Add setting to show all people in DeltaChat

[Lexi]

Hello, thanks for DeltaChat, thanks for working on freedrom respecting software and decentralized chat solutions and also thanks for self hosting this forum! Here is my feature proposal:

I’d like to be able to see all my contacts and mails grouped by contact, just like chats. Can a setting for that be added or a tab maybe for “all mails/conversations/contacts”?

That would make it a lot easier than it is right now, because:

1. Contacts only show up on DeltaChat when they mail me after the moment I installed it
2. I need to accept the request to add them to DeltaChat, but I want everyone to be added per default

I really like the concept of DeltaChat and the hacky way it is implemented on top of mail. But it does feel a bit like a new messenger that you have to get people to use to benefit from the features. However it would also be very useful to me to be able to chat with everyone immediately after installing, even when this way DC’s encryption methods are not used and the chat folder is not used either. I’d actually like to have all my mails in the same place (“inbox” and “sent mail” folders). I can take care of marking as read and archiving/deleting when I’m on a non-mobile operating system.

Thanks for reading and considering!

Lexi

[testbird]

Hi, I think you presented a very good visualization idea to show the classic emails in deltachat.

I’d like to be able to see all my contacts and mails grouped by contact, just like chats

Currently there is only a single “chat” view available (through the menu) that lists all email messages, and it is unfortunately still called “Contact Requests”. (The current naming proposals are “New Emails” or “Incoming Emails”.)

Also see the following link to see how your idea fits in:

[Wiki] Use-cases, chat rules and configuration options

This editable wiki page exists to document and track the basic general use-cases for delta chat, together with corresponding settings, and contact or message specific customization rules. The (missing and implemented) rules and configuration options needed to configure deltachat properly for these use-cases are listed and explained in more detail further down. Corresponding (old) issue: https://github.com/deltachat/deltachat-android/issues/229 The current default usage mode is: The user nee…

[Lexi]

Hello testbird, I’m glad someone reacted and liked my idea I feared it would just go unnoticed.

Yeah, the current “contact requests” menu is just a list of messages, which takes longer to scroll through because messages are longer than a list of contacts would be in their place. Another thing that I’d like to see changed: Contact requests only show the messages since the user started using DeltaChat. The ability to see all contacts sorted by recent activity/messages, just like in regular messages, would be very useful to me. I’m suggesting a tabbed layout for this (“DeltaChats” / “regular mails”), which would be very easy (no setting needed) and people who don’t use it can just ignore it. I especially like tabs at the bottom because they are easier to reach, but that is up for debate. Just like now conversations/contacts would be moved from the “regular mails” tab/layout to “DeltaChats” once you’ve sent a mail to them from within DeltaChat.

I want to produce an edited screenshot for that, hopefully I’ll find the time soon. I also want to read you wiki post, which I think was a great idea frankly!

Next I’m suggesting a setting for the default (and maybe per contact also) whether you want to use the DeltaChat way or the regular mail way.

The DeltaChat way is to 1. let mails that have been sent from DeltaChat not appear in the folder “sent” 2. DeltaChat snatches the mails from the inbox into the DeltaChat folders that are replies to mails sent from DeltaChat by the user 3. use DeltaChat’s read receipts 4. enable encryption 5. does not use conversations/replies so messages are not grouped together 6. changes the subject to “Chat: …” (7.? did I miss anything?)

While the regular mail way would be just as you’re used to in other mail clients, use reply/conversation/threads, don’t change the subject except for adding "Re: ", use the “inbox” and “sent” folders, etc.

(Then maybe I’d like contacts to show up more than once, so we’d have representations of mail conversations, but I’m not sure yet, just writing this down here so I won’t forget/can look it up )

Cheers!

[testbird]

Adding an “Emails” tab (change feature proposal title?) could at the same time provide the right trigger to switch between classic subject handling and chat subject texting (when sending a message).

I’d picture the “Emails” tab as containing “known addresses” (likely most in archived or inactive state) and prominently presenting the current state of the INBOX (messages). Later there could even be support for browsing sub-folders (full MUA mode/tab).

Tabs are also good for multiple accounts:

Issue: Support multiple accounts