I’ve been a Gmail user for well over a decade. More precisely, I’ve been a happy Gmail user for over a decade. I claimed an address I was happy with, and it was professional enough to use in adult life. As a service, it’s been reliable, usable, and full of features.
However, over time, concepts like privacy and controlling my own data become more important to me. I’ve begun to re-think some of my technology and service choices. Google is an obvious first stop for such introspection, and so I sought out email alternatives.
In the middle of 2020, [Hey email](https://hey.com), from the well-liked [Basecamp](https://basecamp.com), opened up their previously invite-only email service. I signed up over at hey.com for a trial right away and locked in an address I liked. Before the trial ended, I was happy to pay the $99 per year, as there were several features that I found very attractive, starting with privacy.
## Privacy
First and foremost, Hey email is ad-free. It’s absolutely refreshing to pay for a service, and receive that particular service with no further advertising or exploitation. Hey’s response to selling personal data is also encouraging.
> > ***Does HEY serve ads or sell my personal data?** Absolutely not. HEY is, and will always be, 100% ad-free. We never look at your email (unless we have your permission to troubleshoot an issue). We don’t mine your data, we don’t sell your data, we don’t have any interest in your data. Our business model is simple; we make the best email service we can, and we charge our customers to use that service. That’s the only way we make money.*
There are plenty of other interesting answers at the FAQ section [here](https://hey.com/faqs/). Essentially, it feels good to pay for a service to be provided, rather than having an advertising company make money off of me and my data.
Their (thorough) [privacy policy](https://hey.com/policies/privacy/) is also encouraging, with the main overarching theme being the following:
> > *The privacy of your data — and it is your data, not ours! — is a big deal to us. In this policy, we lay out: what data we collect and why; how your data is handled; and your rights to your data. We promise we never sell your data: never have, never will.*
Hey also claims to block many common spy trackers. It’s quite surprising just how many emails contain a spy tracker. Seeing them marked like this really does raise awareness on the sheer amount of tracking.
## Usability
When it comes to actually using Hey, I think they've really nailed it conceptually. As an email *methodology*, Hey has many clever optimizations and design decisions that make interacting with emails far more pleasant. Particularly, The Screener, The Paper Trail, and The Feed, completely redefine my email process.
### The Screener
The screener is the gateway to the Imbox (not a [typo](https://hey.com/features/the-imbox/).) Before any emails are dumped in front of the user, they have to be specifically allowed. A simple yes or no filters emails either in, or out, from the sender in question. At any time one can simply head in to the screener history and screen in an address, if you decide that you’d in fact like to see their emails. Having a top level “block list” is a great start.
### The Feed
The Feed is a huge reduction in email “noise.” It’s a place where I put all marketing emails or newsletters. It has a different user interface from the rest of Hey. Emails and newsletters in the feed are “already open” in chronological order. Basecamp describes this a being “[like a Twitter or Instagram feed, but for email](https://hey.com/features/the-feed/),” and I find that to be perfectly accurate. When things are placed into The Feed, I’m free to check them whenever **I** like, rather than when they’re sent to me.
### The Paper Trail
The third mental change for me was in utilizing the [Paper Trail](https://hey.com/features/paper-trail/). This section is where all the receipts, order confirmations, shipping notices, and the like go. There is no read or unread status in the Paper Trail, and I find that incredibly refreshing. Stuff that goes here is truly out of sight and doesn’t distract, but is available if needed.
Hey World
Worth mentioning on its own, is Hey’s latest feature: [HEY World](https://hey.com/features/email-the-web/). This acts as a personal publishing option, allowing one to simply “email the web” to publish a webpage. I’ve actually posted this entire piece simultaneously with Hey World right here: X. This feature is a neat example of the type of outside-the-box thinking Basecamp seems to be doing.
## Mental Burden Reduction
Overall switching over to Hey as a primary email has had the main benefit of just reducing my mental dedication to email. By default, new mail doesn’t notify, but rather has to be toggled on. “Opting in” to notifications is a refreshing inversion of the usual process. There is no massive never-ending “unread email” number nagging you. The Feed takes away the clutter of marketing emails and the Paper Trail is a great signal-to-noise increaser. There are plenty more features I’ve not even touched on listed [here](https://hey.com/features/), and each one of them makes for a better take on emails.
For now, I’m fully on board with the “[Hey Way](https://hey.com/the-hey-way/).” I'm happy to be purchasing a service from a provider that cares about improving the product more than advertising dollars. So far it's been an outstanding experience.
However, over time, concepts like privacy and controlling my own data become more important to me. I’ve begun to re-think some of my technology and service choices. Google is an obvious first stop for such introspection, and so I sought out email alternatives.
In the middle of 2020, [Hey email](https://hey.com), from the well-liked [Basecamp](https://basecamp.com), opened up their previously invite-only email service. I signed up over at hey.com for a trial right away and locked in an address I liked. Before the trial ended, I was happy to pay the $99 per year, as there were several features that I found very attractive, starting with privacy.
## Privacy
First and foremost, Hey email is ad-free. It’s absolutely refreshing to pay for a service, and receive that particular service with no further advertising or exploitation. Hey’s response to selling personal data is also encouraging.
> > ***Does HEY serve ads or sell my personal data?** Absolutely not. HEY is, and will always be, 100% ad-free. We never look at your email (unless we have your permission to troubleshoot an issue). We don’t mine your data, we don’t sell your data, we don’t have any interest in your data. Our business model is simple; we make the best email service we can, and we charge our customers to use that service. That’s the only way we make money.*
There are plenty of other interesting answers at the FAQ section [here](https://hey.com/faqs/). Essentially, it feels good to pay for a service to be provided, rather than having an advertising company make money off of me and my data.
Their (thorough) [privacy policy](https://hey.com/policies/privacy/) is also encouraging, with the main overarching theme being the following:
> > *The privacy of your data — and it is your data, not ours! — is a big deal to us. In this policy, we lay out: what data we collect and why; how your data is handled; and your rights to your data. We promise we never sell your data: never have, never will.*
Hey also claims to block many common spy trackers. It’s quite surprising just how many emails contain a spy tracker. Seeing them marked like this really does raise awareness on the sheer amount of tracking.
## Usability
When it comes to actually using Hey, I think they've really nailed it conceptually. As an email *methodology*, Hey has many clever optimizations and design decisions that make interacting with emails far more pleasant. Particularly, The Screener, The Paper Trail, and The Feed, completely redefine my email process.
### The Screener
The screener is the gateway to the Imbox (not a [typo](https://hey.com/features/the-imbox/).) Before any emails are dumped in front of the user, they have to be specifically allowed. A simple yes or no filters emails either in, or out, from the sender in question. At any time one can simply head in to the screener history and screen in an address, if you decide that you’d in fact like to see their emails. Having a top level “block list” is a great start.
### The Feed
The Feed is a huge reduction in email “noise.” It’s a place where I put all marketing emails or newsletters. It has a different user interface from the rest of Hey. Emails and newsletters in the feed are “already open” in chronological order. Basecamp describes this a being “[like a Twitter or Instagram feed, but for email](https://hey.com/features/the-feed/),” and I find that to be perfectly accurate. When things are placed into The Feed, I’m free to check them whenever **I** like, rather than when they’re sent to me.
### The Paper Trail
The third mental change for me was in utilizing the [Paper Trail](https://hey.com/features/paper-trail/). This section is where all the receipts, order confirmations, shipping notices, and the like go. There is no read or unread status in the Paper Trail, and I find that incredibly refreshing. Stuff that goes here is truly out of sight and doesn’t distract, but is available if needed.
Hey World
Worth mentioning on its own, is Hey’s latest feature: [HEY World](https://hey.com/features/email-the-web/). This acts as a personal publishing option, allowing one to simply “email the web” to publish a webpage. I’ve actually posted this entire piece simultaneously with Hey World right here: X. This feature is a neat example of the type of outside-the-box thinking Basecamp seems to be doing.
## Mental Burden Reduction
Overall switching over to Hey as a primary email has had the main benefit of just reducing my mental dedication to email. By default, new mail doesn’t notify, but rather has to be toggled on. “Opting in” to notifications is a refreshing inversion of the usual process. There is no massive never-ending “unread email” number nagging you. The Feed takes away the clutter of marketing emails and the Paper Trail is a great signal-to-noise increaser. There are plenty more features I’ve not even touched on listed [here](https://hey.com/features/), and each one of them makes for a better take on emails.
For now, I’m fully on board with the “[Hey Way](https://hey.com/the-hey-way/).” I'm happy to be purchasing a service from a provider that cares about improving the product more than advertising dollars. So far it's been an outstanding experience.