- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
Google will discontinue the Basic HTML version of its Gmail service in January 2024.
It’s unclear when Google made the decision to end Basic HTML support – news of which can be found in this support page titled “Use the latest version of Gmail in your browser.” Archive.org’s last capture of the page comes from late 2022, and Google’s own cache has not coughed up info that would identify the date of the change.
The Register asked Google when the decision to end Basic HTML was made, and why.
A spokesperson sent us the following statement:
“The Gmail Basic HTML views are previous versions of Gmail that were replaced by their modern successors 10+ years ago and do not include full Gmail feature functionality.”
Google suggests that not including “full Gmail feature functionality” is the point of the Basic HTML offering. When your correspondent loaded it, Google delivered a warning that it is “designed for slower connections and legacy browsers.”
Intriguingly, when we used Chrome’s Inspect>Network tool to test the HTML page’s load time, it came in at 1200 milliseconds. Full fat Gmail loaded in 700 milliseconds – but then kept loading elements for almost a minute before settling down.
The decision has been criticized by Pratik Patel, who describes himself on Mastodon as “a blind technologist … who finds himself championing #accessibility for fun and necessity.”
“I know many #blind people who use GMail’s HTML view. Not only will they be confused but will be unhappy,” he wrote.
Patel also noted that Google has made Basic HTML view harder to find in recent months – a change he understands now that the feature has been cancelled.
Google is infamous for discontinuing services that – for whatever reasons – don’t meet its goals. Over the years it has killed off favorites like its RSS reader, flops like Wave, projects like Google Code that lost to rival offerings, and invasive ad tech that its peers rejected.
But the Big G has also kept some offerings alive after user uprisings. In 2022, for example, it persisted with the free G Suite legacy edition after fielding many complaints from users who felt they were promised the service would be available in perpetuity.
Google insists it is “committed to making accessibility a core consideration” and lists many accessibility features in Gmail – among them screen reader support and hands-free email.
I have my own domain but have been doing my email thru gmail - when i go to check from my webmail the amount of spam is insane. Is there good alternatives that do decent anti-spam. (Been a long time since I checked)
Ditch that email address.
Create a new domain (preferred option) or use one provided by an alias provider (like SimpleLogin). Move all your sites to their own alias. At this point you should be getting no spam at all. If you do though you’ll know which site it came from as they have their own alias. You can simply disable that alias and no more spam.
You don’t need a spam filter anymore!
Interesting but extreme idea! I guess I could have my own alias’ as well. I have used gmails + thing quite a bit. They just make it so darn convenient lol.
I’ve used that in the past until sites stated my email address was invalid because it had a + in it.
Proton owns simple login ( I think ) and any paid plan gives you access to it.
You can just get simple login as well without proton. You can even send emails from the simple login emails so your real email stays Hidden.
I’m sure there are other similar tools out there.
Not any plan. I’m on Mail Plus and that doesn’t include SimpleLogin.
I signed up for SimpleLogin prior to ProtonMail. I don’t need the extra stuff in the Unlimited package.
Correct! Just double checked and th faq says this: you’re subscribed to a Proton Unlimited, Proton for Business, Proton Family, or Proton Visionary (legacy) plan, you’ll receive SimpleLogin Premium for free
I’ll have to look into Proton, thanks!
There’s alternatives like tutanota for email as well which a pretty good reputation.
There used to be a subreddit with some guides.
Mailbox.org is an option as well I think?
Have a look around and se which one you like pricing wise.
Some people do proton. Others mix and match and grab tutanota and a von elsewhere.