Below is an explanation of one of the features that Annesque, our email client, offers to its users. Please see the Annesque project page for more info.

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A feature and another reason for using our email client is the apparent display of both the sender and receiver information. You would think that this is an entirely obvious item that doesn't need to be solved, but I have encountered and specifically addressed this as a problem that needed to be addressed.

Note: I am only comparing to gmail and roundcube, since other email providers would either (1) delete old messages, or (2) display ads, but I imagine that the following argument applies to all, since all the providers tend to converge to a single, almost centrally controlled, feature set.

Note: The examples below feature some of my actual emails. This is for illustrative purposes only.

Recently I have noted that gmail obfuscates both the sender and the receiver of email. (And the same, to an even worse extend, happens in roundcube, which is why I have made the decision to exclude roundcube from the Annesque email stack.) If there is an email, who sent it?

We don't know right away -- I have to click an arrow to find out:

Turns out it was that email, which is not obvious while looking at the conversation.

Similarly, gmail obfuscates the recipient. Just who is "me", exactly? I have over a dozen emails, and the Annesque client allows me to receive *all* of them to a single inbox. I need to know who the receiver is.

In the Annesque client, both the sender and the receiver are immediately visible:

Making communication a breeze. You can keep all identities aligned with your expectations.

What is worse, gmail obfuscates the identity to which you reply, in a different way:

That is not an email. Can I find out which email the reply will be sent to, by clicking on anything? As I found out only while writing this article, you can. You have to click it and then hover over it:

which is a lot of clicking and hovering to prevent gmail from obfuscating information that should be immediately visible. Now I'd have to either (1) trust both the sender and gmail to route my messages according to my expectation, without defining what that expectation is! or (2) struggle against gmail and click and hover, and remember to do that every time, only to verify something that should be automatic.

In contrast, both the sender (as there are multiple options) and the receiver are immediately visible in the Annesque client:

This is just one feature and example of how Annesque client is making an evolution in email, pushing the envelope and allosing you, the user, the clarity and efficiency that modern workplaces demand.