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After 6-Year Beta Test, All Gmail Users Get 'Undo Send'

Posted by Soulskill on from the take-that-back dept.

jones_supa writes: Since 2009, Google has been beta testing a feature in Gmail called "Undo Send." It allows you to delay emails up to 30 seconds from when you press the "Send" button so you can take them back if you immediately decide it was a bad idea to press the send button. Google announced in a blog post that Undo Send is becoming an official feature. For users who already had the Undo Send beta enabled, the feature will remain on, and those who didn't can turn it on via the General tab under Settings. Users can choose if they want to hold their mail for 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds.

95 comments

  1. Next Up: *Delay* delay send by Lexible · · Score: 2

    With future upgrades to the functionality for the foreseeable future.

    1. Re:Next Up: *Delay* delay send by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Typically I type messages in WriteMonkey, then copy and paste that into my mail client so I never run into the problem of sending anything that I did not intend to.

      I suppose an egg timer could work too.

    2. Re: Next Up: *Delay* delay send by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I stand by my words, never regretted clicking send.

      This is a feature for people for whom 30 seconds is long enough to change their mind on if they have something to say.

      Maybe they could think for 30 seconds and ask two questions.

          Is the going to the right person ? Do I need to send this ?

    3. Re: Next Up: *Delay* delay send by jc42 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I stand by my words, never regretted clicking send. This is a feature for people for whom 30 seconds is long enough to change their mind on if they have something to say. Maybe they could think for 30 seconds and ask two questions.

      Well, a few years ago, I'd have said the same. But then I got involved with several of the latest "smart" phones and tablets. As a result, I now think "Undo Send" sounds like a fine idea.

      The reason, of course, is all the times I've been typing a message, when suddenly it blinks out in mid-word, and I find that the partial message has apparently been sent. My muttered "WTF!?" has no effect. I've generally had no idea what I may have done (if anything) that caused the software to act that way. This happened once today on my Android (HTC ONE) phone, and I've seen it on several iPads and Android tablets. My wife reports the same behavior on her iPhone.

      Of course, this wasn't a case of me clicking Send, so perhaps your "never regretted clicking send" does apply. But it'll be useful if a Send triggered by the software itself when I didn't want it to send anything will suffice as grounds for wanting an Unsend capability.

      The only problem is the 30-second window. The email (and IM) interfaces are getting progressively more baroque, and that may often not be enough time to understand what has gone wrong inside the goofy software. What we really need is a way to tell it "Don't ever send anything unless I explicitly hit the Send button." But the clever software "designers" also seem to be eliminating things as mundane as buttons with words on them, replacing them with idiosyncratic icons (different in every email/message app) whose behaviour can be hard to remember if you routinely work on several different machines, as many of us do.

      (Just today, I tried to back out of a messaging app by using what looked a lot like the usual left-pointing "Return to previous screen" button. It sent the message, though I'm not sure who it went to, and I hadn't even intentionally been trying to make a reply. Things really are getting this messed up. ;-)

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    4. Re: Next Up: *Delay* delay send by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chrome more than firefox seems to default the page element highlight to whatever Submit button is on the page. While moving fingers like rumbling thunder on the keyboard and using actual word-back, word-forward CTRL+arrow-key combinations you end up in a situation where you'll eventually have CTRL and ENTER pressed by mistake. This tends to halfway through some long email more often than halfway through a code session (VI and Emacs enforce separate key combinations to achieve that)

      The end result of having Chrome *CLICK* the submit button with that arbitrary combo is that it submits it, which amounts to sending emails for me. This is only a little MORE jarring than inadvertently hitting the BACKSPACE button (or trying an ASCII substitution ALT+xxx code) and ending up triggering a "Previous" page event

      One thing I wish we DID have is undo cache-purge. Since IE4, all browsers but Opera have this insolent knack to refresh pages every time you hit the Back button. On mobile, this gets worse. You can step away from a page to your music player, go into the subway and then exit the player. The browser then decides two things: 1 - refresh without permission when I return to the page, and. 2 - show me a 'no connection available' error without any way at all to read what I so carefully pre-loaded for the long subway trip.

    5. Re: Next Up: *Delay* delay send by Barsteward · · Score: 1

      I've got into the habit of putting angry-based emails into draft until i calm down and redo them.

      I don't use twitter but it should have something like this if it doesn't already.

      --
      "The hands that help are better far than lips that pray." - Robert Ingersoll (1833-1899)
    6. Re:Next Up: *Delay* delay send by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Never say never

    7. Re: Next Up: *Delay* delay send by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've used it before when I've accidentally hit send half way through typing a message. It avoids a 2nd embarrassing email that starts 'sorry, I clicked send early, previous email continued below'

    8. Re: Next Up: *Delay* delay send by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The reason, of course, is all the times I've been typing a message, when suddenly it blinks out in mid-word, and I find that the partial message has apparently been sent. My muttered "WTF!?" has no effect. I've generally had no idea what I may have done (if anything) that caused the software to act that way. This happened once today on my Android (HTC ONE) phone, and I've seen it on several iPads and Android tablets. My wife reports the same behavior on her iPhone.

      Of course, this wasn't a case of me clicking Send, so perhaps your "never regretted clicking send" does apply. But it'll be useful if a Send triggered by the software itself when I didn't want it to send anything will suffice as grounds for wanting an Unsend capability.

      My god, you sound just like my wife...incapable of admitting that you might have accidentally done something you didn't mean to do. I mean come one...you are talking about a touch screen interface. It's very easy to accidentally brush the wrong part of the screen. It happens all the time. But no....the more likely explanation is that you DIDN'T click send, and the mail clients on multiple touch enabled devices are all just buggy enough that they are all just randomly sending emails on their own.

    9. Re: Next Up: *Delay* delay send by One+With+Whisp · · Score: 1

      But no....the more likely explanation is that you DIDN'T click send, and the mail clients on multiple touch enabled devices are all just buggy enough that they are all just randomly sending emails on their own.

      You and I both know this is a problem with the touch screen interface. Touch screen technology just isn't ready for prime time yet.

    10. Re:Next Up: *Delay* delay send by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In this case, I can safely say never. When I write email, I focus solely on my thoughts and the email, which is why I use WriteMonkey.

    11. Re: Next Up: *Delay* delay send by allo · · Score: 1

      Easiest option: fill in the e-mail address last.

  2. What About... by VorpalRodent · · Score: 4, Insightful

    More importantly, can we get an "Undo Post" on Slashdot for when we accidentally say something we regret?

    Better yet, how about a collective "Undo Submit" to rescind articles that everyone agrees the editors should never have allowed through?

    --
    Take it to the limit, everybody to the limit, come on, everybody fhqwhgads.
    1. Re:What About... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'd rather have Undo beta.

    2. Re: What About... by DigiShaman · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Abortion: it's not just for babies. I choose to give this comment life!

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    3. Re:What About... by penguinoid · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'd rather have Undo beta.

      That feature is still in beta.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    4. Re:What About... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And a "undo systemd"?

      *ducks*

    5. Re:What About... by Anubis+IV · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'd prefer a "Retract Comment" button that kept the comment there but changed the formatting in some way to indicate I no longer stood by it. When (not if) I say something stupid, I deserve to be called out on it and the ensuing conversations deserve to have my post there in order to preserve their context, but I also deserve a chance to learn from my mistake and to help others use my mistake as an opportunity to learn. Removing my post removes the context for later posts and deprives others of an opportunity to learn from my stupidity.

      There have been countless times here on Slashdot when I've unknowingly said something that was inaccurate and have had a thoughtful post correct me with the right information. Sometimes they're snarky, sometimes they stick to just the facts, and sometimes they blow me out of the water with vitriol, but regardless of how they do it, when they point out that I got something horribly wrong, I'd love to be able to retract my post so that the focus gets put on theirs, especially in cases where I was up-modded before I was corrected.

  3. 30 seconds isn't enough by bjdevil66 · · Score: 3

    How about 5 or 10 mins? I know "scheduled" sending can do this, but this sounds a lot easier - and the usual time of, "oh crap - shouldn't have sent that!", time period for me is about 5 mins (I've found the answer, realized it went to the wrong person, etc.)...

    1. Re: 30 seconds isn't enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find 20 seconds is the sweet spot, gives me enough time to glance over the email and then hit the undo if needed.

    2. Re:30 seconds isn't enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At that point, though, e-mail becomes relatively slow and unreliable. Then again, it pretty much already is.

    3. Re:30 seconds isn't enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes! agreed.

    4. Re:30 seconds isn't enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your fix would be to NOT send it for 5 mins while thinking that you did. Belay sending until you expend options to "find the answer". Re-read the email a couple of times to gain your 5 mins and improve on grammar, etc.

    5. Re:30 seconds isn't enough by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Hold a rope so your climbing partner does not fall? I do not know. Maybe you should have taken five minutes to think about that? Or maybe I should take a few minutes to see if there are alternate definitions? I can not think of any off the top of my head so screw it.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    6. Re:30 seconds isn't enough by bjdevil66 · · Score: 1

      I see your point, but that's not how many others (including myself) use email in an ever faster and shorter attention spanned world. This would probably also save a lot of, "Do you know where/what/how..." emails (and their pointless replies because you already found the answer) from going out.

    7. Re:30 seconds isn't enough by bjdevil66 · · Score: 1

      Exactly. Many people are so swamped with email that it takes too long for them to even read them all to be effective for quick communication. You text them, or (shudder) actually call them...

  4. Google Maps RIP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Meanwhile, Google decides it's a very good idea to kill the very useful Google Maps Classic and replace it with the garbage Google Maps Engine Lite.

    http://techforluddites.com/google-is-getting-rid-of-classic-maps-for-good/

    1. Re: Google Maps RIP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I find this one completely baffling. Quite apart from the horribly counter-intuitive interface (seriously what is it with the fad for forgetting the basics of good intuitive UI design in favour of the shiny but counter intuitive of late?), the new interface appears to have been designed by someone who failed high-school geography class. No scale? No option for contour maps (hint: hills matter for riding and walking)? Zoom scaling that snaps to some arbitrary levels when it should be continuous? This is basic, basic stuff, and the classic interface had it all, so why the downgrade?

      My only plausible explanation is that they are planning on launching some sort of premium-for-cash version, and this is the free but feature stripped alternative.

    2. Re: Google Maps RIP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No option for contour maps (hint: hills matter for riding and walking)?

      I don't know about some of your other complaints, but contour maps are still there. On the desktop, hover over the search box and then the Terrain option appears below it. On android maps, swipe from the left edge of the screen towards the middle and Terrain will show in that menu.

      What is odd about them (and I have no idea if it was this way with classic) is that if you zoom in too far, the contour lines disappear and you are left with just the slope shading.

    3. Re:Google Maps RIP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This should come as no shock. Google is constantly fucking up their services for nothing more than the sake of change and always to the detriment of the affected service. Search? Gmail? Sites? YouTube? Maps? All of them have been fucked up by Google to the point of being practically unusable.

  5. How about fixing the send first? by peragrin · · Score: 1

    Since January an increasing number of gmail users are losing sent emails. They show as sent on the sender's side but never show up at the destination server. They aren't blocked as spam, they aren't rejected just lost due sending timeouts. I have lost at least 6 emails since last week that I sent but I confirmed were never received. Worst it is usually blocked to other gmail users, or Google apps domain addresses. How can emails fail silently like that?

    --
    i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    1. Re:How about fixing the send first? by bobbied · · Score: 2

      It's clear to me that the mail server at Clinton.com ate them..... Blame Hillary! (Well that and a route error)

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    2. Re:How about fixing the send first? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      You're doing it wrong. No one is having this problem but you.

    3. Re:How about fixing the send first? by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      How can it fail silently?
      When a server sends an email, it hands it off to another server. If that server responds with a success but fails to send the email later on, no one is told the email failed.

      The protocol has no method to ensure delivery.

      It's kind of like real mail. You put your letter in the mail box, as far as you're concerned it has been sent.
      You never get told where your letter ends up.
      If it never arrives, you don't know if it's been delayed somewhere, sitting in some queue or lost completely.
      The best you can do is request the recipient send you confirmation they received the mail. In email terms this is a "read receipt". But if you never receive the receipt, you don't know if that's because the return message failed to send or the reader didn't bother sending the receipt.

      The only option to ensure delivery/trace-ability of your letter is to use another method of delivery, like a courier that requires a signature.

    4. Re:How about fixing the send first? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bet this is a Postini End of Life problem. Most Google Apps Premier people, like myself, were too lazy to change the dns settings.

    5. Re:How about fixing the send first? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since January an increasing number of gmail users are losing sent emails. They show as sent on the sender's side but never show up at the destination server. They aren't blocked as spam, they aren't rejected just lost due sending timeouts. I have lost at least 6 emails since last week that I sent but I confirmed were never received. Worst it is usually blocked to other gmail users, or Google apps domain addresses. How can emails fail silently like that?

      Please go to the Settings menu and use Report Bug to inform Google that this is happening for your account.

    6. Re:How about fixing the send first? by LordKronos · · Score: 1

      I don't know about any increase since January, but I have (for many years) experienced multiple emails sent from gmail that have failed to make it to their recipient. The commonality I've noticed is that they all involve yahoo mail recipients. They are not getting bounced back to me, not showing up in their spam, or anything else. One user was technically savvy, and couldn't find anything on his end to cause it. Another user I actually looked at her account and I could see no sort of filters that could explain it. And it's not just spurious emails here and there. One user I emailed 3 or 4 times over the course of a few days, and he never got any of them.

    7. Re:How about fixing the send first? by hendrips · · Score: 1

      I have had Gmail silently fail to send emails before. Not a large number, but a couple of times. I don't know about the problem getting worse recently, but it has happened to me - so not just peragrin.

  6. Popup notifications by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just sent myself a test message and then "undid" it. Immediately got a popup notification on my phone with the content of the message. Seems like a big oversight since everyone checks their email on their phones now. This feature might be great for undoing an email that you forgot to attach a document to, not so great for undoing a drunken email to your boss telling him what you think of them.

    1. Re:Popup notifications by Sowelu · · Score: 2

      I swear there used to be an attachment-specific lab that would check your outgoing email for keywords that imply an attachment, and if they were present but you didn't attach anything, would warn you before sending. I don't see it on the list of labs now though. Maybe I hallucinated it.

    2. Re:Popup notifications by dos1 · · Score: 2

      Either you didn't, or we both did.

    3. Re:Popup notifications by LinuxIsGarbage · · Score: 1

      It's built in functionality. Write "Find attached" in a gmail message and don't attach anything, you will get a popup.

    4. Re: Popup notifications by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      kmail introduced that feature. really handy, now almost every email client has it

    5. Re:Popup notifications by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I just tried it with:

      Find attachment Like really, there really is an attachment that I attached here. So I attached it. and therefore there is one. Find it! Find the attachment! Find attachment. find attachment. By god and the heavens, find attachment, please just look. There is one, I know there is.

      Yet nothing happened. The message was sent as normal.

  7. Huh? by Kazoo+the+Clown · · Score: 1

    Isn't this a bit like setting the clock ahead 10 minutes so you won't be late to appointments?

    1. Re:Huh? by Sowelu · · Score: 1

      If a stupid cognitive tweak works, it isn't stupid.

      Okay, maybe it is, but that's no reason not to keep using it.

    2. Re:Huh? by Ksevio · · Score: 1

      Similar, but it's like on slashdot where you have to do a preview of your post before you post it, except in this case it sends after 30 seconds. Enough time to review it quickly and realize you didn't mean to reply-all.

  8. It already exists!! by Overzeetop · · Score: 4, Funny

    The [Undo Post] button has been mislabeled as [Continue Editing], but it works even better than an undo post because you can just change your text as many times as you want until you hit the [Commit Forever] button. Note that the actual [Post] button has been mislabeled as [Preview] and the [Commit Forever] button has been mislabeled as [Post]. Slashdot is aware of this bug in the new code, but there are no resources available to fix it in the foreseeable future.

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
    1. Re:It already exists!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdot is aware of this bug in the new code, but there are no resources available to fix it in the foreseeable future.

      They are, after all, busy figuring out how to roll out beta gradually enough that we don't notice.

  9. Re:My new legal defence... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think you have bigger things to worry about, like money.

  10. Need more choices by tds67 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Users can choose if they want to hold their mail for 5, 10, 20 or 30 seconds.

    Can we choose between seconds and hours? It takes time for the Vodka to wear off.

  11. Delays by tds67 · · Score: 0

    Since 2009, Google has been beta testing a feature in Gmail called "Undo Send."...

    So Google has delayed taking back this beta testing feature since 2009?

  12. Not So! by ve3oat · · Score: 1

    All I see under Settings > General are Language, Maximum page size, Signature, Personal level indicators, and Vacation response. Thee is nothing about "Undo". What gives, Google??

    1. Re:Not So! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have to switch to the crappy standard view, Oh shit my eyes are bleeding going back to the good old days and HTML view. None of this shit for me.

  13. Can we get Dice to UNDO THE UI CHANGES? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It looks weird.
    Lose the share button please.

    1. Re:Can we get Dice to UNDO THE UI CHANGES? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I got firefox for android the other day and often when I try to open a link in a new tab I accidentally hit this share button which opens some program it is impossible to uninstall. I still don't know what "share" does or why anyone would want that.

  14. Not Quite . . . by hduff · · Score: 1

    Not if you prefer the basic HTML interface over their fancy-schmancy "Standard View"; UNDO SEND is not available for me.

    --
    "I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
  15. huh by ChoGGi · · Score: 1

    Been using it for so long, I'd just assumed it was already an official part of gmail

  16. It came back! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Sofia Vergara: Yay! It unsendided!

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  17. Really? No way! by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    A programmable send delay? Seriously? That's more stupid than the recycle bin!

  18. Under the influence detector by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now we just need for Gmail to detect if your under the influence or not and delay sending for at least 24 hours or until you can prove that your no longer under the influence.

  19. I much prefer 'Message Recalls' by unixisc · · Score: 1

    To this day, there is no better feature of emails i.e. Microsoft Exchange here - than Message Recall. The ability to recall a message that's not yet been read or opened by the recipient - maybe due to the wrong recipient, or something you wished to edit. That's a lot more useful than the limited 30 second margin to undo a send.

    Why couldn't Sendmail - bloated as it is - be tweaked to support such a feature?

    1. Re:I much prefer 'Message Recalls' by Todd+Knarr · · Score: 1

      Because Sendmail and other MTAs don't have the message by that point. It's in the recipient's mailbox, and it's probably an IMAP server that has it at that point. Assuming their mail client hasn't downloaded it. The general rule is that only the user gives orders about their mailbox, so you aren't going to be able to order it to delete their messages. Their mail client definitely isn't going to comply without at least asking them first, and many people set them to refuse such requests to avoid complications.

      Bluntly put, don't expect to have any control over what happens to a message once it leaves your hands because you're no longer in control of it.

    2. Re:I much prefer 'Message Recalls' by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      Sometimes I get an email that says "Sender xxxx would like to recall the following message...", to which I reply, "Yeah, I bet they would!"

    3. Re:I much prefer 'Message Recalls' by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Sometimes I get an email that says "Sender xxxx would like to recall the following message...", to which I reply, "Yeah, I bet they would!"

      "...and sadly, I have already forwarded it to my lawyers, the local police and the FBI."

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    4. Re:I much prefer 'Message Recalls' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Why couldn't Sendmail - bloated as it is - be tweaked to support such a feature?"

      If you are seriously asking this question, you are an idiot. Any option to unsend or recall a message once it leaves the boundaries of a system you control is just smoke and mirrors.

    5. Re:I much prefer 'Message Recalls' by dave420 · · Score: 1

      You might want to read up on how email works, then you'd know why such a suggestion is slightly far fetched.

    6. Re:I much prefer 'Message Recalls' by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Given that it works w/ Microsoft Exchange/Outlook, it's obviously not far fetched. You might have a point if you said that it's impossible on Sendmail like Todd Knarr did, although that would still miss the point about why a message that's not been read by it's intended recipient can't be recalled.

  20. How about fixing the logout infinite loop problem? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or the logout fail problem for that matter. If you haven't seen it, log in on an ipad using safari for the web interface, log out (might take several tries, another apparent bug), then surf to google.com. My experience tells me that there's about a 50% chance that you'll still be logged on to google.

  21. AOL had the "unsend" feature decades ago by kriston · · Score: 2

    AOL had the "unsend" feature decades ago, which actually "unsended" emails after they were sent.

    So did Lotus Notes, and Microsoft Exchange.

    This "feature" is a 30-second delay on outbound messages, a clever hack, but how is this news to anyone?

    It's the "beer goggles" extension re-warmed for clueless Gmail users as it graduates out of Gmail Labs.

    Feh.

    Try harder, Google. Try harder.

    --

    Kriston

    1. Re:AOL had the "unsend" feature decades ago by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      That must be the only post in slashdot history to mention AOL, Lotus Notes and Microsoft in one post without metaphorically spitting three times.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    2. Re:AOL had the "unsend" feature decades ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The unsending existed, but the recipients mail did not have to delete the message. So it was like an electronic message to the mail server to politely ignore the message. Nice, but unrealistic in modern times.

    3. Re:AOL had the "unsend" feature decades ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All the kiddies using these products think everything is 'new', except in most cases its just warmed over shite wrapped in a browser made to seem new. Just about every new app I've used lately that is web based is worse than the software from 10 years ago.

    4. Re:AOL had the "unsend" feature decades ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Beer goggles was a different extension that forced you to solve simple problems if you wanted to send mail at specific times - times when you thought you might be drunk emailing.

    5. Re:AOL had the "unsend" feature decades ago by erikscott · · Score: 1

      Yeah - am I the only person who thinks the Google Goggles questions are a little too easy?

    6. Re:AOL had the "unsend" feature decades ago by kriston · · Score: 1

      Sorry, but on the AOL and Lotus Notes platforms, the deletion was compulsory. You cannot read an unsent message on AOL or Lotus Notes.

      --

      Kriston

  22. Re:How about fixing the logout infinite loop probl by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go to the Settings menu and send a bug report.

  23. The important question is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    how does this work through IMAP? Who is even using g-mail via web interface these days? I predict other services may adopt this, and that the large e-mail clients will eventually feature an Undo button.

    1. Re:The important question is by qrwe · · Score: 1

      It's not sent anywhere until the time is up.

      --
      There are 2 types of people in the world - those who understand decimal and those who don't.
    2. Re:The important question is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who is even using g-mail via web interface these days?

      No-one - apart from the vast majority of gmail users.

    3. Re:The important question is by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      how does this work through IMAP?

      It doesn't, I think.

      Who is even using g-mail via web interface these days?

      Everyone except the few nerds using gmail via IMAP.

  24. Obviously a very complicated feature by quax · · Score: 3, Funny

    6 years testing seems totally appropriate.

    Agile coding at its best.

  25. Ironic? by hercludes · · Score: 1

    The people who will use this feature are too impatient to read their email before sending, yet patient enough to wait six fucking years for a stopwatch.

    1. Re:Ironic? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And poeople named hercludes leave stupid comments that don't make sense. If someone had to wait 6 years for it, they couldn't use it. So what you said is impossible. The people using the feature didn't wait "Six fucking years" because they were using the feature, which means they weren't waiting for it. Maybe you realized this within 30 seconds of submitting it here, and maybe if slashdot had that feature you could have retracted your comment ;) Apply water to burn ;)

  26. srsly? by yanyan · · Score: 1

    6 years in beta test for silly "undo send", and yet still no option to disable automatic top-posting when replying to messages, or proper quoting of HTML messages.

  27. I guess I was a beta tester by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All these articles about the new undo feature confused me because I've had it for years. This article is the first time I saw it mentioned that some people had it as beta testers for a while. Who knew? I've only used it maybe three times in those years.

  28. Never Enough for Regret by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's a good feature but it won't be enough. It will never be enough. The problem is that you cannot 100% block stupid, or emotional, or drunk.

    Give someone a safety net and someone else will ask for 2 safety nets.

  29. What I wrote's nonsense dave420? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    Why'd you agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you here:

    "I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

    Of course you're not: It's impossible to dispute FACT on HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!

    Since my points of fact in favor of hosts SINGLE FILE native kernelmode faster part show hosts doing more, with less, vs. so-called 'competitors' many part messagepassing + other overheads laden slower usermode FAR MORE COMPLEX 'solutions' doing less than hosts do for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity online!

    I make creating a superior more efficient solution EASIER!

    (Which is more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).

    ---

    "I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

    Then WHY DON'T YOU DO THAT & use 'em? Answer that!

    (You stalk/harass me instead!)

    I bother you? Use them!

    OBVIOUSLY, you don't & you're just a "ne'er-do-well" troll, OR you have "other motivations" (see next):

    ---

    * QUESTION:

    DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER http://slashdot.org/comments.p... , or ARE YOU A MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?

    Answer that!

    No, instead as per your usual, you'll avoid every question, or lie!

    (You must be involved with 1 of those above, especially since you can't EVER "get the best of me" & you know it, witness the above - & their "so-called 'solutions' are INFERIOR TO MINE on TONS of levels, OR YOU'D USE THEM, merely evidencing their stupidity in & of itself via inferior designwork!)

    APK

    P.S.=> SEE Dave420 SQUIRM - evasions galore from him will ensue, guaranteed... apk

    1. Re:What I wrote's nonsense dave420? by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Can your host files - or any other /etc files - work in conjunction w/ Sendmail to enable email recall, if a recipient hasn't yet read it? If not, why not?

  30. Better than exchange by grilled-cheese · · Score: 1

    I laugh a little inside when I get email recall requests. They also make me want to read the original email more.

  31. 30 Seconds = Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Stupid Google. It takes 30 seconds to FIND the undo button.

  32. Good feature by CauseBy · · Score: 1

    I like this feature and I use it. It has saved me from many typos and a few reconsidered emails. But I think it's a poorly implemented feature. It should be a side-effect feature of a generally implemented send-later feature. The default timeout would be 20 seconds, and you could choose from a popup any longer wait period or a specific time. I would love that feature: send my brother's happy-birthday email tomorrow morning, for instance.

  33. Poor Implementation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Outlook has had this feature for years. Just create a rule and you can choose the delay time.