Hi,
I know that classic email support is not a top priority for the developers, and I completely understand that. Still, since I really enjoy Delta Chat’s interface, I also use it for regular email, and I think the way one-on-one conversations are currently handled could be improved. I’m sharing this idea in case a developer finds it interesting to implement.
Motivation
Merging all one-on-one emails from the same person into a single conversation would make Delta Chat a much smoother email client for those of us who also use it for regular email.
It would reduce clutter in the chat list, make it easier to follow a person’s messages over time, and bring Delta Chat closer to how messaging apps handle conversations — while still respecting the email protocol.
To handle subject changes (since new emails often have different subjects), Delta Chat could display a small message like
“[User] changed the topic to ‘new email subject’”
just before the new message — similar to how webxdc apps show notifications in the parent chat.
This would preserve the context of the email subject while keeping all messages with the same person in one single chat.
Also, improving the experience for traditional email users could attract more people to the Delta Chat ecosystem. Many users who start using Delta Chat for their personal email might later discover the benefits of chatmail and its enhanced security and privacy features. This could serve as a gentle and natural bridge toward adopting decentralized, encrypted communication.
Expected behavior
For one-on-one email exchanges, I’d like all messages from the same person to appear in a single conversation.
So, if I write a new email to friend@myfriend.com with a different subject, it would not create a new group; instead, it would be added to the existing conversation with that contact, showing the new subject as a small notification on top. The same would happen if I receive a message from the same person with a new subject.
Actual behavior
Currently, each new email to or from a single person creates a new conversation or “group.”
For messages involving multiple recipients, the current behavior is fine. This fragments de inbox and makes finding messages difficult.