Mail Software that is readable
My job entails reading very, very, VERY long emails.
Do you know any mail software that makes reading more ergonomic? Currently, I copy and paste the longer ones in my writing environment (iA Writer). But perhaps, there is a better solution?
Live long and prosper
Sascha
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If you are comfortable with Emacs it might be worth checking out its email extensions.
I used Emacs for mail for 4 years back in the 90s. I've recently considered switching back to it. No mail client since then has been "good enough" -- c.f. the meme of the guy walking w/ his gf looking back at the passing girl.
Emacs... it is the answer of everything. But I don't think that I want to let my life get swallowed by this beast. Though, one of the sweeter spiritual deaths and rebirths.
I decided to just use org for my GTD-esque organisation. Perhaps, an open niche for software developers? Readability for emails.
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Not sure what you mean here. Less distraction? A bigger font or message window? Keeping multiple emails open, partially read? Ability to scribble notes? In Apple Mail I often have separate windows for long emails that require time to read/think about.
@Sascha Haha, same for me, it is part of the reason why I don't use Emacs myself. I know myself well enough to know what I would go too deep in to the rabbit hole that is Emacs, and end up wasting too much time constantly tweaking it to my liking, which I believe to be a never ending process. I just mentioned it because of the nice things I heard people say about it, like @kmac, and knowing that @ctietze uses Emacs, I thought maybe you did too.
I think basically a readability mode or something like that. I want to quite easy switch between a disctraction free mode and having my inbox etc. in sight.
@grayen
I like the thought of containering the different modes of my work. My Emcas is for selforganisation and selforganisation only. I experimented with writeroom-mode but in the end I decided to go with the iA-Writer because it was easier on my mind to seperate it by having different apps for it.
I am a Zettler
Not sure if you're familiar with MailMate but I love it. It's built around plaintext and been around a long time. Highly customizable. A simple example is that I compose/read emails in Sublime Text that's directly linked to MailMate. My two cents. MailMate: https://freron.com/
Now that MailMate dropped as a recommendation, here's a shortcut to digging through the website until you find screenshots of the app: https://freron.com/screenshots/
Author at Zettelkasten.de • https://christiantietze.de/
To be honest, it doesn't look like very nice. @kohled, you hinted at combining it with a text editor. Can you give me some insights in your setup or even some screenshots?
I am a Zettler
Ah yes! Agreed. The app itself is not super nice looking.
As it integrates with external editors and other apps through what it calls 'Bundles', writing and reading emails can look like pretty much whatever you wish.
Typically I navigate to an email, Command+R reply and then Shift+Ctrl+O to open it in Sublime. It looks like whatever color theme I've chosen. Some screenshots linked via dropbox.
MailMate Example Screenshots:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5soebvyutm082lb/AAAMTPRNuF3gHodl2jZNgaqwa?dl=0
Mh. I need to look into it. My feeling is that there is to much switching. My dream (MY DREAM!) is that I just have a distraction free window which show me just one mail. I answer it, send it and then just the next mail gets shown.
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Havea look at mutt/neomutt. It is lightweight, yet highly extensible, works without annoying mouse clicks, and you run it directly from the command-line. You can write your mail in any external editor you want to write your mail in and as soon as you save the text, your editor closes and the text is put into your mail. Works best with vim of course (sorry, emacs-NEETs
)
@lunario Perhaps, in a very distant future I will nerd something like that out. A very distant future..
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@Sascha Just came across this today, may be precisely what you want: https://www.yourtempo.co
@Sascha What about just double-clicking on an e-mail in Apple Mail? It then opens up in its own window, which you can keep separate from the main app, read at your leisure, and also respond in a separate window. I'm not sure what else you are looking for?
hey.com just got released today, which has quite a few interesting takes on email. Personally, I'm still clinging to Sparrow. Not sure if you can get hold of it if you didn't download it when it was available through the App Store though.
Dang! Looks exactly like what I search but no subscriptions for me.
Still ugly.
Hey is to much workflow integration for me. To me, the only improvement can come in the form of less, much less, features. Just an inbox or two and a frame for writing in.
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You know you can customize fonts in Apple Mail, right?
I have. Not enough.
I am a Zettler
Interesting.
Would you mind sharing a sample screenshot of your preferred writing environment?
I'm wondering what is it that's more than text on background.
Thought to offer something I learned for those who may come across this thread and are inclined to org-mode and/or curious about Mailmate. (I'm down the rabbit hole... I'm not coming back.) Mailmate has a script with a keyboard shortcut that creates a TODO in an inbox.org file with a copy of the email and a link to the email itself.
So: Load email -> ctrl+shift+A -> read in org-mode. Very convenient.