yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Apps and Games] Segelflugpilot:
I can understand how corrosive it must be to be exposed to someone like that.

Your app is great and I'm going to do a devil and use another app because none comes close to your app Marcel. Right after a week with your app, I bought the Pro version right away, because your app was just everything I was looking for. I very much hope that the app will somehow be further developed and if there is a fork. Thank you for your great work!
[Android Apps and Games] emacsomancer:
That's unfortunate. I've cited FairEmail's model more than once as a seemingly excellent way to go about doing funded FOSS development.

Agreed. I've got more than my money's worth from FairEmail, whatever happens now.
[Android Apps and Games] 192.168.0.0:
Yup, as a privacy-oriented user, Google Play is nothing but hell. Aurora Store is down most of the time I try it and it takes ages to install anything (I don't blame them for this, I guess they do their best with their resources, still it's hell). So yup, any time I can get an APK from anywhere else, I happily do.
[Android Apps and Games] cobbert:
I use and paid for Fairemail and would be willing to donate time and money your way if you ever consider coming back to your projects. I think it extremely important for people like us to fight against what google wants. I think we all need to be using de-googled phone and hosting all our own emails. Fairemail is the only email client that I have come to love deeply. I love all the options and I really love the pgp intergration of openkeychain app. I only use software that is available without any google code and to hear your email app will not be maintained anymore makes me extremely sad.

I have crypto, cash, time, servers, or anything else that could possibly help run this project. Id go as far as forking it and maintaining it myself, but I'm **** at coding.

In the end, this application has literally brought me joy in my life and everyone I know uses it including my fiancé! Having your own postfix server and this app together is a match made in whatever sciences version of heaven is and I will honestly be extremely sadden to see it go and I am even more hurt to hear my contribution hasn't been enough and I am willing to change that and provide whatever I can to ensure this app lives on not only to give me a great app but to also give a huge middle finger to Google after they think they have won this match. The open source android community is strong enough still to stick it too google once again!

Edit: I'm also deeply sorry you have had to deal with so much negativity from normies on the google store. Your app is truly fantastic and I will use it as long as I can as there is no other option in my mind.

Edit: I'm donating 40 euro as my thank you for all your work. It is truly going to be missed.

Edit: Bitty Donation Just another thank you
[Android Apps and Games] mkasimd:
Fighting against Google only works if hundreds of thousands or Millions of people join that action. Even just a mere 1 - 5 k people won't make a difference for them. That's the reality behind the power imbalance where the customer can't seriously affect any change unless it's a significantly huge number or there's massive medial representation and outrage about this issue. But let's be realistic, this issue won't make into the headlines of any major news outlets for the general public.

The only feasible way is to take a legal action. But doing this requires time, patience, a lot of funds and being backed by a well-known group like e.g. EFF. If Marcel is interested, I can ask EFF on his behalf, though my only contacts there are just to the people keeping books and maintaining member relations as I'm just a small-time sustained EFF member and supporter — if someone else has better connections, she or he may shout out here. But it could still be worth asking around and seeing if they're interested as Marcel isn't the only individual dev bullied by Google and achieving a precedential case on this might help the whole FOSS community.
[Android Apps and Games] cobbert:
My wording of fight against google may be a bit extreme. More mean that we can just refuse to use google as a way to express our feelings, not that it would realistically do anything in a legal or global view. :)
[Android Apps and Games] mrrocketdog:
edited : ☮️
[Android Apps and Games] Smac89:
Pro user here.

Aww man, that's sad to hear. I convinced my school's IT department to whitelist fairemail so that we can use it to access our school outlook emails.

It was just a terrific app. I've been following your progress on github and it's just crazy the amount of work you put out everyday, I wonder sometimes, "does he have a team?", "does he eat/sleep?", "when does he have time to do all this?". I check the commits and you are actually adding real functionality to the app EVERY TIME. That's mad bro.

Anyways it was fun while it lasted. I will keep using it until usability becomes an issue. Hopefully someone picks up the project again. You deserve this rest.
[Android Apps and Games] rfrazier:
Sorry to hear this. I've been using FairEmail for about a year and a half. Moved to it from K-9 mail, as I needed OAuth. It is a very useful app. I'm one of those who donated a few Euros. :)

Good luck, and best wishes,

Bob
[Android Apps and Games] luks333:
Very sad to hear this. I am an happy user with pro features on a few phones...I am going to miss it.

Thanks again for your work, Marcel.
[Android Apps and Games] ree_mn:
Yes, thank you Marcel for what you built for us.
[Android Apps and Games] topcaser:
This is really sad that you are discontinuing the project. A few posts before you claimed that you will maintain the project anyway regardless what happens. But you changed your mind. This is not very continously. Therefore I hope that you at least will change your mind again maybe if some time goes by and support the app with bug fixes, security fixes and support for upcoming Android releases. At least fairmail is your baby and you can be proud of this piece of software. Typically a baby isn't neglected.

Anyway, fairmail was a one man show and it was a matter of time unless you discontinue the project either wanted or unwanted.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Although I expressed my emotions here on several occasions, which I consider as healthy, I would call myself a rather stable person. However, the world around me is much bigger than I am and inevitably has an influence on me, often in unforeseen ways.

I see a lot of focus on Google removing the app from the Play store, which plays a role, but isn't the single deciding factor. I did write down most of the factors in the "balance" comment two days ago.
[Android Apps and Games] AndroidX:
I agree with you @M66B some user just give bad review coz they dont know how can they use it and some user give bad review just coz you dont help them for cheating some program its really suck as a dev its really demotivate and even some time i feel same we r dev just slave of users?even some time i see some user misbehave coz as a dev we dont response their ****ty questions.People dont understand paying some $ it doesnt mean you can think dev a slave for them

Even i see some so called modders decompile our work and after some modification they give credit to themeself what about us who invest our time and hard work.

I appericate your decision we made apps for fun and our passion not for become a slave.
[Android Apps and Games] adsamcik:
Hi Marcel,

It is sad, that you are discontinuing the project as there is nothing like FairMail. However I understand and support your decision. Working with Google is incredibly frustrating and you have to deal with every whim they have with no way to defend yourself. While I would love to see FairMail maintained I don't want the person behind it to feel shackled by it.

I know first hand how frustrating working with Google is. They make random decisions, do stupid API changes and more ****. In theory Android is open, but thats not really true, because if you want to go outside the Google bubble, you either have to be in China or reach only a tiny audience. For developers who do it mostly because they want to, it becomes work rather than a hobby. I maintained an open-source app myself and over time I spent more time just updating it for newer Android version than developing anything new. I ended up burnt out and basically switched to maintenance mode only.

I hope the legacy of FairMail will continue in the future in someway. Once you take some time from this, please give another thought to the future of FairMail. It's fine if your decision stays the same, but sometimes time is enough to give you another perspective and maybe find a new way forward, even if you are not the one who maintains it. You put so much work into it that I think it would be a shame just let it collect virtual dust.

I wish you the best of luck on whatever you decide to do next. Thank you for creating FairMail in the first place. It's obvious it took a lot of work and passion to create it.
[Android Apps and Games] nadir husain:
Beautifully written
[Android Apps and Games] SethGeckoXDA:
Some suggestions for the People part:

- first-level-support: instead of answering thousands of questions yourself, redirect them to a support thread on XDA where users can help users.

- community managers: find volunteers to help you with bug triaging (e.g. via Issue Templates on GitHub) and PlayStore review handling. You would only have to deal with actual bugs and reasonable feature requests from there on.

This might shield you from negative people and let you do what you love: focus on writing excellent apps.

Thanks for the many hours you have put into this!
[Android Apps and Games] mrrocketdog:
goodbye marcel , i hope life is good to you & your lady friend and your families.

dave

☮️

p.s. if ever in america come on by. plenty of room and food (seriously)
[Android Apps and Games] nadir husain:
I will never say bye to Marcel! I will keep using his app and keep hounding him via email

He has always been kind enough to respond to me and knowing him he always will. Kind and gentle man!
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
There is a mini FAQ here now:

https://faircode.eu/faq.html

Please let me know if you have other questions and I will consider adding them.
[Android Apps and Games] mrrocketdog:
of course i will also continue using FE. and , of course i will honor and support his decision. just saying
[Android Apps and Games] borisSweden:
Then we will switch to K9 Mail. Open source and PGP setup is easier.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
A reminder why I did stop:

Link

I need to add to this that I also received a lot of friendly messages the past days. Unfortunately, there were some rather unfriendly messages too.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
K9 mail uses OpenKeychain too, so there is not much difference.

Anyway, it gives me the never-good-enough feeling, confirming my choice.
[Android Apps and Games] nadir husain:
That is terrible! What kind of sadistic human beings push down a man who is not having the best day if his life?
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Besides that my girlfriend is sick (there seems to be improvement today), I am not unhappy, Nadir.
[Android Apps and Games] nadir husain:
Glad to hear she is better
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Google's response of today:

My "level 4" response:
[Android Apps and Games] de_Wolf:
I can't open the link -> The requested URL was not found on this server.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Another question: the app is not available in the Play store anymore. How is it possible that people can write reviews?
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
The link works fine for me.
[Android Apps and Games] de_Wolf:
The problem is probably because I am calling the Play Store URL from Germany.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Keep hitting at my sensitive places and the chance for return will only be slimmer.

Link. (1 star German Play store review)
[Android Apps and Games] La_Globule:
Marcel,

From the Play Store app on the phone on which FE is installed from Github, I managed to modify my review. So I suppose it's the right way...
[Android Apps and Games] de_Wolf:
This is a left comment? Unbelievable...

(the link does not work for me)
[Android Apps and Games] crovaxon:
The links to the app store probably only work if you access them from a logged in Google account that had the App installed. My everyday Google account cannot see any of the app store links while my separate Google Account for my Android device can see them.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
The review:

(6€ for empty promises. project is discontinued. I liked the app, but what use is it if sooner or later it no longer works or any gaps are no longer fixed.)

Answered with:

(If you have a problem with the project being stopped, a 1 star rating is not the way to go. You should contact Google and complain instead. However, the chance that the project will ever go ahead with these kinds of ratings will only be slim.)
[Android Apps and Games] crovaxon:
Do not be surprised, not every customer considers the circumstances and efforts behind products and only evaluate the product itself. From that scope, the discontinuation of a bought product is what bugs them, not that you'd have to dance to the store owners unexplained whims to have the app available for sale in it. :/
[Android Apps and Games] GekkePrutser:
Because they have already downloaded the app so it appears in "My apps" in the play store even if it's been removed.

By the way, I know it's hard but don't take such ****s too seriously. Most people adore what you do, but there are always going to be a few that are entitled ********s that want you to do everything for them for free at their command. I've seen it myself too, I also had a free app in the store. I would just roll my eyes and ignore them. Don't forget, for every one of these there are 100 who love you. They're just less likely to leave comments because haters love spreading hate.

PS: I can't see either play store review so I don't know how bad it was :)
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Isn't that part of the problem?

In my opinion reviews like this don't leave any room for me.
[Android Apps and Games] bjo81:
Just uninstalled the paid Google Play Version and installed the F-Droid version and bought the pro version.
[Android Apps and Games] Friedel25:
I can't open the link either for the same reason. So far, I have been able to open the reviews of other languages in Germany via Firefox or other browsers (not Chrome). I was then also able to open the links.

But Google has apparently changed the browser interface (made it more similar to the Playstore app), so this no longer works as it used to. I do get English-language reviews, but I can no longer sort by date (at least I don't see how that would work), nor can I select by number of stars. When sorting by relevance, the 1-star ratings are fortunately at the very end of the list, but to downvote them you would have to scroll endlessly.

Google = 👎👎👎
[Android Apps and Games] lzbm0:
my wife and i will counterbalance with a positive review later today (y)
[Android Apps and Games] crovaxon:
More of a people problem if anything, some are just short-sighted/selfish/uninformed/uncaring.

You taking your personal time to respond to them is already credit to the effort you go to to engage with the users and outside onlookers could consider this a positive sign when looking at reviews. Not every bad review has to be perceived as such, the person looking a them decides that after all.

But this does not solve the issue of the review rating sadly, that is another App Store problem. I haven't seen the App Store from a developers side, but I doubt Google cares in any way about the fairness of a review and offering a meaningful way to have those evaluated or removed.

Ideally, more fair and positive reviews will balance out the review rating in your favor.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Google almost never removes a review when I complain.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
I have added a few new questions/answers here:

https://faircode.eu/faq.html
[Android Apps and Games] de_Wolf:
Thank you very much for your advice! I have tried various things, but unfortunately they didn't work either. Then that is how it is :-)
[Android Apps and Games] de_Wolf:
"How can I ask other questions?"

I would list the forum first and only then the contact form, because otherwise all enquiries will end up with you first.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
I received hundreds of inquiries the past 24 hours, so this is a good point:

https://faircode.eu/faq.html
[Android Apps and Games] mkasimd:
Just a suggestion

How about adding an auto responder to all incoming mails (no auto response when the auto response was answered to):

>Hello there, thanks for contacting me. Due to the many emails I receive at the moment, answering might take some time.

>

>Frequently asked questions and answers can be found under: https://faircode.eu/faq.html

>

>If you need help, I suggest to use this forum: <link to this XDA thread>. It will be quicker for you.

>

>If you absolutely need help from me personally, just answer to this email. Due to the many requests, it might take time, but I'll get back to you.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Thanks for the suggestion, but that's more Google's style. I believe in useful human interaction. Edit: stupid me.
[Android Apps and Games] NorLa:
@M66B

Hi Marcel,

first: FairEmail is currently the best mail app for Android - it even surpasses K-9 significantly and I wouldn't want to miss it anymore. And it's also rare to find a developer who works with so much heart and commitment for his project. Thanks for your great work! Therefore: Don't be annoyed about negative reviews from people who just don't know any better, but be happy about those who appreciate FairEmail and your great work. Google will not care if FairEmail disappears - but we users will miss it very painfully.

Although I can understand your anger (about Google and rude users) very well, I hope you still find a solution and it is not the final end for FairEmail - there is currently nothing comparable!

I would like to continue using FairEmail as long as I can. How can I re-enable the Pro features on a new phone or new installation? Will the response code server activate.faircode.eu/ still be available, or will you perhaps put a (final) version on Github that unlocks the Pro features without the response code? This would help me (and others who want to continue using FairEmail) a lot.

Last not least: Get well soon for your girlfriend - and all the best for you ...

Met vriendelijke groet
[Android Apps and Games] mkasimd:
The question about reenabling the pro version is answered in the FAQ: https://faircode.eu/faq.html

You just need to have donated a few bucks using PayPal at some point in the past. Thenafter use the activation form linked in the above FAQ. The pro features will still be activated then.
[Android Apps and Games] de_Wolf:
Maybe you should - before people ask questions - explicitly refer to your FAQ on GitHub:

FairEmail/FAQ.md at master · M66B/FairEmail

Fully featured, open source, privacy friendly email app for Android - M66B/FairEmail

github.com

You have also invested a lot of time in this.
[Android Apps and Games] dickernick:
@M66B I concur with everything that has been said already about the quality of your products and your support, about Google's decisions and about your personal situation.

Having said that, from your messages I get the impression that you are a passionate developer with privacy in mind and also want to provide an excellent service around the software. I also think you'd be uneasy with passing on the development of the products to someone else (for money or to FOSS developers/communities).

Of course I respect those decisions.

What I think does not match and will never end nicely is to think a single person will have the capabilitiesand resources to cater for thousands of users (I don't use Google Play so I have no idea how many installs your products have) with a broad variety of IT background. You will eventually get flooded by negative reviews/comments/mails/whatever and it will get to you.

Assuming above is true, this leaves the following options in my view:

- You discontinue the development as announced, it's people's own responsibility what to do with FairEmail.

- You somehow leverage communities (e.g. XDA) to do the support, you just develop, as has been proposed already. BUT this requires a mindshift from you to ignore anything from the PlayStore etc. and focus on features, security issues and those being forwarded to you by the community AND you'd have contact with way fewer persons directly

- You keep FairEmail out of the PlayStore and focus on F-Droid/Github/other places in which you'd have to deal with rather IT-affine persons. Not saying that you'd come across the occasional unfriendly person, but I' suppose they are rarer
[Android Apps and Games] thorrules:
I have been away from xda for quite some time but this made me want to post. I have been a regular user and donor for the fairemail app and I am so sad to see Marcel go away. From our few email communications I can tell that Marcel is incredibly responsive and just comes across like a kind person. Please remember Marcel you have well-wishers here and we would love to see you come back and support this app. However, if you don't that is your choice and we respect it. I hope your girlfriend feels better too.

- Peace and Love from your fan
[Android Apps and Games] weaker:
@M66B: Another sad pro user here. I just wrote an email to the German Google support: support-deutschland@google.com

Probably, this won't help a thing, but at least I tried.

Thank you for that incredibly consistent work on FairEmail!
[Android Apps and Games] EngineerMind:
There is one thing that calms me when a troll tries to push my buttons...

A person who is happy with their life would not try to push another person down. So, people who do that are obviously not happy with their life, and I feel sorry for them.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
I received a new "answer" from Google:

I have responded with:
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Another reminder while I stopped the project:

Link (1 star German review for app being removed from the Play store).
[Android Apps and Games] mkasimd:
It's a 5* review now :)