What Are IMAP and SMTP and Their Limits?

Ricardo Signes, Chief Engineer at Fastmail, explains why Gmail's email experience has become increasingly fragmented, and what it would take to actually fix the decades-old IMAP protocol that powers most of the internet. We dive deep into JMAP (the modern replacement Gmail won't adopt), privacy-by-design vs. encryption theater, and the hidden trade-offs between convenience and security that no one talks about. If you've noticed your email client feeling broken, this interview reveals why.

📱 RESOURCES IN VIDEO:

• Fastmail: https://fastmail.com

• Fastmail Values Statement: https://fastmail.com/about/values

• Cyrus IMAP/JMAP Server (open source): https://www.cyrusimap.org/

• JMAP Standard (RFC 8620): https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8620

• Web Push Standard (RFC 8030): https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8030

• Signal (for encrypted messaging): https://signal.org

• Fastmail Data Transparency Report: https://fastmail.com/about/transparency

Timestamps:

0:00:00 INTRO

00:01:36 WHAT DRAWS YOU TO FASTMAIL?

00:03:29 FASTMAIL VALUES & PHILOSOPHY

00:08:49 FASTMAIL TARGET USER

00:12:43 LACK OF NATIVE E2EE

00:16:16 WILL EMAIL EVER BE PRIVATE?

00:18:23 FASTMAIL E2EE OPTIONS

00:23:43 FASTMAIL CLIENT OPTIONS

00:26:18 FASTMAIL INTEGRATIONS

00:29:49 BEING GOOD INTERNET CITIZENS

00:33:13 BAD INTERNET CITIZENS

00:38:26 JMAP & OTHER EMAIL PROTOCOLS

00:48:15 REAL-WORLD BENEFITS OF JMAP

00:53:07 ISSUES WITH GMAIL ON IOS

00:56:06 LACK OF E2EE FOR EMAIL WITH ADP

00:57:29 DOES JMAP MAKE E2EE EASIER?

01:00:43 FASTMAIL + OPEN SOURCE

01:10:48 PROTECTIONS AGAINST BAD ACTORS

01:14:46 PHONE NUMBER REQUIREMENTS

01:22:55 AUSTRALIAN JURISDICTION

01:25:55 THE FASTMAIL TEAM

01:28:45 PRODUCTIVITY-FOCUSED EMAIL CLIENTS

01:34:27 FASTMAIL + IMAP

01:35:49 WHY THE NAME "FASTMAIL"?

01:38:27 IS JMAP WHY FASTMAIL IS SO FAST?

01:42:03 FASTMAIL'S IDEAL AVATAR + FUTURE PLANS

01:46:25 HOW TO FOLLOW RICARDO + FASTMAIL

01:48:03 OUTRO

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