For the sake of long term development and growth of Runbox, stop using numbers after the Runbox name. There should only be Runbox and maybe Runbox Beta.
From reviews and comments I’ve read on here and elsewhere, some users are clinging to Runbox 6 for as long as they can. Which is understandable because that’s what they know and are comfortable with.
But for me as a new user I found 6 to be poorly designed, clunky and difficult to use. I would have never used Runbox 6 as my primary email, even for free. After trying versions 6 and 7 for a few days, I now only use 7 because it is better designed and easier to use then 6.
I have never seen any other website or email provider classify their web design “stages” with numbers. Like any other website, Runbox is continually progressing and improving and there should be no need for different “version numbers” that will cause some users to have trouble adjusting to the changes and treat them like an obstacle or hurdle they have to get over or learn to live with.
Having that (possibly subconscious) uncomfortable feeling or dissatisfaction about Runbox lingering for some users isn’t good. It will likely lead to users leaving simply because they can’t get over the mental “hurdle” of being forced to learn a new website “version” when they’re happy with the current version.
People are creatures of comfort and habit. Forcing the idea of a new “version” on them will drive some away because “version numbers” and distinct stages are rarely associated websites. Websites are more of a gradual never-ending work in progress, like a house that is always being remodeled or redesigned and it’s easy to adjust as time passes.
For those that don’t want to use the unproven Beta they can stick to using regular Runbox. Proven things from Beta will be added to regular Runbox slowly over time changing how the site looks and works. People will adjust to the changes and come to realize how much better they are more easily, if they are not being told they have to learn a new version.
Hello. Runbox 7 was a special case as it’s development is very different and so is the design from all the previous versions of Runbox. As such we had to have some way to identify both of the available versions when discussing them with customers. Eventually we will retire Runbox 6 and we do have a plan on how we will then move from Runbox 7 just to a single version called Runbox Thank you.
Runbox 7 in my opinion has a very clunky UI, inexplicably entirely rendered with a canvas element which is totally inappropriate for something that doesn’t need advanced graphics, and continues to have a serious bug that I reported months ago whereby you can’t actually move large numbers of spam to trash because of a 414 “request-URI too large” error. Runbox 7 isn’t fit for purpose in my opinion, and doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
I’m sure Google and many other of the major websites have had the same redesign but you’ll never know it because they don’t use version numbers promptly displayed on their site.
I don’t understand why I have to reload the page to get the newest version of the site. Every time I connect it should be the newest version. Again, imagine if Google required you to refresh to get the “newest update” that was a week+ old because you didn’t visit the site often enough.
lol, Great minds think alike. Before creating the post, I too thought that other email providers & websites probably use unadvertised version numbers so they can track updates & changes.
That sounds frustrating about the site not refreshing to the newest version when you return to it. I frequently leave my email from different providers open in browser tabs and they usually remain active for alerts after my laptop comes out of hibernate when I want to use it.
I use my laptop at least a short time everyday so maybe that helps keep the email sessions active. If I had a problem with a site not refreshing or staying active I would sign out when I’m done so the next time I need to use the site & sign-in everything will be current & work correctly.
I use Keepass password manager for Android & Windows to type my long complicated passwords as frequently as I need to with very little effort. So for me signing in & out of sites is easy.
For better security I use the offline version of the Android app that doesn’t sync with a cloud & for my Windows laptop I also don’t sync the file with a cloud. I primarily make changes to the file on my laptop because it’s easier to type. I plug my phone into the laptop, copy the password file to the phone so it overwrites the old file of the same name, then sign-in to the new password file on my phone to be sure it works correctly.
@jeremy.morton We have recently released a more condensed Runbox 7 layout which should decrease the “clunkiness” mentioned here and elsewhere.
It’s true that Runbox 7 makes use of a canvas element to render the message list, mainly because it performs better with immediate display of infinite lists including folder contents and search results without any noticeable degradation or delay.
In the meantime we have resolved a large number of other issues during recent months in our Quality Milestones and Runbox 7 Review phases, and invite you to give Runbox 7 another try today!
@anon89969819 We agree that version numbers for software (and especially web applications) is becoming superfluous since development is increasingly incremental, and various companies are applying various strategies to brand new updates to their platforms or applications.
While Runbox 6 was still our main interface we were actually planning to stop using version numbers and only release incremental updates, but as @Dave pointed out Runbox 7 turned out to be vastly different from Runbox 6 and represented the most substantial rewrite of the Runbox web interface thus far.
Therefore we concluded that a new version number was warranted after all, and as was mentioned when we needed an internal name to reference it “7” was the most obvious choice.
The stylized “7” was designed to resemble an arrow or wing (which is often used to symbolize the act of sending email) and going forward we envision it becoming a permanent part of the Runbox logo.
Tech companies are well known for being impersonal & unresponsive, even toward paying customers. The personal touch with replies from @Geir and @Dave that’re helpful and informative are much appreciated.
I’m eager to see the website improvements later today when I have time to sit and use my laptop.
Thank you.
lol, Great minds think alike. Before creating the post, I too thought that other email providers & websites probably use unadvertised version numbers so they can track updates & changes.
Same goes for any web application, of which Runbox is one.
