for free in order to gain traction in the market. More then 100k installs.  (Feb 2010)

3. Inbox2 web based email (no public launch) - Again we are not Google and could not offer this service for free.

For the past year we have been busy primarily with number 3 where a number of companies indicated interest in our next generation email back end technology. This may take forms of licensing our technology or partnering with some of the bigger companies.

Our desktop application, the only publicly available product still attracts a large number of users. In fact we owe an apology to a lot of these people for not having supported the application all the time. But continuous interest in desktop application is a affirmation of our vision on email and gives us great deal of encouragement. Inbox2 desktop application will remain free and development will continue with the help of the community. More on this on the upcoming post. But soon there will also be news on a new product that we have been working on.

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