Mailplaneapp.com Blog

"Gmail Redesigned" stylesheet for Mailplane

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-07-31T09:33:48+02:00

Mike Krieger has ported the famous and elegant "Gmail Redesigned" stylesheet to Mailplane! Designed by GlobexDesigns, the stylesheet is part of the "Better Gmail" Firefox extension. It worked in Firefox only and thanks to Mike now in Mailplane, too.

Please visit the mailplaneapp Google group to get it. The CSS file is located in the "Files" section and is named "gmail-redesigned-webkit (n).css" (n is the version number).

Watch the installation movie to get started:

Important: As the stylesheet is maintained by Mike, please post your suggestions, problems, and feedback to the mailplaneapp Google group.

Summer Vacation

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-07-04T09:28:14+02:00

Wow - it has been a great year so far! Now some vacation, family, and "offline" time is really needed. I'll be on vacation for two weeks and will be back on July, 21.
Destination: Corsica (where the Mailplane project started...)

If you experience any Mailplane problems, please go to the FAQ page, check for known problems, or search the Google group. The are also known Gmail issues, they are listed on this page.
Enjoy your summer, too!

Mailplane Bright Hub Review

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-07-02T07:26:34+02:00

Mailplane just got reviewed on Bright Hub! It's a great and very thorough review and describes what Mailplane is and what it isn't.

Here is what Bill writes about Security and Privacy:
"There are settings in each Gmail account's preference panel to control access to each individual Gmail account, by saving the Gmail account password to the Mac keychain and allowing automatic login as needed. [See Image 3] Of course, this is best used on a Mac that has password-protected user accounts.   Mailplane also provides a setting in each Gmail account that enables https support. While this can affect the application's overall performance, turning on https is a good idea for anyone who's using Mailplane on a local area network."

Check out the full article, it is a great read!

Mailplane 2.0 beta 5 released

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-07-02T07:26:32+02:00

New and Improved:

French translation by Michel Tribet
German translation by Patrick Scheips
Norwegian (Bokmål) translation by Vidar Ramdal
Nested groups are now supported when Inserting email addresses from the Mac OS X address book (Cmd-Opt-A)
Account drawer toolbar item added to default toolbar

Bugfixes:

iPhoto plugin didn't work anymore, bug was introduced by build 758
Unread message counter problem when using a google.com account. (Counter didn't go to zero).

How to replace the Gmail logo

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-07-01T08:06:39+02:00

Many users would like to see a custom image in Mailplane instead of the Gmail "beta" logo.
If you use Google Apps for your domain, Google provides this feature. The logo can be uploaded and set in your "Manage domain->Domain Settings->Appearance":

If you use a "normal" Gmail account (@gmail.com), a custom stylesheet can do the trick as Mailplane supports such a stylesheet. It can be set in your Tweak UI preferences.
Here is an example CSS file:

.zYsCRb {background:transparent url(http://mailplaneapp.com/downloads/logo-custom.gif) !important; }

Upload a correctly sized image (143 x 59 pixels) to any webserver and replace the URL in the example with the URL to your logo. Important: The picture will be shown in all account you use.

Mailplane 2.0 beta 4 released

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-06-23T17:54:32+02:00

This is the fourth beta release, it contains many small improvements and bug fixes.

New and improved:

New: Ctrl-Opt-Cmd-R keyboard shortcut to reload the main window (View->Reload page)
Improved: Download destination path is remembered when Ask for Download destination is enabled
Improved: Gmail Sign out toggles the account drawer if you have more than one account
Ignore RSS feed for @google.com domain
Rename iMedia to Media; "Insert Email" to Email
Main window: New default toolbar with less items
Main window/document window: attachment message now wraps text if needed
New and cleaner toolbar default setting

Bugfixes:

The Mail PDF with Mailplane PDF service wasn't installed for Mailplane 2.0 beta users.
The Gmail keyboard shortcut setting detector didn't work for Gmail 2.
Archive did remove label when a label was browsed.

The Gmail->More items opened in Mailplane instead of the preferred browser
Window moves to another location when closing drawer
Gmail 2: Reply/Reply All/Forward were enabled when compose a new message

Mailplane in French SVM Mac: Indispensable!

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-05-22T18:29:13+02:00

SVM Mac is the biggest and most important French Mac magazine, and Mailplane has been tested on page 92 in the current June issue (#206).

Best of all, Mailplane gets five mice - the max! According to the editors, Mailplane is "Indispensable" for Gmail Mac users. Plus: The magazine comes with a CD which contains Mailplane.

Without Michel Tribet's excellent French application translation, Mailplane wouldn't have appeared in SVN Mac... thanks Michel!

Faster Gmail loading

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-05-20T10:48:24+02:00

Thanks to Google, Gmail loads much faster! Account switching, new message windows, and initial startup are much zippier!

Check out this article for more information.

Mailplane 2.0 beta 3 released

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-05-20T10:46:48+02:00

Gmail is pushing out a new Gmail 2 version, this may lead to these problems - which are fixed in beta 3:

external links and downloads do not work
The Mail menu doesn't work correctly
compose new in separate window doesn't work

Mailplane 2.0 beta 2 released

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-05-15T12:14:31+02:00

New: "Enable Google Talk Window" preference

Nearly all accounts are now Gmail 2, and you get Gtalk right in your inbox sidebar. As the Google Talk window was created for Gmail 1 when the sidebar didn't have Google Talk support, there is now a preference to enable/disable Google Talk support.

Recommendation:
If you use Gmail 2, disable the setting.
If you prefer Gmail 1, enable it.

Updated: Safari extensions check

Some users don't experience the crashes, even with Safari Ad block and SafariBlock installed. There is a new button on the alert, to stop all warnings about it.

Improved: Apply/Remove label for Star

Mailplane shows a new "Star" label in the "Apply/Remove" label panel.

Other Improvements and bugfixes:

Bugfix: Some Google Apps accounts using http experienced authentication problems
Bugfix: Gmail keyboard shortcut stopped working after Cmd-L
Bugfix: When clicking the reply box, characters were interpreted instead of entered.
Bugfix: Select-All now works in a "Show Original" window
Bugfix: "Show Original" window title

Mailplane 2.0 beta

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-05-13T07:13:05+02:00

I am very excited about the latest Mailplane release: 2.0 Beta! (press release).
Important: Mailplane 2.0 will be a FREE upgrade for all registered users!
For the full list of new features and improvements please check out this page.

"Close instead of Hide" preference

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-05-13T07:12:44+02:00

If you like to reduce cpu usage to a minimum while you have Mailplane in background, you can close the main window instead of just hiding it.
This may preserve some battery power, but it takes longer to reopen the window.

Improved: Apply/Remove label for Inbox

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-05-13T07:12:06+02:00

When not using the inbox, Mailplane shows a new "Inbox" label when using Cmd-L. This special label allows you to either do a Move to inbox or to archive.

Switch to account keyboard shortcut

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-05-13T07:11:17+02:00

Press Cmd-Control-A (or use Mailplane->Switch to Account...) to open the account completion panel. It works like the textsnippets, apply/remove label, and navigate to label panels:
Use your keyboard to navigate the list and ENTER to switch to the selected account.

Safari extensions check

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-05-13T07:10:42+02:00

Some users experienced frequent crashes, which were caused by the SafariBlock or Safari Ad Block InputManagers that automatically load into Mailplane. As Mailplane includes a newer WebKit than Safari, it leads to crashes. Unfortunately, there is no way Mailplane can stop these extensions from loading.

You have two options to solve the problem:

Remove the extension(s)
or enable "Use System" WebKit in Advanced preferences to use the same WebKit as Safari. You'll need Safari 3.1.1 and there will have to live with some problems that have been fixed in Mailplane's WebKit: Gmail 2/Plain text focus problem; Gmail 1/Rich text disabled; Gmail 1/focus problems

OmniFocus "Clipping" Plugin

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-05-06T11:22:11+02:00

With the free OmniFocus plugin, you can create new tasks containing a direct link to your conversation from Mailplane. Download the plugin here.

Mailplane 1.77 released

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-05-06T11:20:55+02:00

Improved auto update
All updates are now secured by DSA signatures, this means that Mailplane will only install correctly signed updates.
This security feature now enables automatic updates: You can turn on the option in the "Software Update" panel.

Improved registration panels
You can now directly open the "resend license" web page when you see one of the registration panels.

Mailplane 1.76 released

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-04-15T08:59:51+02:00

The latest "cutting edge" release, brings many improved features and some bug fixes, here are the highlights:

Fixed: "navigate to label" panel and Folders4Gmail now work nicely toghether:

the "navigate label" panel will now correctly display your labels.

New "Confirm Quit" preference
Many users wanted a "confirm quit" alert when closing the application.
A new preference has been added to enable this alert, see the "Tweak UI" preference page.

Improved: "Navigate to Label" and "Apply/Remove Label"

Both panels work much like the famous Textmate "Go to Symbol" panel.
If you use the arrow key to move down the list, the list is now scrolled to reveal the currently selected item.

Australian Macworld about cloud computing

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-04-01T23:02:51+02:00

Dan Warne has written a very nice article about "cloud computing"...

I’ve finally decided to rid my e-mail and calendar of this earthly life — I decided after a recent MacBook Pro upgrade that it was time for them to go and live in the cloud.

...he mentions Mailplane as one of the apps that let him do the transition...

MailPlane is a stupendously fantastic program — it recreates an e-mail client around Gmail.

...and he explains the difference between Mailplane and other mail applications:

“Sure”, you might say, “I can already get my Gmail in Apple Mail through POP or IMAP.” The difference is MailPlane is a true web app, in that all the data resides on Google’s servers and MailPlane provides (as the author says) “the last mile” between the web app and your desktop. MailPlane adds back the features you’ve come to rely on your desktop mail client for, like Growl alerts when you get a new e-mail, the ability to drag a file to its icon and have a new e-mail open up with the file attached. Or the ability to select a batch of photos in iPhoto and click “e-mail”.

It's a great read, check out the full article.

Mailplane reviewed on MacReviewCast.com

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-04-01T22:54:16+02:00

Week after week, the people at MacReviewCast publish many priceless reviews to the Mac community. It's a great honor to hear that Mailplane 1.61 got a fine review by Lola Wong. Check out the MacReviewCast on iTunes or visit them here. Mailplane is in episode #143 (March, 29.)

Cutting Edge: Navigate labels

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-03-31T22:39:49+02:00

If you use and love the "apply/remove" label autocompletion feature, you probably waiting for the "navigate label" autocompletion.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

The goal is to do everything with your keyboard:

Press Shift-G or Cmd-Opt-G to open the autocompletion window
Optional: type some part of the label to filter the list
Optional: use your keyboard to choose an entry
Press enter to navigate to the label and close the window

Tip - there are direct keyboard shortcuts for the most important labels in the "Mail->Go to" menu. Or use the Gmail provided g+i, g+s keyboard combinations to jump to inbox, starred, drafts etc. Press ? to get all Gmail keyboard shortcuts.Important: This feature works in Gmail 2 only.

Post form (Google spreadsheet or LiveJournal comments)

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-03-31T22:39:45+02:00

Mailplane can now post forms that are embedded in emails. Great examples for form emails are

the brand new Google Spreadsheet forms (learn more...)
LifeJournal comments

Mailplane 1.61.3 released

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-03-31T09:06:13+02:00

This update fixes two bugs:

When opening an external link in Mailplane and Safari 3.1 wasn't running, it would would crash on startup
The print window wouldn't show its contents

Use "Mailplane->Check for updates" to load the update.

Mailplane on 37signals and Citizen Garden

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-03-25T22:25:35+01:00

Just found a nice post about the Mailplane's auto-bcc feature on the 37signals product blog.

If you’re interested in site specific browsers, listen to this podcast. Mailplane has been mentioned as one of the prime examples on how a site specific browser should work.
I very much share their vision and passion. Web applications such as Gmail are getting more important by the day. And site specific browsers are here to implement the "last mile," to free the web application from the browser tab and to combine the best of web and desktop world.

It's a great listen, much recommended.

Cutting Edge: Apply/Remove Label

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-03-13T16:28:51+01:00

Gmail labels are very nice and they work great with filters. However, applying a label manually is cumbersome. Labels are kind of hidden in the "more actions" menu, the user has the use the mouse to do do it.

Mailplane now makes applying and removing a label much easier. Everything can be done from the keyboard; no mouse interaction is required.

Either press Cmd-L (or just the "L") key and open the label auto completion. Then narrow down the list by entering a few letters, press the enter key to apply or remove the label.

Important: This feature works in Gmail 2 only!

Cutting Edge: Hide Spam counter and Gmail invitation box

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-03-13T16:28:47+01:00

The Google Spam filter is the best I know, hundreds of messages are filtered every day. I have currently over 5000 unread Spam messages in my Spam folder. However, the counter seems to be more important than my inbox counter, which isn't true I hope.

Use the new Tweak UI preferences to hide the spam counter and/or the invitation box. Plus there is a setting to highlight the inbox row that is "under" the mouse pointer:

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

These new preferences are much inspired by the "Better Gmail" Firefox plugin.
Important: This feature works in Gmail 2 only!

Cutting Edge: Auto-BCC for Highrise users

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-03-13T16:21:43+01:00

If you are a Highrise user, this new setting may be important for you. It allows you to send all outgoing email to the Highrise dropbox email address. Inside Highrise, the email gets automatically attached to the right person or Highrise creates a new person on the fly. See the Highrise email page for more information.

Every Gmail account has its own Auto-BCC setting.

Important: This feature works in Gmail 2 only!

Mailplane 1.61 Released

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-03-11T21:25:13+01:00

There is a new stable release available: 1.61. Please use the "Check for Updates" feature to conveniently load it. Beside the Italian translation mentioned below, the Catalan, French, German, Norwegian, and Romanian translations have received an update, too.

The release includes some bug fixes, too:

Drag and drop to dock didn't work in all cases, especially MAC OS X Tiger users did experience the problem.
Mail->Go to menu items were disabled

Italian translation

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-03-11T21:25:10+01:00

Very good news for Italy: Mailplane now speaks Italian, too! Monica Cainarca did the job and she did it wonderfully. The translation is now available with the current stable release (1.61).

BTW: In case you have any English/Italian (or Italian/English) translation need, please check out Monica's McTranslation page. Not only does she general translations, but she knows how to do Mac software translations, too. It is a pleasure to work with her - I highly recommended her services.

Review in "Vous et Votre Mac"

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-03-04T09:47:21+01:00

"Vous et Votre Mac" (VVMac) is one of the big French Mac print magazines. They reviewed Mailplane 1.71.8 (cutting edge) and the article is in the very latest issue (#33). I am very excited about this and the 4 out 5 star rating is great, too!

In case you aren't able to find the magazine at your newsstand:
Bernard Le Du, VVMac editor-in-chief, was so friendly to pass me the review as PDF.

Click image to open the review.

Cutting Edge: Network Diagnostics

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-02-22T21:47:38+01:00

As a new goodie, the "Network Diagnostics..." tool found in Safari has been integrated. If you can't connect to Google, a new button (Network Diagnostics) will be shown on the "Authentication" window. It opens a window where you can diagnose and solve the network problem.

Cutting Edge: Improved Authentication

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-02-22T21:46:15+01:00

As the authentication code and dialog box were modal, no "check for updates" could be performed before Google authentication (see blog post).

The authentication part of Mailplane is now completely new: Mailplane will automatically check for updates, even if you can't sign in.
The dialog is now a "dialog sheet" attached to the main window, and the login procedure can be cancelled at any time.

Plus: If you have many accounts, startup is now much faster.

Cutting Edge: Apology for a bad release

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-02-16T16:09:36+01:00

The "cutting edge" version (1.71.5) published yesterday, was a bad release. Some users reported that it just didn't start after the update procedure. It looks like only MAC OS X Tiger users were affected by the problem.

The error has now been fixed, and a new update has been released a minute ago. Use the "Check for updates" feature to load it.

If your Mailplane doesn't start, you need to download the latest version manually: Please use the download page to either download the stable or "cutting edge" version.

I deeply apologize for any inconveniences this might have caused, and I will work hard to make sure I reduce the likelihood of this happening again.

Cutting Edge: Use the clipboard to attach files and pictures

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-01-24T12:13:20+01:00

Copy any file or picture to the clipboard and the paste it into any editable field to create an optimized attachment. The "picture attachment dialog" will pop up for the preview and optimization settings.

Example 1:

In Finder: select some files
Copy them to the clipboard
Go to Mailplane
Compose a new message
Paste the files

Example 2:

Open a picture in Preview
Select a part of the picture
Copy the selection
Go to Mailplane
Compose a new message
Paste the picture part

Cutting edge: Picture attachment dialog

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-01-24T12:10:24+01:00

Do like to control the photo optimization settings each time you attach files? Then you'll like this new feature:
The dialog shows each time you attach files and allow to enable/disable optimization and allow you to set the same properties as in the "Photos" preferences.

Picture preview: If you attached more than one picture, the display changes every three seconds
Enable/Disable Optimizations, set quality and size
Attach pictures
In case you never change the settings, disable this sheet. You can always enable it in "Photos" preferences.

Tip: If you press the command key while performing a drag and drop operation, the files aren't optimized and the dialog isn't shown.

Upcoming features

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-01-15T16:57:57+01:00

I just added the new "upcoming features" page. It lists all changes and new stuff that is already available in the latest cutting edge release:

Gmail 2 support
Mailplane URLs
Background account notifications
Account nickname and re-ordering
and much more...

(General preferences)

What is the cutting edge release anyway? It's the upcoming Mailplane version, it's where the new features are added, tried and tested. But, as much is added or changed it may be less reliable than the current stable release.

If you like to try it anyway instructions can be found in the extended and improved FAQ section.

Improved Screenshots

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2008-01-03T23:17:49+01:00

The screenshot feature has been much improved and now works in Leopard, too. (This has been released a while ago, but I feel it is worth mentioning).

You are now able to capture a selection, a window, or the whole screen. By default Mailplane hides itself while the screenshot is captured.

This is great way to better explain a problem, feature, or something on your screen. A picture is worth a 1000 words, right?

Beta ends 2007

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-12-19T23:18:43+01:00

Mailplane has been in beta for over eight months. It was such an exciting and intense time: Thank you for all feedback, bug reports, feature requests, testing, and support! You really helped shaping this product.

The beta will end December, 31 - and so will the special beta user pricing. If you haven't registered, yet and you'd like to get your beta user discount, make sure to register before end of year: Check out the store for more details.

The beta registration has been closed, Mailplane can now be downloaded from here.

Merry Christmas!

"Cutting Edge" Release supports Gmail 2.0

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-12-04T23:35:13+01:00

Last weekend a new "cutting edge" update was released: 1.55. It supports both Gmail 1.0 and Gmail 2.0.

Using Gmail 2.0 is a joy: I really like

the "update conversation" feature;
the mark as read/unread keyboard shortcuts;
the speed improvements;
and the colored labels

If you can't wait and you like to try and test it, you can enable "cutting edge" updates in Mailplane's advanced preferences. Then do a normal "Check for updates" to get the latest version. But, there is no need to rush it. When it is translated and stable it will be released to all Mailplane users.

Gmail 2.0 and Mailplane

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-11-05T17:41:39+01:00

Google prepares Gmail for the future. According to the official Gmail blog, Gmail 2.0 is being rolled out over the next few weeks. If you see the "Newer Version" link in the upper right part of your main window, you already have been upgraded:

However, Mailplane isn't compatible with Gmail 2.0, yet. The Gmail 1.0 interface is still available, and Mailplane 1.54 automatically opens this interface when started. So, if you don't use the "Newer Version" link, Mailplane works without problems. I am currently working on the upgrade. Mailplane will support both Gmail 1.0 and 2.0.

But, what can you expect from the new Gmail? In Firefox, Gmail 2.0 doesn't look much different. However, for Mailplane users it is great news: Some really missed Gmail features will come to WebKit and therefore Mailplane (and Safari). Here are two examples:

Quick contacts/Google Talk in sidebar:

The "Update Conversation" feature:

Google seems to have unified the code for the different supported browsers. The days are numbered where WebKit users had to live with an older Gmail version, I guess.

And here is the best part: Mailplane is based on WebKit and WebKit is the fastest browser rendering engine. With the new Gmail speed improvements, Mailplane will be faster than ever.

From the Gmail blog post: "These techniques really shine on newer browsers and computers. Using an alpha version of Safari 3 on a MacBook, we're seeing sub-200ms times when opening messages—pretty quick."

Norwegian Translation

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-11-05T15:36:29+01:00

Thanks to Vidar Ramdal Mailplane is now available in Norwegian. Did you know? According to Wikipedia there are 4.7 million people speaking Norwegian, and it is already the fourth Scandinavian Mailplane translation.

Google announces IMAP for Gmail

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-10-27T14:31:53+02:00

This week, Google announced IMAP access for Gmail. That's great news for Mailplane users. Why?

Many people access their Gmail mailbox from various locations and devices. In my case this is

Mailplane on my MacBook and the family iMac
the Gmail java application on my Motorola V3 handset
Firefox on a linux box
And occasionally Internet Explorer on Windows

IMAP now extends access to my precious email data:

As the iPhone doesn't run the java application to access Gmail, I will be able to use IMAP when I will
I will be able to backup my Gmail email data

Regardless how I access my Gmail mailbox, I see and change the same email data. For example, I could "star" a conversation on my handset, then create a reply on Linux with Firefox, attach a photo with Mailplane, and then send the draft from an iPhone.

Will IMAP access replace Mailplane for me? No way!
I love the Gmail web interface, in my opinion it beats all traditional mail clients. For me Gmail thru Mail.app isn't Gmail anymore: no real labels, no Google search, no pretty conversation view. And Mailplane gives me best of both worlds: The speed and power of Gmail and the beauty and functionality of my Mac desktop.

Leopard compatible iPhoto plugin

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-10-25T23:38:48+02:00

The old iPhoto plugin was based on the SIMBL InputManager. As InputManagers are not supported in Mac OS X Leopard, a new iPhoto plugin is provided. When the plugin is installed, you can choose Mailplane as your email application in iPhoto/General preferences. The icon in the lower part of iPhoto is then changed to Mailplane, too.

See Mailplane help for more info.

Brazilian Portuguese and Korean Translations

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-10-25T23:38:10+02:00

Mailplane features two new languages:

Korean by Calvin Jeong

Brazilian Portuguese by Leonardo Otsuka

This is excellent news - thanks Calvin and Leonardo!
Use the "Help->Support and Feedback" window to send translation related feedback.

Alternative introductory price and education discount

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-10-06T15:24:12+02:00

I received numerous reactions on the Mailplane price announcement released last week.
Many have immediately bought a license - thank you so much for your support!!

Some of you are still missing some features and are not ready to buy Mailplane for the set price. If you feel this way, please be assured that I will add more features to the product and continue to improve on it. I suggest you to follow the Mailplane development closely and register when it fits your bill.

I received quite a few requests to make Mailplane either free or very low cost. For several reasons, this cannot be considered since it is not what I have intended for Mailplane.

Introduction price:
I really do appreciate YOUR support building this app, and I will therefore offer an alternative for the beta users that do not have the need for a family option: Buy a single user license for $19.95 (regular price ~~$24.95~~)

Again, this is an alternative to the free family option. The current "family" offer is unchanged: Single user license + family option for $24.95 (regular price ~~$32.95~~).

Remember: It's for beta users only - the offer ends when Mailplane goes public.

Education discount:
I am also happy to offer an education discount. If you learn or work at a university and you have an EDU email address, you can generate a coupon code. The discount is 30% off the single user license price.

If you already bought a license and you want the reduced price instead of the free family option and/or you qualify for the education discount, no problem. A separate email with instructions how to get your refund will be sent soon.

Price Announcement

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-09-29T14:55:20+02:00

The beta started in March. This was such an intense and exciting half year. Thank you for all ideas, bug reports, and support!

I feel that the time has come to prepare Mailplane for public availability and to announce the price for it:

A Mailplane single user license is $24.95 and includes free 1.x updates.
There is a family option available ($8), which allows you to use Mailplane in your private household on up to five Macs.
The evaluation period will last 30 days.

For a short time, Mailplane will remain in beta stage. There is still no time limit: the evaluation period will begin when the beta ends.

Special offer for beta users: Buy a single user license today and get the family option for free. (Offer expires when Mailplane goes public).

To go to the store, open "Mailplane->Registration..." and press the "buy now..." button.

If you're not a beta user and like to try Mailplane you are welcome to register for the beta here.

Mailplane is ready for Leopard

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-09-29T14:49:08+02:00

Mailplane 1.52 is ready for the upcoming Mac OS X release. The same Mailplane version now runs on both 10.4 and 10.5 releases of the operating system. I am still working on the iPhoto plugin, the screenshot function, and some minor (e.g. toolbar repaint) stuff. But, other than that all features work just fine.

Hide Mailplane at startup

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-09-29T14:45:23+02:00

Do you like to launch Mailplane whenever you start your Mac or log into your account? Add Mailplane to your system preference account login items. New in 1.52: If you check the Hide option, Mailplane won't open any window when it starts.

Drag and drop and photo optimization

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-09-29T14:24:51+02:00

When you drag and drop photos, Mailplane optimizes them to make them smaller and you can control the optimization in the Photos preference page.

But, sometimes you need to send a picture without any optimization: you want to leave size, file type, and picture quality untouched. The latest release now allows you to just press the command key while dropping the file. The mouse cursor will change to "Link" instead of "Copy" to indicate that no optimization will be performed.

Here is how it looks like:
I dragged a photo from Finder to Mailplane.

No key pressed: Optimize the picture according to your preferences

Command-Key pressed: disable all optimizations, leave the picture untouched.

Catalan and Finnish translations

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-09-29T14:04:24+02:00

Mailplane features two new languages:

Finnish by Mikko Aarnio

Catalan by Albert Simó.

Kudos to Mikko and Albert for their important work!
Use the "Help->Support and Feedback" window to send translation related feedback.

Dutch, Icelandic, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-09-04T10:05:38+02:00

There are six new languages to choose from:

Dutch by Cristiano Betta
Icelandic by Páll Svansson
Japanese by mitcho (Michael Yoshitaka Erlewine)
Portuguese by Tiago Amorim
Spanish by Fernando Orozco
Swedish by Kristoffer Forsgren (ballisticpixels.com)

These translators did a great job - send them your feedback by using the Help->Feedback and Support menu item. There is a special "Compose Mail..." button to notify the translator of the current language. Mailplane is now usable in eleven languages. German, French, Polish, Romanian, and of course English are all up-to-date, too.

This is the Tweak UI preference page in Japanese. Cute isn't it?

Like to switch to one of the above languages? See Mailplane Help for instructions.

iMedia Browser

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-09-04T10:05:36+02:00

No need to open iPhoto, iTunes, or iMovie to send attachments: There is a brand-new iMedia browser right inside Mailplane. Open it and then drag and drop photos, movies, or music to your message. Use Window->iMedia Browser to get started.

Use your Mac address book

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-09-04T10:05:34+02:00

Insert email addresses directly from your Mac address book into your TO, CC, BCC, or message field. It works much like the text snippets panel: Press Cmd-Option-A to open the panel, search for one or more addresses. Press Enter to close the panel and insert the addresses at the focused field. Works with address groups, too. You'll find the panel in the Mail->Insert sub menu.

Rich Text format menu

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-09-04T10:04:19+02:00

There is a new Format menu to make text bold (Cmd-B), italic (Cmd-I), or underlined (Cmd-U). Quickly access colors (Cmd-Option-C), too. And finally center (Cmd-|), left align (Cmd-{), or right align (Cmd-}) paragraphs.

iLife 08 and the iPhoto Plugin

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-08-18T09:17:45+02:00

Mailplane features an iPhoto plugin, to easily compose a new message directly from iPhoto. The current Plugin only works with iLife 06 (iPhoto 6). I'm currently working on an adapted Plugin for iLife 08. The next Mailplane update (due this month) will contain it. Meanwhile, disable the iPhoto plugin in Mailplane's "Photos" preferences and use "drag and drop" from iPhoto to Mailplane as a workaround.

Update (2007-08-23): Todays Mailplane release (version 1.50) contains an updated iPhoto plugin that works with iPhoto 5, 6, and 7 (iLife 08). As an improvement the iPhoto "Mail Photo" panel is shown. You can choose the desired size and then compose the message in Mailplane. Tip: Press Option key while clicking the "Compose" button to open Mail.app instead of Mailplane.
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Vacation

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-07-22T10:40:36+02:00

I had a great and intense time since I released Mailplane in March. I enjoyed working for the fast growing Mailplane community - you are just terrific!

But now, me and my family need some "offline" time. We have rented an RV and will travel around beautiful Sweden. I'll be back "online" August 14th.
Enjoy your summer, too!
Ruben

Getting started screencast

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-07-22T09:48:19+02:00

Get most out of Mailplane and watch the getting started screencast. It shows you how to drag and drop files to create attachments, send screenshots, send any document as PDF, use multiple accounts, and more

Romanian Mailplane

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-07-22T09:36:37+02:00

Thanks to Ovi Pășcui Mailplane talks Romanian and is now fluent in five languages!

After consulting Wikipedia I found some interesting facts about the language. It is spoken in many countries: Romania, Republic of Moldavia, Bulgaria, Canada, USA, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, Israel, Serbia, and Hungary. There are about 24 million people speaking it as their first language! And 4 million speak it as their secondary language.

French Mailplane

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-07-05T23:43:26+02:00

Parlez-vous français? Oui?

Thanks to Michel Tribet people from France, Canada, Tahiti, and many african countries can use Mailplane in their native language.

Polish Mailplane

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-07-05T23:40:24+02:00

Kudos to Piotr Orłowski, he translated Mailplane to Polish. I am sure, there are many users who will love his work!

Google Talk for Google Apps

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-07-05T23:40:22+02:00

Last week Google released an updated Talk Gadget for "Google Apps" accounts. Of course, this new feature is now available in Mailplane: Every account type can now use the Talk window.

Mailplane, WebKit, and Safari 3 beta

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-06-19T09:06:11+02:00

Last week, Apple released Safari 3 beta. This is great news for Mac and now even Windows users.

However, for a WebKit based application like Mailplane there are way too many options. Some users still use the old WebKit provided by Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger). Some have installed and configured WebKit nightly to be used in Mailplane. And now there is the new Safari 3 beta WebKit that causes Mailplane trouble. This leads to unnecessary confusion.

I like to provide a running solution out of the box, and I have decided to bundle a tested and preconfigured WebKit nightly with Mailplane. It will work despite your system configuration, or if you have installed Safari 3 beta. "Rich text editing" will be enabled by default and the option to configure the WebKit path will be gone.

Meanwhile, there is a workaround if you would like to use Safari 3 and Mailplane on the same system:
1. Download WebKit nightly from here.
2. Enable rich text editing and configure the WebKit path in Advanced preferences

German translation

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-06-06T22:43:14+02:00

Mailplane can now be used in German, too! Many thanks to Patrick Scheips, who provided the translation.

Support for multiple Gmail accounts

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-05-28T12:57:34+02:00

Add as many account as you want, switch between accounts without restarting Mailplane or entering a password and see all unread message counters at a glance. Accounts can be switched either from the new drawer attached to the main window, the authentication window, or the new status item showed in the menu bar.

New status item keeps you informed

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-05-28T12:57:31+02:00

Many users missed a status item, now Mailplane provides it: Use it to get notified, open unread messages, compose new message (with or without screenshot), or switch to another Gmail account. Below each account you can see the most recent unread messages.

For those who like to preserve menu bar space, there is a "General" preference to turn it off.

Text snippets make you more productive

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-05-28T11:19:41+02:00

Store frequently typed text snippets in your account preferences and then use the "Edit/Insert Text Snippet..." menu item (or Command-I) to quickly insert greetings, signatures, instructions, jokes, and more at the current message cursor position.

Uninstall Mailplane cleanly

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-05-28T11:16:05+02:00

Mailplane needs no AppZapper: If you ever need to remove Mailplane from a Mac, there is the handy "Uninstall..." menu item. It removes all Mailplane related data like keychain entries, preferences, account information, text snippets, iPhoto plugin, PDF service item.

New application icon!

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-04-30T07:57:42+02:00

Mailplane has a new application icon! The unread message count badge has been improved, too.

Many kudos to professional icon designer Jonas Rask. He created the icon and badge. I hope you like it as much as I do!

New Google Talk window

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-04-28T07:03:36+02:00

Since last update, Mailplane includes a Google Talk window for an easy chat. Never miss a call again: If somebody wants to talk, Mailplane shows a Growl notification. The brand-new Google Talk Gadget (displayed inside the window) offers some nice features like video and photo preview. See the this blog for more information.

Currently the Google Talk window works with "normal" Google accounts. Support for "Google Apps for your Domain" accounts will be added as soon as the Gadget is ready for it.

Open Word attachments as Google Documents

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-04-13T14:17:29+02:00

Many people send Word document as attachments, though not everybody has Microsoft Word installed. Sure: They can be viewed as HTML, but now Mailplane integrates with Google documents: Directly import attachments as Google documents and edit them in your preferred browser.

Thanks Tim B

100 beta invitations each day

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-04-05T21:50:33+02:00

Over the past two to three weeks, 700 beta users were invited to the beta. But, the waiting list is growing rapidly, and to speed things up, I have decided to send out 100 invitations each day. The waiting list will be processed in chronological order, with the first 100 getting notified today. If you with to join the invitation waiting list, sign up here.

Webkit nightly enables rich text editing in Mailplane

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-04-05T21:47:00+02:00

With the latest and greatest Webkit version, rich text editing is now available in Mailplane. By default, Mailplane uses Webkit that comes with your Mac OS X. In Tiger this is limited to plain text editing. But now, you can download the latest Webkit build and tell Mailplane about it by setting a preference.

BTW: How do you like the line "Invite Apple to Gmail" in the screenshot - sweet isn't it?

Print from any application to Mailplane

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-04-03T21:28:00+02:00

Did you ever want to mail that nice looking Pages, Keynote or "you name it" document to other users? Well, chances are they cannot open your jewel if they have no Mac or the required software. In such situations, PDF fits the bill. It preserves all visual attributes of your document and can be viewed and printed on virtually any Windows, Linux or Mac computer.

With the latest Mailplane update, you will find a "Mail PDF with Mailplane" action in the print dialog of any application that supports printing. Select that action and the document is automatically converted to a PDF file and attached to a Mailplane message.

BTW: This feature is additionally to the already implemented "Mail link to this page" and "Mail contents of this page" menu items available in Safari (or "Send Link..." in Firefox).

Thanks Josh R

500 new users invited to Mailplane beta

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-03-31T22:20:45+02:00

In the past two and half weeks many bugs got fixed and new features were added. The beta users were really terrific and sent valuable feedback, ideas and bug reports.

So it became time to invite more users to the beta program: The first 500 people on the waiting list have now been invited to test Mailplane.

If you don't have registered yet but would like to: the waiting list is here. You will get an invitation as soon as your number is called.

Mailplane talks https

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-03-21T23:00:36+01:00

How do like to connect to your Gmail account? Choose with the new "Use secure connection (https)" option: Either http for super fast communication or https for maximum security.

Mailplane supports "Google apps for your domain"

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-03-18T09:10:58+01:00

I like to keep everyone informed about the progress we make in the private beta. When something major is accomplished, I will publish it on this blog.

As many people have asked for it, I feel this improvement needs to be mentioned: Mailplane now works successfully with both regular Gmail and "Google apps for your domain" accounts.

The search for Mailplane test pilots is over

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-03-14T20:22:52+01:00

After MacNN published the news about Mailplane, all available private beta seats were taken in about one hour! The website is still under heavy load, and the waiting list gets filled quite fast.

This is great news because it shows the need for Gmail Mac desktop integration!

For all those who didn't make it into the private beta: Add yourself to the beta waiting list. As soon as Mailplane gets more stable, people on the waiting list will get invited to the beta.

Would you like to become a Mailplane test pilot?

ruben@mailplaneapp.com — 2007-03-08T21:08:29+01:00

Mailplane is a brand new Cocoa shareware application that integrates Gmail into your Mac desktop. Features include:

Drag and drop files to create attachments.
Auto resize photos when composing messages.
iPhoto integration.
Growl notifications
And much more...

The complete feature list may be found at http://mailplaneapp.com.

Private beta registration is now open. Becoming a test pilot has never been easier. Just visit http://mailplaneapp.com/beta.