Google Inbox team working on 'undo send' functionality

[ahhming]

In a Reddit Q&A on Wednesday, three members of the Inbox team offered Redditors an update on the development of the platform.
Asked whether the platform would receive an undo send feature, a Google Inbox software engineer identified on Reddit as Taylor K said: "Yes, we're working on it right now."

In fact, an undo send capability, along with cross-browser support, were two features that the software engineer said he wished were ready to include in time for Inbox's launch on October 22.
"Both are being worked on, but just weren't ready in time for launch," said Taylor K.

It is unclear at this stage whether the proposed undo send feature would work in the same way as the Google Mail Labs' 10-second undo send setting in Gmail.
However, Taylor K confirmed that the Inbox team is working on cross-browser support as well as the undo send feature, along with tablet support for the app and Google Drive integration.

 

 

Source:

http://www.zdnet.com/google-inbox-team-working-on-undo-send-functionality-7000036373/

[dragosudeki]

Wouldn't that be hard? I mean, you would have to delay the message that is being sent, then after the undo time is up, send it? Unless, they're just removing the email completely from all the recipients. In the first case, wouldn't you need somewhere to store all those delayed messages which could cause an overload on a server? The second one is just going to be weird.

[Lord Baal]

I don't know how to feel about this....It'll probably just lead to less drunken nude selfies landing in my inbox which is a shame.

[Ashaira]

Wouldn't that be hard? I mean, you would have to delay the message that is being sent, then after the undo time is up, send it? Unless, they're just removing the email completely from all the recipients. In the first case, wouldn't you need somewhere to store all those delayed messages which could cause an overload on a server? The second one is just going to be weird.

 

google has literally miles upon miles of server space and also some of the most compact/efficient servers. i don't think overloading servers will be a problem.

[Jade]

Wouldn't that be hard? I mean, you would have to delay the message that is being sent, then after the undo time is up, send it? Unless, they're just removing the email completely from all the recipients. In the first case, wouldn't you need somewhere to store all those delayed messages which could cause an overload on a server? The second one is just going to be weird.

Not necessarily, just theorizing but it might happen; when mail is sent, include a unique identifier for the message in the headers. Then, in order to undo the send (delete, really.) the sender's email has to send a deletion request with that unique identifier in the header. Having the UID only be known by the sender and receiver would prevent other people from deleting the mail in a malicious manner.

[dragosudeki]

Not necessarily, just theorizing but it might happen; when mail is sent, include a unique identifier for the message in the headers. Then, in order to undo the send (delete, really.) the sender's email has to send a deletion request with that unique identifier in the header. Having the UID only be known by the sender and receiver would prevent other people from deleting the mail in a malicious manner.

Technically then the mail is still viewable by your recipient until you press undo. In which case, It's almost pretty useless (especially when everyone get mail notifications onto their phones, so you can see it almost right away anyway). Instead of undo, this is more like "delete it from the recipient's inbox"

[dragosudeki]

google has literally miles upon miles of server space and also some of the most compact/efficient servers. i don't think overloading servers will be a problem.

With the trolls on the internets attacking servers, I wouldn't take anything for granted.

[Jade]

Technically then the mail is still viewable by your recipient until you press undo. In which case, It's almost pretty useless (especially when everyone get mail notifications onto their phones, so you can see it almost right away anyway). Instead of undo, this is more like "delete it from the recipient's inbox"

The way most mail clients on a phone works is via push notifications; eg. The server sends a notification to the app. Which it could also fix. Deleting it from the other inbox is the same as undoing the send really; Gmail Labs' 10 second wait would be almost the same thing.

[dragosudeki]

The way most mail clients on a phone works is via push notifications; eg. The server sends a notification to the app. Which it could also fix. Deleting it from the other inbox is the same as undoing the send really; Gmail Labs' 10 second wait would be almost the same thing.

I don't agree with deleting it from the other inbox is the same thing as just undoing it. Undoing it ,imo, should just stop the email from ever being sent. There are so many scenarios that make this 'undo' broken or useless. Mail forwarding can probably still occur and allow the message to live after the undo. This is just more of a control feature, where now you can control what messages your recipient will be able to keep in his inbox. A true undo would undo all things, and in terms of emailing, I would think this can only be done if you stop the receivers from getting the mail, rather than letting them get it for a brief amount of time. That's my opinion of an undo feature.

[cesrai]

I don't agree with deleting it from the other inbox is the same thing as just undoing it. Undoing it ,imo, should just stop the email from ever being sent. There are so many scenarios that make this 'undo' broken or useless. Mail forwarding can probably still occur and allow the message to live after the undo. This is just more of a control feature, where now you can control what messages your recipient will be able to keep in his inbox. A true undo would undo all things, and in terms of emailing, I would think this can only be done if you stop the receivers from getting the mail, rather than letting them get it for a brief amount of time. That's my opinion of an undo feature.

I agree with this ^^

[Master Disaster]

How bout the mail is held back on the client until the times up, much simpler solution.

[C_Mike]

Wouldn't that be hard? I mean, you would have to delay the message that is being sent, then after the undo time is up, send it? Unless, they're just removing the email completely from all the recipients. In the first case, wouldn't you need somewhere to store all those delayed messages which could cause an overload on a server? The second one is just going to be weird.

There's an email application they used to use at my old school called First Class (absolute piece of crap), that had an undo send function. As long as the other person didn't open it you could unsend it. So it is possible.

[Fetzie]

There's an email application they used to use at my old school called First Class (absolute piece of crap), that had an undo send function. As long as the other person didn't open it you could unsend it. So it is possible.

 

I think there is that kind of functionality in Outlook 2013 with a Microsoft Exchange server too.