I paused at that last word in the title. I was so close to writing "hooked". But then I thought have they really sold the promise yet? No doubt, they are close. But, it's not a done deal yet.

Why is this service so enticing though? I mean it's just an email service. I don't even use the email that much. So why do I keep going back to HEY? It has got something to do with their promise. Of making me care even less for the email.

Every now and then I visit the "Screened Out" section to see all the mails I would have seen had I been using any other email app. And it is a mess in there. These emails never get filtered out with my existed setup. I am tired of setting all the filters in Gmail. It just doesn't work efficiently. Junk emails always end up reaching my inbox.

This hasn't been the case with HEY. Because they have decided on a sane default - everything screened out if not allowed earlier.

We ask every software to side with "opt-in" for every marginal aspect -- something that would split their users on whether they accept it or not. Why can't expect the same from our email service too?

And I haven't even gotten used to all the other features that I think are potential game-changers that many others have well documented.

  • I have merged and renamed the threads -- I like the cleaner workflow.
  • I have set aside the emails and marked them to be handled later. I like the idea.
  • I do not like the feed; in its current form, it is almost useless. Is it just there so that I can skim through and ignore?
  • I like the paper trail section. I don't want to see those emails, but want them handy.
  • I love sticky notes and notes that we can put on emails. Such a simple, but brilliant idea.

However, with all said, I am conflicted. Do I want the clean experience so bad that I am willing to pay the cost? Do the junk email that I have got into the habit of deleting without a second thought bother me so much that I am willing to pay the cost? Can't I just manually screen-out the emails?

I have about a week to decide.