New Google Inbox - first impressions

Yesterday I received an invitation to Google Inbox - a new mail service from Google on top of the famous GMail. I wanted to use it because it provided reminders and allowed you to snooze emails in the inbox until later. I find these features extremely useful. However, the current versions of both Android client and the web interface are not without issues. Here are some of them I have noticed so far:

• Web interface:
  • Works only in Chrome, which I don’t particularly like. This is strange, given that GWT supports different platforms and that Inbox’ interactive and rather impressive presentation runs flawlessly in Firefox, for example
  • I had problems logging in using Google Authenticator. I am pretty sure I entered the codes correctly. I also re-synchronized GA, but all to no avail. Had to request a verification code via SMS - which worked perfectly
• Android client:
  • There is no way to have custom notification sounds. This is annoying, especially when you have more than one account configured on your phone
  • There is no way to enable notifications for all bundles in one go, you have to go through them one by one. You have to do it, in case you want to be informed about all incoming e-mail
  • The app has crashed a few times on me
  • I failed to save an attachment to the phone’s memory - there isn’t even an option to do that, as opposed to GMail
  • Non GMail, i.e. Google Apps emails are not supported yet, which is inconvenient for business owners
  • I haven’t been able to locate the “mute” functionality, which I consider great, given that I’m subscribed to some mailing lists

I hope these issues will be resolved in some not so distant future. So far, even with the mentioned shortcomings, Google Inbox is a huge step forward. I think it’s about time online email provided more user friendly features.

• Computers