Emailing is probably the activity we do the most on our computers. Even if you don't work on a computer during the day, you probably sit down in front of it to check your inbox at the end of the day. If the Mail app that comes with your Mac doesn't provide the features you need, you're in luck. There are dozens of great email apps in the Mac App Store. I've tested many of them and these are my favorites. Each one has a little something special that makes it unique.
Outlook 2016 was the best email client for Mac 2016 in the category of business email clients, and it has ended in the second place overall this year. Outlook’s user interface is getting better with each year, and no other email client comes even close when it comes to the broad range of features Outlook offers. Spark is currently available for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Spark will be a cross-platform email client soon. Please enter your email and we'll let you know when it's available for your device. The app introduces new bundling features, pinning features, snoozing and other new aspects in handling email. It's made by Google so you have some assurance that it's a solid app, but with some new shiny capabilities.
Polymail
I was a little late to the game with Polymail and only started using it recently on Mac (though I downloaded it on iOS when it first launched). It turns out, I love it on the Mac. It has a fantastic interface with cute little buttons everywhere so you don't have to think about what to do next. It actually looks like it belongs on a mobile device, except that you click the buttons instead of tapping them.
There is a fourth section that appears whenever you select an email, which displays all of the past correspondences you've had with that particular contact or group of contacts. It's great for quickly tracking down something you've talked about in the past.
You can set up new mail with a pre-made template, send calendar invites, get notifications when someone has read your email, and schedule an email to be sent at a later time.
You can also write or respond to emails with rich text formatting. So, if you want to change the font, add bold lettering, bullet point a section, or just slap an emoji in there, it's all available right from the toolbar at the top of your new email. The only thing it's missing is Touch Bar support, which would really make this app shine.
Polymail can be used for free, but you'll need to sign up for a subscription if you want all of the awesome features that make Polymail stand out, like read notifications, send later, and messaging templates. You can add these features for as low as $10 per month. If you are a heavy email user and these features entice you, give the free trial a run to see if it's worth your money.
If you want your computer email experience to look and feel more like a mobile experience, with big, easy-to-find action buttons, Polymail is the one for you.
Spark
Spark has this 'Smart Inbox' feature that separates out what is Personal, Notifications, Newsletters, Pinned, and Seen. That is, any email that is from someone in your contacts or otherwise looks like a personal email will be filtered to the top of the inbox list. Below that, in a separate section, emails that look like alerts from companies you deal with, like your gas company or Amazon, that include some kind of alert or notification. Below that, you'll see a section called 'Newsletters' which is exactly that. Below that are emails you've flagged or tagged as important in some way. Lastly, emails you've seen, but haven't moved to another folder.
Spark also allows you to snooze an email and come back to take care of it at a later time. This is invaluable when you regularly get emails that you need to respond to but don't have time for until the end of the day. I use it all of the time.
It also has gesture-based actions for getting to inbox zero. You can swipe to the right or left to delete, archive, pin, or, mark an email as unread.
And it has Touch Bar support, which I love.
Spark is best for people that like to have their inbox organized before they go through and move emails to new folders, address them, or delete them entirely. If that sounds appealing to you, try Spark.
Airmail
Airmail treats your emails like a to-do list. You can triage your inbox by scheduling when you are going to take care of an email. If you can't get to it right now, snooze it for later. If it's an email that requires an action, send it to your to-do folder. If it's something important that you'll want quick access to, mark it as a memo. And, when you've finished dealing with your email, send it to the 'Done' folder to get that sweet satisfaction of having completed something on your task list.
If you get more done by treating everything like a to-do list, get Airmail and your inbox will be empty in no time.
Kiwi for Gmail
If you have one or more Gmail accounts, you should consider switching to Kiwi. This all-in-one triumph brings the look and feel of Gmail for the web to the desktop in the form of an app. With the service's unique Focus Filtered Inbox, you can view your messages based on Date, Importance, Unread, Attachments, and Starred. In doing so, you can prioritize your emails in real time.
Perhaps the best reason to use Kiwi for Gmail is its G Suite integration. Thanks to the app, you now get to experience Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, as windowed desktop applications. Kiwi is available for Mac and Windows.
Your favorite?
What's going to be your next email client for Mac?
Updated March 2019: Guide updated to reflect price changes. Added Kiwi.
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Apple’s stock mail app got some nice upgrades with iOS 8, but it still lacks many of the more powerful features found in other third-party email apps.
With so many different choices out there, you may be wondering what the best alternative is for your needs, so we tried out a handful of the most innovative email apps that want to be your inbox managing assistant.
Each of these apps take vastly different approaches to email. Some help you categorize the jumble of messages to mine the gems, while others ruthlessly cut through the clutter to achieve a pristine and empty inbox.
I tried out all of these apps on an iPad mini, as it’s compact enough to bring everywhere and use as a primary email device. However, all of these options are universal apps with iPhone 6 and 6 Plus support either in place or pledged to come.
For apps that supported it, I connected a Gmail, iCloud, Microsoft Exchange, and Outlook account to see how they handled each of the dominant email platforms. I also wanted to discover what they brought to the table in terms of unique features, interface design, and their overall philosophy to managing email.
Best overall: CloudMagic
CloudMagic (free) stands on top of the pyramid for its minimalist design, integration with other cloud storage services, and how well it pushes email from almost any type of account. It supports Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, iCloud, Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, AOL, and IMAP.
CloudMagic’s strength is its smart cards, which can save a message into a preferred productivity tool: Evernote, Todoist, Pocket, Trello, OneNote, Zendesk, Salesforce, Asiana, and MailChimp are all supported.
CloudMagic also has a pretty clever edit mode that queues up several messages for editing with one action. You can swipe on messages to archive, delete, or attach a follow-up reminder for CloudMagic to bug you about it later.
In addition, you can link CloudMagic to a cloud storage account for attaching files to outgoing messages—it works with Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, and OneDrive. And of course the app has been optimized for iOS 8 and the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Best for reaching inbox zero: Mailbox
If you love the satisfaction of an empty inbox, then Mailbox (free) could be your cup of tea. Its whole premise is to help you reach the elusive Inbox Zero by swiping away your messages, with each of its gestures attached to a specific action.
Not only do the swipes archive and delete messages, but they’ll “snooze” an email, which then schedules it to re-appear in your mailbox after a specified amount of time. It’s good for those messages that you aren’t ready to archive but don’t need to keep in you inbox, mocking you with their unfinished status.
Unfortunately, Mailbox only works with Gmail and iCloud. Support for other platforms is coming, though no specifics have been offered by parent company Dropbox.
If you really dig the Mailbox philosophy, then get the Mac desktop app (it’s still in beta) for the most fluid email experience. Mailbox is also optimized for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Most social: Tipbit
The term “contacts” or “address book” harks back to the days when office workers kept all this information on a circular card-holder called a Rolodex.
Now keeping tabs on your contacts’ social networks is a vital part of staying connected. Tipbit (free) does a great job at this by pulling in your contacts’ Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn info—once you grant permission, of course. That way, if you get an email from someone and want to see what they’ve been tweeting, or need a reminder of their job title, you can just tap on their name and view his or her contact card.
Tipbit also tries to connect a contact with what it thinks is their Twitter account if they don’t have one listed in their signiture, but that doesn’t always work out—the app showed tweets from Anderson Cooper’s Twitter account for one of my contacts named David Cooper.
Tipbit supports email from Gmail, Microsoft Exchange, IMAP, iCloud, Outlook, and IMAP. It is optimized for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Best customization: Boxer
Boxer (free) has also jumped on the swipe-on-messages bandwagon, though with many different customization opportunities for these actions. It takes a bit of work to set this up, but if you want to work a very particular way and use muscle memory for certain tasks, then you’ll like what Boxer has to offer.
It integrates well with features found in other desktop email apps, such as Gmail’s labels and sharing files through your Dropbox or Box account. Boxer supports Gmail (it also syncs your labels—a plus for Gmail power users), Yahoo, iCloud, AOL, and Outlook. Microsoft Exchange support only works with the premium version of Boxer, which is $10. It’s optimized for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
Best for power users: Acompli
Acompli(free) is the best app of the bunch for power users who get a ton of email and despise constantly moving back and forth to different apps to reference calendar appointments or files.
Acompli’s design isn’t as polished compared to some of the others, but it compensates with excellent functionality—it includes your Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, or OneDrive contents and calendar events right inside the app.
If you’re the business type with multiple meetings and events going on, or if you generally need to plow through a lot of mail during the day, then Acompli should possibly be on the top of your list. It supports Microsoft Exchange, Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, and any IMAP account; it is optimized for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus as well.
Best for Exchange users: Mail+ for Outlook
Best Email App For Ios
Mail+ for Outlook ($6) follows the Exchange philosophy of putting all of your core needs right into one application: Email, contacts, calendar, and—unique among this app list—Outlook’s tasks. It connects to any Microsft Exchange and Outlook account.
It also does a better job than others at handling the formatting found in Outlook messages—like when you get a message from your coworker who uses five different colors in their email to highlight different information. Now you can see it on your iPhone or iPad.
While other apps on this list handle Exchange, I’d put this as the top choice if your core productivity takes place with Microsoft’s platform. It’s also optimized for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
All in with Google? Go with Gmail
As someone who has also used Android, I can say with certainty the Gmail app for iOS isn’t as fast or robust as its Android counterpart. However, if you are a power Gmail user and rely on labels, Google’s search prowess, and the Googly design, then go with the Gmail app (free). It works with consumer Gmail and Google Apps for Work.
It supports up to five accounts, so you can check up on your personal and work email. It’s updated for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus so you don’t have to contend with an ugly and stretched out interface.
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It’s still a little slower than what I would like, but it works and functions like Gmail, making it easier to transition from the desktop to mobile when powering through subscription offers, coupons, or (in my case) an excessive amount of PR emails.
If you’re a Gmail user who loves the Inbox Zero philosophy, than you should give Gmail’s Inbox (free) a shot, too, if you can score an invite.
Best for categorizing clutter: Inky Mail
An email account can quickly fill with a mashup of coupons, travel deals, and shipping notices, so Inky Mail (free) works to filter these out—that way, you’re not rummaging through this deluge while looking for that hotel reservation. The app’s home screen has 15 different categories for actions and messages, including a unified inbox, personal messages, social, packages, maps, contacts, and subscriptions.
The Filtered Inbox is the most powerful tool for focusing on essential correspondence, as it strips out all the excessive newsletters and weekend sale notices. Once there you can swipe to the right to get back to the app’s home screen
The different inboxes have other helpful tools for cleaning things out and offer quick access to your email list’s “unsubscribe” links. It also offers a very helpful Today widget, which you can customize to show messages from one of your specific filters or the unified inbox.
Inky Mail is targeted more at consumer accounts, especially if you’d rather keep messages hanging around to avoid missing a great deal. it works with Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, AOL, Yahoo, IMAP, and POP accounts; Microsoft Exchange support is forthcoming.
Bottom line
Email is a hot app category that has new apps popping up all the time, each of which is designed to fit different needs and workflows. Though we think one of these apps will suit your style, most of them have free versions, so we encourage you to try a couple of them out to see what's best for you. If there’s an app you love and we didn’t cover it here, let us know about it in the comments.
Editor's note: This story was updated on November 11 at 12:00 p.m. PT to fix the spelling of Acompli.
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