There ’s no thoroughgoing way to contend monumental measure of emails , but everybody has their preferences . Some multitude are Gmail purist , who might be sad to know that the Google ’s free supercharged e-mail management app Inboxwill break off working on April 2 . Others are Outlook devotees , who probably get the app free through workplace . Me , I ’m a lifelong Apple Mail enthusiast . It ’s not thoroughgoing . Actually , the app is passably awful for a raft of reasons , which led me to inquire : can one compensate money for a better e-mail experience ?
The short reply , I guess , is yes . There are a uprise number of companies that would love to trade you a jazzed up electronic mail app , while the spare pick seem to be dwindle . So the real inquiry is should you pay your way out of email hell ? I estimate that depends on how unsound you are at email .
If you suppose you could be emailing better , your options to pay up for a premium email apps are widely - set out , both in price and features . Curious about whether these node offered sweet enough features to make email less painful , I spent a few weeks testing out various paid email apps , includingNewton , Outlook , andAirmail 3 . I also triedSparkandEdison , which are both free . ( If you ever require to finger alive , examine download five email apps , leave telling on , and just stare at your headphone for an hour . ) Since I ’m an Apple drug user , my experience was limit to macOS or iOS apps . So this is by no means an exhaustive guide to e-mail apps . It should give you a dear idea of trending fashion to salvage you from e-mail hell , though .
One of the more famous apps isNewton , which is also the most expensive at $ 50 a year . The client originally launched back in 2013 as a gratis app called CloudMagic and subsequently became sleep with as Newton , when the society started charge for features . The whole operation keep out down last twilight , at which point Newtonhad been charging users $ 100 a yearfor its email app . Essential , the smartphone fellowship found by Android brain Andy Rubin , late bought Newton and rise it with a $ 50 yearly terms tag . ( There is a free two - week test . ) That ’s still a lot of money for an app that does the many of same things that free email apps do .
It ’s too much money in my opinion . What is courteous about Newton is that it ferment with iOS , Android , Mac , as well as Windows , which makes it well-heeled to unite several account across multiple different platforms . The design of the apps left something to be desired , though . To me , Newton just look like a dressed up version of Gmail , andfor now , there is no dark fashion . There are some handy features like algorithmically generated recap , which flag emails that require a follow - up . Newton also integrates with productivity apps like Evernote , Salesforce , and Trello so that you may easy write stuff from your emails to the apps . This variety of affair might be helpful for some people , but not me . I found the Recap lineament to be genuinely useful , although Gmail offers a standardized featurecalled Nudge . That said , I must admit that I ’m still a niggling minute squeamish about algorithmically screen out electronic mail , and Newton ’s Recaps always made me feel like I was drop something . Meanwhile , most of the other piddling feature in Newton were pretty similar to those in much cheaper email apps .
Outlook is a unlike kind of beast . Whereas Newton find too simple for the price rag , the Microsoft email client get with an annual Office 365 subscription , which starts at $ 60 , and devastate me with how complicated it feel . Honestly , I open up the desktop version of Outlook , and I want to call because there ’s this “ typewriter ribbon ” of over - designed buttons on top of the app for simple tasks like replying to an email . If you do reply , oh my God , the top of the windowpane looks like this :
I get it . Even the tardy version of Microsoft Outlook is designed for masses who have been using the e-mail client for years . A lot of these bequest invention elements can also be hidden , although keyboard shortcuts seem to be the only veridical choice to using them . So I estimate I could live with this if I were squeeze to , but I for sure would n’t spend my own money on this software program .
Quite refreshingly , however , the Microsoft Office mobile app is completely different and free for non - commercial account . Unlike the desktop version , the fluid app seem to be designed for Gmail veteran who would appreciate a similar experience in a third - company client . There ’s a “ Focused ” inbox that seems to work a lot like Gmail ’s priority inbox , and an “ Other ” inbox for everything else . Replying to email feel a circumstances like replying to a text substance . immature people must love this kind of thing . Still , I felt like Outlook for iOS did n’t extend enough new features to get me to switch from my veritable Mail app . But Gmail the great unwashed might care it .
This is where the cheapest paid email apps I tested , AirMail 3 , set up itself aside . It ’s not a Gmail clones like Newton or Outlook for Mobile River . Airmail 3 , which costs $ 10 and is only usable for Io and Mac , in reality feels more like a feed of email preview with a set of controls on the left railing that do n’t cark you from reading your message but do n’t hide from you either . There ’s also ready access to handy features like snoozing message and creating calendar events .
What makes Airmail 3 special is the power to customize almost everything about the app . you may take between half a 12 different themes , find fault your own keyboard crosscut , and even create swipe - based shortcuts . On top of that , Airmail 3 also tie in to a immense image of cloud service and third - political party apps , like Google Drive and Trello . The deep you get into Airmail 3 ’s features , the more a one - time payment of $ 10 seems like a deal compare to the $ 50 - per - twelvemonth Newton .
Nevertheless , the ultimate interrogative of whether or not you should pay to improve your email biz continue . The free option out there are pretty good , too . Spark is an iOS- and Mac - only electronic mail app that wo n’t cost you a cent and has a super useful fresh inbox that I like more than exchangeable lineament in devote apps . ( If you ’re an Apple user , you might findthis Lifehacker piecehelpful if adjudicate between Airmail and Spark . ) I also spent some prison term with the $ 0 Edison app , which is blissfully mere and has some useful collating features that make it easygoing to wait at specific sort of e-mail like subscriptions or travel itineraries . And there are more gratuitous apps out there .
My bowel tells me that nobody can pay their path out of electronic mail hell . Email is inherently terrible which is why so many companies are build apps to make it less dreadful . If you feel course up with Apple Mail or Gmail or whatever pedigree guest you ’ve been using , do yourself a party favour and try out the free options . If you want more characteristic , do n’t feel like you ask to pay off $ 50 a yr to get the best email client . A $ 10 option like Airmail 3 might be all the rising slope you need .
But if you end up trying all of these and still palpate like your inbox is overwhelming , you may buy pretty affordable material estate deep in the woodwind in remote parts of the country . Move there . Read books . commit escargot mail .
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