I have an idea how a subject could be implemented without having to change the UI. Essentially a subject is nothing more than a tag. DC-Desktop already supports hashtags. In my opinion, this is a very useful feature. The hashtag is underlined and clickable. After clicking on it, all messages in the chat containing this hashtag are displayed in the search window.
To add a subject to an email to a non-DC contact, users could place a hashtag at the beginning of a message. Whenever DC detects such a tag in an unencrypted message to one non-DC contact, which is not a reply, it would use it as the subject without the “#.” At the beginning of encrypted messages and unencrypted group messages, a hashtag would simply be sent as part of the message. Of course, this also applies if it is not at the beginning. The subject of received messages in 1:1 chats should also be displayed with a “#” in front of it.
In my opinion, this approach would have the following advantages:
- The UI wouldn’t need to be changed.
- Chats with DC users and non-DC users would look identical, as hashtags can be used everywhere.
- By clicking/tapping the subject, all messages with that subject can be displayed in the search window.
- A hashtag is underlined and thus stands out clearly from the rest of the message.
Things get a bit more difficult when a subject line consists of multiple words. In this case, “_” characters could be used between them. I’ve noticed that Apple Mail even deletes some of these. However, I’m not sure what the criteria are.
