Last week we launched Episode 9 of The Foojee Show as we did an email roundup. Because we had so much to cover in such a short amount of time, we felt a companion blog post was needed. We’ll cover the email apps discussed in Episode 9 and share few others that are worth mentioning that didn’t make the episode purely because of time constraints. As much as I love shooting these videos, I am fully aware that watching a youtube video for 20+ minutes is kind of crazy for most of us. Less than 20 minutes seems to be the sweet spot so we’re doing our best to respect those limitations.
Onward!
Apple Mail
First up is Apple’s own mail client. There are a lot of great things about Apple Mail including the fact that if you opt to use it, you don’t have to fiddle with any 3rd party apps. Apple Mail is highly integrated in to iOS and as a result sharing from one app to email is simple and easy. You can easily add contacts and appoints from an email and it has the added perk of being integrated with iCloud.
Worth noting is that for some people, the feature set can be a bit limiting and one person on our team (me!) feels that Apple Mail isn’t nearly as intuitive as other apps out there. It would be great to see some more robust features come to Apple Mail. It’s also worth pointing out that a couple of people commented on our YouTube episode and mentioned an add-on for Apple Mail called MailButler. MailButler adds a snooze feature, follow-up (when someone doesn’t respond to your email, you can get reminded to reach back out), tracking (know when your email is opened), scheduling, and more. To get most of these features will cost you about $9 per month from MailButler ($108 if paid monthly or about $90 if paid annually). If you’re going to pay that much, you may be better served going with another email app altogether, but it’s a personal preference!
Airmail
Now, a few people on our team use Airmail and have been for quite some time. Airmail is a paid app with the iOS version coming in at $4.99 (one-time charge) and the macOS version just a little higher at $9.99 (one-time charge). For $14.98 you can have the app on both of your devices and be ready to crush your inbox.
Our team had some great things to say about Airmail’s feature set. With send and archive, different themes, snooze, customizable keyboard shortcuts, read receipts, undo send, iCloud email integration, told ID protection on iOS, and more it can be easy to get roped in to Airmail. You can customize your swipe gestures to your heart’s, integrate the app with 30 other apps and services, and generate “To-Do’s” out of your emails. Airmail offers a lot of customization at a great price point for those in need of some more control over their email app.
While Airmail is very robust, for us the cons are that it is a paid email app and not everyone will want to pay. It’s also easy to become overwhelmed with all of the features, options, and customization available in email. Luckily for those minimalists who love to keep things relatively simply, there’s an option for you too.
Newton (formerly CloudMagic)
Newton is an app that offers many of the same options as other email clients with read receipts, snooze, scheduled emails (with a cancel option if a reply is received 👀), unread message reminders, undo option, and more. Newton comes out of CloudMagic, an app that gained a lot of popularity for it’s simple design and straightforward interface. There are no unnecessary buttons and your screen isn’t crowded with the non-essentials.
There are a few cons to Newton, especially if you previously used CloudMagic. CloudMagic was entirely free to use (although it had a much more limited feature set), and with the introduction of Newton came a price point of $49.99/year. The price feels a little steep to some, but with such a minimal user interface and still including a robust feature set we feel the price is justified. An annual subscription price means the company is trying to make money so they can stick around for a while and continue to improve their product. We love it and at just over $4/month the price seems just about right to us.
Outlook
When you think of enterprise level email, Outlook seems be the name that comes to mind. With features like Office and calendar integration as well as the security most businesses seem to crave, it can be a no brainer. The mobile app for Outlook is free in the app store and it’s even better than we expected with the inclusion of features like Touch ID support, full featured snooze, and we really can’t say enough about the integration with calendar times. Outlook will go as far as to check your calendar and suggest open times for meetings you may be discussing in your emails.
We’re impressed with Outlook and the only gripe we could come up with is that for some, the app can be a little busy. It’s robust and does so much, but that contributes to anxiety and an unnecessary feeling of being frantic. For people who feel this way, it’s probably best to go with something a bit simpler.
Spark
Spark seems to be a bit of a winner for our team. A number of our people use the iOS app in lieu of any other email client. Spark integrates your calendar, it’s easy to use and setup, you can customize quick replies, it’s free in the App store, and features a “Smart Inbox”. The Smart Inbox filters your unread messages in to a separate space to make them stand apart from other emails. The app also can separate newsletters and promotions so you can see what is most important. Spark is one of, if not, the best free email app available on iOS right now.
Our biggest gripe with Spark is that there is no Mac app. We would love to see this software come to the Mac, but until then people who use Spark on their iPhone will be forced to find yet another piece of software to manage email on their Mac.
Gmail
The regular, ole Gmail app is worth mentioning because it’s simple, straightforward and acts similarly to the Gmail web interface. It’s familiar for most people and get’s the job done, not to mention it’s free. Setup is a breeze and you’ll be flying through the app in no time.
The only con here is that it’s not as robust or as pretty as other apps. And it’s made by Google. ☹️
Inbox by Google is another, newer option for Gmail lovers. Inbox supports snoozing, scheduling, etc. It’s a simpler interface, and works just fine, but Inbox’s bundling of emails as it sees fit leaves something to be desired. It’s also still made by Google. ☹️
Dispatch
This is an app we’re not as familiar with, but still wanted to share with you. $7 in the App Store for an app all about getting things done. It integrates with dozens of apps, and every email has an opportunity to become an actionable task to get done. It’s not the simplest app, or the prettiest, but if you want to get stuff done, then Dispatch might be worth considering. There also does not appear to be a Mac app, only iOS.
Inky
I personally tried this app because their branding is great. It really drew me in and had me hopeful that I would find everything I was looking for in an email app. With advanced search, great tagging, and other great (but common) features, I had high hopes. The inbox and smart mailboxes felt very cluttered and it costs $5/month for a pro account, which is required to add Exchange or Google Apps accounts.
There are so many options out there and we hope this resource will serve as a great guide for you in choosing the right email app for you. Everyone has difference preferences, needs, and functions when it comes to email. Our brains all work differently, and your email app should reflect what works best for how your mind works. If you have questions or concerns, we’d love to chat and help you pick the right tool for you! Just leave a comment below, hit us up on social media, or shoot us an email!
Have a great week!