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Google to discontinue allowing send as an external account in Jan. 2027

1 points by AuthorizedCust ↗ HN
Per https://support.google.com/mail/answer/17101213?hl=en, starting in January 2027, you may no longer send email as a@b.c if you use a Gmail account. You can only send as that Gmail account.

For those who like the convenience of having all of their external email commingling with their Gmail email, and taking advantage of the integration, such as calendar integration, Google Drive integration, and more, what is our best path forward?

At this point, it seems like doing a Google Workspace paid account may be the best solution for continuity of experience, but you break all the integration. You could also consider a service like Fastmail, and while it is reasonable quality, you don’t get the quality of the app or of the web experience, and it’s spam catching features don’t seem to be as good.

9 comments

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az09mugen
From the perspective of someone who receives tons of spam, I find it's a good thing.

From the perspective of someone who had to do a lot of administrative work by hand to increase reputation of ips because of some guy had his email hacked to send lot of spam, I find it's a good thing.

From the perspective of someone who uses the free SMTP service of Google to send emails from a not gmail domain where there is no SMTP, well it's uncomfortable. There are solutions, paid solutions, but still.

Is it really a responsibility of Google to provide a qualitative free SMTP service for other domain names ? I don't think so.

AuthorizedCust
Not applicable for me. I have GMail send emails from you@x.com using the SMTP service of the web hosting company I manage that account through. I am not using GMail's own SMTP servers handle sends.

It's all on the up and up.

karp773
> At this point, it seems like doing a Google Workspace paid account may be the best solution for continuity of experience, but you break all the commingling and integration. Also, your you@x.com account is a separate window from your you@gmail.com account.

I am not a Google Workspace user but I hear that its features are actually behind the personal accounts?

BayesianDice
Google Workspace accounts do indeed have less facilities in some areas. For example, a Google Workspace account can't manage a Family Link setup, or be used with Fitbit.

I have seen the rationale that Workspace is intended as a workplace solution, the accounts would be managed/controlled by the Workspace administrators, and allowing this features could allow Workspace administrators access to potentially sensitive data. (For example, see https://support.google.com/a/thread/221999832/can-t-join-fam...) And indeed, I wouldn't necessarily want an employer or its IT department to have these by using an employer-provided Workspace account for them.

But this also means someone who is using Workspace for an individual or a family to get other Workspace features (custom domain email, storage, etc.) is blocked from using the same account for those features - so ends up needing a consumer-level Gmail account as well.

WorldIQ
Workspace is the Google+ of SaaS.

Nobody asked for it or likes using it. Full of undiscoverable, poorly designed features, a privacy nightmare, too much unrelated stuff bundled together.

Weird product design and the kicker - you cannot cancel. You cannot remove your payment method. I had to close the card. Iykyk - Google will keep charging you and won’t let you turn off all services. Class action lawsuit waiting to happen

ovin_dal
The real problem with the Workspace suggestion is the exit. A product you can't cancel isn't a continuity plan, it's a bigger lock-in.
what
Okay Claude.