Post WWDC I really starting thinking about my e-mail (server side) setup. For the last many years I have been using Fastmail for my personal domain email, and at work we use Office 365. I don’t like putting my personal e-mail address anywhere on the web including using it for accounts, I use it just to give to people so they can reach me. For that kind of stuff I have a gmail account which I forward to my Fastmail. I would check all of my personal mail (including the forwarded gmail) in the iOS and MacOS Mail.app. Work goes to Outlook. The reason for using the default app was always privacy for me. I refuse to use those third party apps such as Spark because of the server side stuff they do.
So now comes WWDC and the announcements about about the Mail app. I am thrilled as I was aware what just opening an e-mail can send back to a sender, but there are were no easy alternatives to use. So I just lived with it. Then I got thinking about all the stuff I sign up for or buy is still being routed through gmail. Kind of defeats the purpose? I could have used an alias at Fastmail, but I really want a separate account in case I get locked out or something weird happens at Fastmail. That is why gmail always felt “safe”. Then I realized I have never used my iCloud account for mail. Last week I spent hours going through every account I had (thanks 1Password for making this easier) and switched it from my gmail address to my iCloud address. Unlike before I decided not to forward this type of mail to my Fastmail account leaving that account just used for actual correspondence. Added it to my iOS and MacOS mail apps and done!
Sorry for this ramble, but it really occurred to me how many people (including me) never even think about using Apple’’s service. It has worked just fine, and I no longer have to worry about it becoming part of some huge new cluster which Gmail is becoming. I know not everyone worries about privacy, and I am far from extreme but I do think about this stuff. As I said to someone last week…. I have no illusions that Apple’s privacy push is about their bottom line, but their business strategy aligns with my personal needs so here we are?