undefined | Better HN

0 pointsJustFinishedBSG5y ago0 comments

Are we using the same Gmail ?

GMail is TRASH for me. It's the slowest, most ressoruce intensive site/app I've ever had the "pleasure" of using. I'm using Fastmail now and it's mindblowing how slow Gmail is in comparison.

0 comments

8 comments · 3 top-level

nicoburns5y ago· 3 in thread

> GMail is TRASH for me

It is now, but it didn't used to be. Gmail at launch was incredibly fast. It gradually got a little bit slower over time, and then they made it a lot slower with a rewrite a few years ago.

skulk5y ago

I still use the basic HTML version, it works fine and does all the things I need a mail client to do (except a "select all" button, which I've added with a short userscript: http://ix.io/3pXu/js)

mattkevan5y ago

It’s embarrassing quite how much faster the plain html version is. Proof that all the fancy JavaScript gubbins do very little to enhance the experience and a whole lot to slow it down

nicoburns5y ago

Indeed. But they've always had both a fancy JS version and a plain HTML version, and originally the fancy JS version was just as fast if not faster.

josefresco5y ago· 2 in thread

> Are we using the same Gmail ?

Right back at you. I've used Gmail daily since it's launch and have never experienced "slow" unless I was on a slow/poor connection. How many tabs /instances are you opening? Are you using ancient hardware?

handrous5y ago

Google Fiber, powerful MacBooks for the last decade-plus (currently an Apple Silicon machine). Normal gmail takes longer to do its AJAX requests than full-page loads on "basic HTML" gmail, consistently. Lots longer. It also likes to eat 400-500MB of memory and all the processor cycles it can get, sitting in the background.

Inbox was even worse, but I think they fattened up Gmail to match it after Inbox folded so the Inbox-loving people wouldn't suffer from increased performance when they had to switch back.

On the plus side they drove me to finally start using real, native mail clients again, so... I guess I can thank them for that.

josefresco5y ago

Maybe it's a Mac thing? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm on PC and don't experience any of these issues. My Chrome is using <400 MB of memory with two instances of Gmail, G Drive, Google Calendar, Google Ads and a couple more tabs, and is consuming maybe 0-1% of my CPU. I routinely have 4 separate Gmail inboxes open each in their own tab.

Compose windows is instantaneous. Opening /viewing email is also nearly instantaneous. Same for search, and navigating between labels/folders.

1 more reply

handrous5y ago

A lot of Google's web stuff is god-awful, as far as performance. Today I tracked a most-of-a-second delay on KB input across my entire browser to... having a tab with the Google Cloud dashboard open. A really boring one with nothing going on, too. Damn near an empty view.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

8 comments · 3 top-level

nicoburns5y ago· 3 in thread

> GMail is TRASH for me

It is now, but it didn't used to be. Gmail at launch was incredibly fast. It gradually got a little bit slower over time, and then they made it a lot slower with a rewrite a few years ago.

skulk5y ago

I still use the basic HTML version, it works fine and does all the things I need a mail client to do (except a "select all" button, which I've added with a short userscript: http://ix.io/3pXu/js)

mattkevan5y ago

It’s embarrassing quite how much faster the plain html version is. Proof that all the fancy JavaScript gubbins do very little to enhance the experience and a whole lot to slow it down

nicoburns5y ago

Indeed. But they've always had both a fancy JS version and a plain HTML version, and originally the fancy JS version was just as fast if not faster.

josefresco5y ago· 2 in thread

> Are we using the same Gmail ?

handrous5y ago

Inbox was even worse, but I think they fattened up Gmail to match it after Inbox folded so the Inbox-loving people wouldn't suffer from increased performance when they had to switch back.

On the plus side they drove me to finally start using real, native mail clients again, so... I guess I can thank them for that.

josefresco5y ago

Maybe it's a Mac thing? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Compose windows is instantaneous. Opening /viewing email is also nearly instantaneous. Same for search, and navigating between labels/folders.

1 more reply

handrous5y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse