Hello, HEY!

Yes, I’m joining the crowd to give HEY — email service by the awesome guys at Basecamp — a shout. I wrote them to request for an invite three around three days ago. I am sure that they’re having lots of invitation requests, but today, I finally got the invitation code to register an account.

Before registering, I have read some key information about HEY: about how it works, the HEY manifesto, some key points on the FAQ page, and also how the pricing will work. I also understand that Imbox is not a typo.

Some key points about HEY

In my opinion, these are some key points about HEY. It’s not about my personal preference, but more about ‘what I — or probably you — should now by having a @hey.com account.

  1. It’s NOT an email client. So, it’s not like Gmail for Android/iOS. It’s not Outlook you can have on your Android, Mac, or iOS devices. It’s not even close to Spark, Postbox, or Newton.
  2. It’s an email service provider, with — currently — @hey.com domain for the email address created. That’s right, it’s like Gmail by Google, or Yahoo Mail, or Outlook. It’s also like how you have your email address, powered by your cPanel-based hosting, or maybe you have it installed yourself and having Roundcube as the interface. Creating an account at HEY is like you open an account at Gmail, or having an email at Yahoo Mail service.
  3. It’s not free. It’s a paid service. To enjoy the full service at the moment, with the upcoming features in the futures, we need to pay US$99/year minimum. We need to pay extra if for ‘shorter’ username. 2-characters of username costs US$999/year, and 3-character of username will cost US$349/year. And, we need to pay a year in advance.
  4. It offers “better” privacy. Hint: Gmail.
  5. It might change your workflow. It might be better for some people, but probably it’s not for everyone.

More features that might works better for you can be seen at HEY website.

Let’s give it a try

Reading some of those points above, I was curious about how it works. I mean about the interface, functionalities, workflows, and more. It’s 2020, and making working with email to become an enjoyable experience — for those who work a lot with emails — is still a big challenge.

I am a Gmail user — or Gmail-based email, because I also use Google App for Work — and I use lots of Google services. I signed up for my Gmail account when it was still ‘invite only’ period.

My first question about HEY was, “If HEY is that good, how the integration between services I currently use?”. I have an Gmail email, and once I signed up for it, I can use all the other services right away. The integration between those [Google] service is already that good.

I still believe that HEY is not ‘just another email provider’. Basecamp is a reputable company. I follow Signal vs Noise blog. I bought both REMOTE and REWORK. It’s built by people who know what they do, and who want to make the idea of working to become something efficient and fun at the same time. If we’re talking about productivity, Basecamp should be mentioned here.

I already logged-in to my email account. I have HEY app installed on my iPad and Android phone. I also already sent my first email to it.

Let’s see.