[APP][5.0+] FairEmail - Fully featured, open source, privacy oriented email app

[dickernick]

@M66B I concur with everything that has been said already about the quality of your products and your support, about Google's decisions and about your personal situation.

Having said that, from your messages I get the impression that you are a passionate developer with privacy in mind and also want to provide an excellent service around the software. I also think you'd be uneasy with passing on the development of the products to someone else (for money or to FOSS developers/communities).

Of course I respect those decisions.
What I think does not match and will never end nicely is to think a single person will have the capabilitiesand resources to cater for thousands of users (I don't use Google Play so I have no idea how many installs your products have) with a broad variety of IT background. You will eventually get flooded by negative reviews/comments/mails/whatever and it will get to you.

Assuming above is true, this leaves the following options in my view:
- You discontinue the development as announced, it's people's own responsibility what to do with FairEmail.
- You somehow leverage communities (e.g. XDA) to do the support, you just develop, as has been proposed already. BUT this requires a mindshift from you to ignore anything from the PlayStore etc. and focus on features, security issues and those being forwarded to you by the community AND you'd have contact with way fewer persons directly
- You keep FairEmail out of the PlayStore and focus on F-Droid/Github/other places in which you'd have to deal with rather IT-affine persons. Not saying that you'd come across the occasional unfriendly person, but I' suppose they are rarer

 

[thorrules]

I have been away from xda for quite some time but this made me want to post. I have been a regular user and donor for the fairemail app and I am so sad to see Marcel go away. From our few email communications I can tell that Marcel is incredibly responsive and just comes across like a kind person. Please remember Marcel you have well-wishers here and we would love to see you come back and support this app. However, if you don't that is your choice and we respect it. I hope your girlfriend feels better too.

- Peace and Love from your fan

 

[weaker]

@M66B: Another sad pro user here. I just wrote an email to the German Google support: [email protected]
Probably, this won't help a thing, but at least I tried.
Thank you for that incredibly consistent work on FairEmail!

 

[JohnC]

Keep hitting at my sensitive places and the chance for return will only be slimmer.

Link. (1 star German Play store review)

There is one thing that calms me when a troll tries to push my buttons...

A person who is happy with their life would not try to push another person down. So, people who do that are obviously not happy with their life, and I feel sorry for them.

 

[M66B]

I received a new "answer" from Google:

When we detected that your app contains spyware code that transmits personal data off the device without adequate notice or consent which is :-

• App is uploading users' Contact List information without posting a privacy policy in both the designated field in the Play Console and from within the Play distributed app itself, and
• App is uploading users' Contact List information with inadequate prominent disclosure.

We mean, the application does not meet prominent disclosure requirements, since it does not state what data is being collected and why. Any data collection should be adequate. For example, your app does not validate the data being collected (contact list). Also your privacy policy disclosures are not adequate for prominent disclosure requirements.

I have responded with:

The app does not send contact list information, there is a privacy policy in the Play store developer console and there is a privacy policy available in the app.

You keep repeating the same thing without clarifying which contact info is being sent, when that is being sent and to where that is being sent. In other words, you are not transparent. This is unfair business practice according to EU regulation 2019/1150, which requires you to answer in an individualised manner and drafted in plain and intelligible language.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32019R1150#d1e1069-57-1

I am requesting you to detail:

1. Which contact info is being sent
2. When that is being sent
3. To where that is being sent

If you can't give answers to these questions, you should escalate to someone who can. Legally, you are required to answer these questions.

 

[M66B]

Another reminder while I stopped the project:

Link (1 star German review for app being removed from the Play store).

 

[mkasimd]

Another reminder while I stopped the project:

Link (1 star German review for app being removed from the Play store).

It's a 5* review now

 

[hakaishi]

Hi there! I'm a happy user of FairEmail and as a dev myself, please allow me a few comments.

Many people simply don't appreciate good stuff. Don't mind that. Negative comments etc? I wouldn't care at all. If they have a problem with it, they can fork it and do their own thing. Dot. Maybe it's precisely because your apps are good. It's a thorn in their eyes and they need them to be removed in order to make Android more insecure.

By the way: I really love it that the real URLs are shown and inspectable upon clicking a link. I don't know any other app having this great security feature!

I also enjoy programming, just like you. I simply program for myself. Of course I won't ignore suggestions. Most questions have to be answered once, but after that anyone can few the answer. I wouldn't care too much about it, to be honest.

For FairEmail I see commits almost every day and I'm impressed that you held that speed for so long.
I would take it a little bit more relaxed. For example just a few hours on the weekends. Maybe not every weekend either.

Take a look at VLC and other stuff. They sometimes only update the version or libraries.
Once everything you expect to work is done, development speed will drop anyway. Good stuff doesn't necessarily need to be that actively developed.

I think that most people really appreciate your work. Don't loose your head because of a few stupid ***. I totally can't understand why someone would give one star for such a great project. Why do people give only one star anyway when they only have a complaint about a tiny part of whatsoever ignoring the big picture? - I think you put too much importance to such unimportant things. Even the best products get negative reviews and comments.

I hope your girlfriend gets well soon! I wish you a nice weekend!


Cheers,

Hakaishi


PS: People who care gather rather in forums like here, f-droid etc. than on the play-store where anyone does like they please (incl. Google).
For many it might be a loss if you don't put your apps there, but privacy focused people are not very likely to be there. Devs and Privacy focused people will appreciate your work more than the average people out there. That's what I believe.

 

[M66B]

I was just thinking to maybe just release updates on GitHub, but that plan is going right into the trash can after this 1 star Play store review:

Schon gute App, aber der Dev...wer sich 1-Sterne-Bewertungen zu Herzen nimmt und deshalb persönlich gekränkt ist, also bitte. Außerdem in der Vergangenheit schon mit anderen Problemen negativ aufgefallen. Ich denke, der Open-Source-Community wird so ein Charakter nicht fehlen.

Link.

Edit: maybe the first of the review is right and I am not suitable for this project.

 

[valecs]

Hi Marcel (@M66B),

Just wanted to say thank you so much for all the amazing work you've done. I totally support you taking care of yourself and your relationship to this work. I sympathize with the sting of unkind and/or thoughtless reviews/comments. You and your contributions will surely be missed.

Here's to those that wish you well, everyone else can sit on a tack.

Hope you can be good to yourself in all of this; much respect and thanks,
vale

 

[NorLa]

I was just thinking to maybe just release updates on GitHub, but that plan is going right into the trash can after this 1 star Play store review:



Link.

Edit: maybe the first of the review is right and I am not suitable for this project.

Good idea to publish updates only on Github in the future. I think whoever is on there will appreciate your work much better. Why throw this idea in the trash because of a few people who blurt out unqualified remarks? And certainly no reason to doubt yourself.

Imho it's not even necessary to update FairEmail every few days --- because it's already really good right NOW!

 

[de_Wolf]

I was just thinking to maybe just release updates on GitHub, but that plan is going right into the trash can after this 1 star Play store review:

But you read not only the negative comments but also the positive ones here?

 

[M66B]

But you read not only the negative comments but also the positive ones here?

I did, also those received by email, and this is most certainly being appreciated.

Still it hurts. Basically there is being asked to be a social and asocial person at the same time. I can't be that.

 

[M66B]

Google's answer:

Thanks again for contacting Google Play Developer Support.

As much as I'd like to help, I’m not able to provide any more details or a better answer to your question. In our previous email, I made sure to include all the information available to me.

You should be able to find more about your issue here:
https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/11150561

Unfortunately I'm not able to comment on your planned implementation. If you think your app is in compliance, please submit your app for another review. You may want to review the Developer Program Policies for additional policy guidance.

Any perceived compliance or non-compliance of other developers’ apps does not have any bearing on the compliance of your own apps. If you want to report an app that you believe is a violation of our developer terms, please flag it as inappropriate on Google Play or submit a report through our contact form.

We recommend reviewing the details listed in this blog post and update your app accordingly to comply with the changes.

Thanks for your understanding and continued support.

 

[de_Wolf]

I did, also those received by email, and this is most certainly being appreciated.

Still it hurts. Basically there is being asked to be a social and asocial person at the same time. I can't be that.

Honestly, I don't understand, why are you being asked to be an antisocial person?

 

[30jp]

Hi Marcel
Please stop with Google.
This is not going well.
When I look at the latest posts here it's again about 1 star and about Google's policies.
Google doesn't change and it doesn't make you happier.
I think quitting Google will bring you a lot more peace of mind.
Because now you're annoyed about it again.
With Github and F-Droid you have more serious users. Users who have made a conscious choice.
That leaves you with 2% of your users and probably a few more % who switch from Google to Github.
Fewer users, trolls, policies, stars, but more peace and fun.
Take more distance, you don't have to get 3 new updates every week.
Don't put so many hours into it.
The apps are fine.
Sit back and enjoy the many nice comments here on XDA, that is certainly something to be proud of.
Sincerely, 30jp

 

[mkasimd]

I was just thinking to maybe just release updates on GitHub, but that plan is going right into the trash can after this 1 star Play store review:



Link.

Edit: maybe the first of the review is right and I am not suitable for this project.

He sounds like Paradoxus in this blog. Chances are, perhaps even same person: https://stadt-bremerhaven.de/fairem...pp-aus-dem-google-play-store/#comment-1360543

He's an annoying nagger. Nothing more than that. Might even nag in multiple places under different names. He has got nothing better to do than talking ill about others, I suppose.

 

[nadir husain]

Google's answer:

 

[MrBrainstorm]

I heard about the issue with Google today and came here to read more about it. It'd really break my heart if the development of the app stops. I tried soooo many clients in the past but whenever I found one I liked, it turned out to be fishy or those clients that (kinda) worked ok were either awful to use or the push notifications weren't working.

Today I went ahead and bought the pro features although the free version already offered everything I could ever ask for.

Some people are very sensitive to negative feedback and it's hard for those to ignore it, even if the positive feedback is overwhelming.
If you decide to continue the development you should seriously consider to slow it down a bit (or more) and reduce the interaction with the community. Your mental health will appreciate it and your quality of life will most likely improve.

Whatever path you chose, I wish all the best for the future.

 

[chris122380]

Then we will switch to K9 Mail. Open source and PGP setup is easier.

I can't use K9 no Oath support and no tracking protection. Both of those pieces alone made Fairemail the most essential email app.