Why tf does Proton Mail need Google Play Services to show notifications?

SoulKeeper I do not like when a company that claims itself privacy focused still uses FCM to send push notification.

For its own sake and for the collective wellbeing of many users, I'm also disappointed that Proton offers integration with google services bundled into what is (for some) a core feature of an email app.

jackFang That's the core issue I see - that push notifications can be used as a means to intercept your message, so it makes me wonder when app developers claim to have implemented end to end encryption between messages are worth anything if push notifications can be read nonetheless

Personally, I do jot permit email to control enough of my attention that it gets to ding my Pavlovian response bell at any moment in the day. For me, push notification emails are a very bad thing for productivity and quality of life. You might want to consider the health benefits of abstaining from email push notifications too - proton user or not. But I can respect that its a personal choice.

SoulKeeper Proton team is well aware about the situation and does not care about it.

Here is a direct quote from a Proton team member on 2023-12: (link)

we anticipated this years ago, which is why we end-to-end encrypt all push notifications between our servers and users' devices. That said, we will continue to use Apple and Google push notifications when the services are available on the device because unfortunately they are favored heavily by the operating system in terms of performance and battery life. We are also developing an alternative push notification framework to support web, desktop, and de-Googled devices.

This to me sounds like the team is aware and does actually care.

Consider that it is quite expensive and engineering-heavy to replace FCM with a homebrew, privacy respecting alternative. Especially for a service of Proton's size.

I'm curious - how many push notification-enabled apps on play store are using FCM? 99%? 90%? I don't have a good source, but I think the answer would be telling. I think the answer is likely: most.

In the general case, this is a reflection of consumer expectations of smartphone battery life and desired cost for an app's services (free or very cheap), which have been nurtured very intentionally, as part of Google and Apple's business model imperative over the past ~ 20 years, to engineer themselves into monopolist positions over the world's data.

The unavoidably complex and expensive reality of meeting this high bar for push notifications forces developers into a Faustian bargain - give up some of your user's data to Google or Apple, or pay a lot of resources for your own expensive push notification infrastructure (maybe you can afford it?), or lose users and suffer.

I find it comparatively less plausible that Proton's use of FCM is motivated by anything nefarious or uncaring.

I find it more plausible that Proton's decisions so far have been motivated by the uncomfortable choices presented above, and we can thank Apple and Google for that mess.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to more privacy respecting defaults for everyone's favorite features from Proton in the coming years.

I was happy to get inbox snoozing and schedule-sent emails from Proton in 2023 (great examples of other features that Google hooked me on earlier in life, that I sorely missed after degoogling, which have now been restored to me in privacy respecting form with a bit of patience). Perhaps 2024 will be another good year for nice new features from Proton - my faith in them is holding despite this FCM unpleasantness.

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wuseman mailbox.org, systemli.org, riseup.net, dismail.de, startmail.com, mailfence.com, posteo.de

Tutanota, but they also require an own App.

But you need to trust them anyways, unless you use PGP. If you are worried about "LaW eNfOrCeMenT" reading your stuff, use a mail provider from a country that has not very active connections to yours. 15 eyes and stuff, NATO, contracts, international Police Law.