Heard about HEY, but haven’t had a chance to check it out yet? In this 37-minute video, I walk through the big ideas, the philosophical underpinnings, and the specific features that make HEY a truly new take on email.
Take a video tour of HEY
9 thoughts on “Take a video tour of HEY”
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Email’s new heyday
Email sucked for years. Not anymore — we fixed it. HEY’s fresh approach transforms email into something you want to use, not something you’re forced to deal with.
Tried Basecamp lately?
Used an earlier version, but moved on? Heard of it, but never signed up? Today’s Basecamp will surprise you! It’s all-new, entirely modern, and unlike anything else.
First, thank you for this tour. It really gave me an idea of what sets Hey appart, and I like it a lot.
However, I’m a paying customer of Protonmail for security and privacy reasons (you can call that paranoia or common sense, depending on your sensibilities), and the ability to use my custom domain:
Yes, it’s nowhere near as user-friendly and feature-packed as what you showed of Hey (and I’m sure there’s more). But knowing that my emails are stored encrypted (and decrypted only locally on my devices), under a mile of Swiss mountains, protected by the World’s most pro-privacy Laws, helps me sleep better at night…
Yes, some emails are harder to read without the images but it gives me built-in tracking-pixel protection, and these emails usually don’t deserve that much attention…
And finally, I can invite my friends and family to setup a *free* Protonmail account, so all our conversations are secured with end-to-end encryption.
In your manifesto, you say you don’t look at our emails unless we ask you to. To me, it means that emails are stored in clear text (or that you have the decryption keys) and a number of US agencies can force you to give them access, under the Patriot Act or some other bullshit Law. That’s a big deal for me.
So, I wonder if you could maybe make another post/video that focuses on what matters for security/privacy freaks like me, and why I should double my yearly email costs to switch to Hey?
Yes, Hey’s features are awesome, but privacy and security come first for me.
Yup, if you want E2EE, HEY isn’t for you. In most cases, email probably isn’t for you. But if it is, Protonmail is a wonderful choice.
That said, we put a lot of effort into privacy and security. Here’s what we’ve done so far:
https://hey.com/security/
But in general, HEY is entirely different than Protonmail, Gmail, Fastmail, Yahoo Mail, etc on many levels and from many angles. We value security and privacy, but also people’s time and attention. So our feature set and approach is considerably different than the rest. Our workflows are much better than their workarounds.
HEY’s here to help you get less mail, to reduce your obligations and eliminate hassle, to put you back in control of who can reach you, and to give you more of your own time back. We think that, plus our very reasonable approach to security and privacy, is a potent package for a wide range of people. But of course everyone has different needs which is why there are different options out there.
What do people do for calendaring who are Hey customers?
I use Apple Calendar (and Fantastical on top of that).
Fantastic workflows. But no offline is a deal breaker for me.
Is it cool to copycat some features into other mail software (thunderbird, mutt…), or there are patents ?
Thanks for the walkthrough, Jason.
I agree with so much of Hey’s philosophy, but I’m curious about your casual dismissal of the “inbox zero” concept. I would love to get the “recently seen” emails in Hey out of my face completely; instead they dance around my peripheral vision … distractions that forever prevent me from achieving that dopamine hit I get when I put everything in its place.
How is “inbox zero” at odds with the Hey philosophy? Seems to me that it well matches Hey’s desire to help us focus.
Inbox Zero is an obligation – an obligation to consistently hit a target goal (zero). No thanks. HEY’s about letting go and letting things flow, not paying attention to your inbox count, and not feeling bad if you have 5 things in there. Don’t stress and chase, lighten up and let it flow. It’s also about making a couple strategic piles which help you keep unresolved things organized and close at hand, yet out of your face. Quite the opposite of Inbox Zero.
See: https://hey.com/flow/
What is the ETA on custom domain support?
HEY looks awesome and perfect for personal email but I use a custom domain even for my personal email so that I can move email providers easily without having to change my email address.
Currently using Fastmail.
P.S. Just finished Remote last month, was a great book and was the final push I needed to move our office too remote working. 🎉
Hey Matt! By the end of the year. Visit http://hey.com/custom-domains to be notified when they’re available.