Current headline on HN is incorrect - it's not custom domains, it's third-party email addresses, such as @yahoo.com or @outlook.com. Domains and other gmail addresses you own can still be used....
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/17101213
Even more confusing, you _will_ be able to still send to a custom domain via the Gmail mobile app? This appears to be an anti-spam move I guess? Though personally, this is a big breakage for me...
> This change does not affect Google Workspace aliases or other Gmail addresses you own.
to me, implies that you need to set up Google Workspace for that domain before it'll work.
The whole point is if you have custom domains then pay for the google workspace if you still want to use it. Couldnt find it right away, from what I recollect it used to be $6 or $8 per email address
And let's be honest here: GMail remains the preferred email client for almost everyone, for a lot of boring but very good reasons (mostly down to reliability and spam filtering).
Basically: people who don't like Google and don't use Google won't be affected and won't care. People who pay for Workspace hosting won't be affected, as those domains still work via Send-As. The people complaining here are in category 1, there are a handful of people (I'm one) in category 2 trying to help explain, and unsurprisingly there are very, very few people here in the actually impacted category of "mail client for external domain" users.
It’s part the model they use your emails to target you with ads