aesthetic before usability
I’ve been using Yahoo Mail for over 15 years, and I’ve always remained loyal. One of the features I loved most was the ability to choose themes, a small but pleasant touch. But that’s purely aesthetic. What really mattered was functionality, and unfortunately, that’s where the new version falls short.
Now it looks and feels too much like Gmail, which I never liked. One of the best things about the old Yahoo Mail was the tabbed view. You could open multiple emails, drafts, or your inbox in separate tabs and easily switch between them without losing content. Even with the “Show Tabs” option enabled now, I do not see it, and it’s nowhere near as fluid or practical as it used to be.
The message layout options (bottom or right) resemble Outlook, which is okay, but they still don’t compare to the original tabs. In dark mode, unread emails are hard to distinguish clearly, it is strange. Even in the “List” layout, the fields are too wide, making it difficult to quickly scan subject lines — another issue Gmail suffers from too.
The new side bar design may look minimal and clean, but I preferred having all my folders and panels visible without needing to move an cursor over it to open pop-ups.
One of the most useful features, attaching files from recent emails, seems to be gone? That was incredibly practical, one of the many things I am missing in Gmail really...
The only improvement I can acknowledge is the category tabs (Promotions, Social, etc.), which help clean up the inbox. But even that, now with a sudden change, requires manual setup and training the system to recognize and sort emails properly. With the previous layout being more readable, I was managing kinda fine without it. But glad you added it.
Overall, this update prioritizes appearance over usability. I miss the old Yahoo Mail..... But hope you will bring back some of the features that were making Yahoo standing out from others. For me at least, as a loyal fan.
Jovana Jankov
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