Tutanota: Provide a way to configure/change the Sender Name based on the aliases

[x80486]

Right now, the Sender Name is set at account level. If we happen to have an alias where we don't want to expose that name –for any reason(s)-, there is no way we can do that – or yes, there is: changing the account's Sender Name back and forth...really not an option.

This is one of the most important things that are currently missing in the service.

[mpfau]

The user must be able to configure the names (not only the admin). The user name is not used as a name for the mail address anymore.

[x80486]

I think so. I only have one user, so it's the admin.

This one was towards the ability to set a different "sender name" for all the registered e-mail addresses (including aliases). If you go to Settings > User Management, there is only one Sender name; the value there will be used for all outgoing e-mails, regardless of the alias in use.

I think that has to be fixed because not all aliases will/should use the same Sender name value – the same applies for the main account address.

[itisafrickinhighlander]

This suggestion is similar to what is normally present in the UX of provider or an e-mail client (which can do this independently from the provider):

A specific example (and compliant with the privacy mindset) would be this - one wants to create an identity which is not real (but sounds legit) for services where one does't feel comfortable sharing and/or is not required to provide a real name, but considers these services legitimate enough that one may want to still preserve some shape of form of an identity, especially when there is an e-mail correspondence (contacting support, sales,...).

In a nutshell, one can still do it, but only via aforementioned account-wide Sender name option in the settings, which I would be genuinely surprised if anyone had it filled in as it would "sign" every sent e-mail with that name, which we at that point we all could use just aliases with a standard firstname+surname syntax.

[jeffmcneill]

This is the only issue stopping me from using Tutanota. I've got five aliases, but they have different names. Not being able to have a unique name per alias makes that functionality much less... functional. Creating and paying for five different accounts and then going through the login/logout logistics is not a great workaround. Any idea on when improving this feature is going to be available?

[C666PO]

I just started using Tutanota and i'm not sure if i will continue. Protonmail allowed me to have a different sender name for each email as also filtering emails per email address. I think it is critical for tutanota to implement this feature. I really hope they do it soon. It's the only thing i miss in protonmail.

[0Ky]

@mpfau commented on Nov 14, 2018, 8:01 PM GMT+11:

The user must be able to configure the names (not only the admin). The user name is not used as a name for the mail address anymore.

Yes, a user can only configure 1 _sender name_ per account (they can change the sender name to what ever they like).

The problem here is that all aliases use the same sender name, we want to assign different _sender name_ simultaneously to every _email aliases_ created by a single tutanota user.

It has been few years and this feature has not yet been implemented. This was proposed in 2015 or 2016 on _tutanota.uservoice.com_ (website is not in service, there's an archived page with an idea title of _Set a different «Name» for alias_) with hundreds of likes and possibly thousands or more by now.

We have been informed that it was _planned_, but haven't heard anything since then...

[charlag]

@0Ky what also to say about it other than "it's planned, look at the roadmap"?
Please take into account that some things from top of it are already implemented and are either in beta or about to be released

[tukiab]

+1

[nikolayhg]

+1! Feature in demand!

[szmt]

+1 Essential!

[rtrind]

+1, coming from a reddit topic where this was linked as the fix for the isolation of aliases being used as login alternatives from the main mail.

[JowanWorth]

+1 actually this does matter, the alias is only practical at the moment if the account-level display name is removed entirely or set to something bland.

[exander77]

What is the status? This is is really need for almost everybody to use their Tutanota account. It has been open for a year and a half.

[JimmyCushnie]

I'm honestly baffled that this isn't in yet. Tutanota must not understand how important this feature is for business use.

[Joeyzo]

+1

[jones137]

I am also really in need of this feature, since I need my aliases to be confidential (not containing my name and surname). Changing back and forth is ridiculous.

[4jNsY6fCVqZv]

What does it take from a technical/developer perspective to implement this feature and thus solve the issue?

[JimmyCushnie]

Basically nothing for the backend. The more difficult part is making the user interface for it.

[charlag]

We need to make a database change, that's the main part. If there would be a UI it would be nice but that's not the biggest problem.

[JimmyCushnie]

Why is it difficult to do something like this (pseudocode):

void SendEmail(EmailAddress senderAddress)
{
    var senderName = database.senderNames[senderAddress]
    Send(senderAddress, senderName)
}

I have almost no experience working with Tutanota-like programs, but I don't see why it would be hard at all to add alias names to the database.

[charlag]

Short answer is that we need to move name from GroupInfo (if I remember correctly). There's currently no place to put them so we need to create this mapping. This may affect some other things like user management and creation so it ripples.
In theory it's not hard but it's something that needs time investment.

[JimmyCushnie]

Fair enough.

I hope you get to this soon. For months I have been switching my "Sender Name" 2-3 times per day, which is quite annoying, not to mention error-prone.

[charlag]

I get it (and can relate to this), thanks for the patience!

[CyberAndre]

Me too is desperate for this feature. I can't get it together. It's a part of privacy in general. But also in just simple daily use. For example: In some official mail I want to use my first and last name. In private mail just my first name.

[goldsolitude]

Another 1+ for this feature. Looking forward to when it is introduced. Until then I wont be able to use my real name on this service as I always go by my internet pseudonym wherever I sign up.

[finzzz]

2 years and no progress, and they are making useless features like calendar. This and crypto payment are far more important than that.

[devJ0n]

+1

[masvil]

I've spent 1 hour looking for a way to change sender name according to alias. I've been thinking "it MUST be somewhere". Then I gave up, googled it and... here I am with my + 1.

[ryan-boder]

This is a big problem. Please prioritize this.

[JimmyCushnie]

Seconded. It boggles my mind that this hasn't been added yet.

[akg83]

1+

This is an important feature, in order to make the email aliases feature work for real life usages.