Google Inbox was one of those products that a corner of the internet loved furiously including me.
So, when the company announced it was being discontinued in 2019,I was mad as hell.
Now, a company namedShortwave, formed by ex-Google employees, is trying to bring it back.
Before we talk about what theyre trying to do, lets take a trip down memory lane.
Why was Inbox killed?
Inbox was great at what it did: streamlining emails.
WhileGooglebrought some of these features to the main app, it just isnt as good as Inbox.
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After he left Google in 2017, he talked to some folks at the company about the product.
So it decided to port some features across, and discontinue Inbox.
The company just didnt want the hassle of maintaining two Gmail products.
Rest in peace, buddy.
Youre gone, but not forgotten.
Birth of Shortwave
Lee took a break after leaving Google, and searched for something new.
He wanted to make emails like chat messages.
Thats when he remembered Inbox and its interface.
And, in 2020, he hired some people who worked on the product to start Shortwave.
We quickly built a prototype, he told me, and tested the workflow heavily.
But thats just the tip of the iceberg.
The company wants to be the primary email client for small businesses and knowledge workers.
Lee said that Shortwave also wanted to reduce the time of conversations between teammates.
Another problem Shortwave has solved involves forwarded emails.
The way ahead
Shortwave isfree to use, and available on all platforms.
Lee knows exactly what he wants to achieve with Shortwave and how to do it.
Firstly, this involves giving paying customers everything they need.
In the short term, this means building features like multiple profiles, notes, and reminders.
But in the long term?
Shortwave wants to be better than Inbox ever was and with its own personality to boot.
Inbox is dead, long live Shortwave.
That’s one heck of a mixed bag.
He likes to say “Bleh.
That’s one heck of a mixed bag.
He likes to say “Bleh.”
