It doesn't matter who you are or what you do with your devices, you'll probably still have to deal with email. Whether you reply to a ton of emails for your business from your iPhone or you just manage your personal inbox on your iPad, it's almost impossible to escape the inbox clutter these days.

To help you out, Apple offers a built-in Mail app which is fairly robust in terms of features and easy to use on the whole for most folks. It's even simple to save an email as a PDF using it. However, it's far from being your only choice on iOS; there are a ton of great iPhone and iPad email apps out there. Here are our picks for the best iPhone and iPad mail apps.

Spark

Spark is a personal favorite of a few iMore staffers for staying on top of email instead of drowning in it. One of its best features is how it can sort and group your incoming emails by type. It groups all newsletters together, for example, making it easy to delete them all at once with a simple swipe gesture while keeping important and personal emails separate.

There is support for multiple email accounts, and each one can receive smart notifications, which mute strangers and automated emails while letting you know about messages with higher priority. You can even pin emails you don't want to lose, snooze them for later, and even send quick replies, such as "thanks," with a single tap.

Teams can also collaborate within Spark to discuss emails, so you don't need to go to another app like Slack. Spark supports native integration with a lot of third-party apps and services as well.

If you want one of the best ways to maintain your inbox with little fuss, then we highly recommend Spark.

Microsoft Outlook

Despite what you might think, Microsoft Outlook is a powerful and functional email app that works with various email services, not just Outlook accounts. It works with your Gmail, Yahoo Mail, IMAP, and iCloud, in addition to Hotmail and MSN with Outlook.com accounts.

Outlook is fantastic for anybody who needs to have their schedule and contacts in the same place as their email. You can create calendar events directly from emails, which is a convenient feature to have. There is also full integration with cloud storage services, so you can access files in Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and more.

If you are looking for a professional email solution for your iPhone or iPad, then Outlook is a great option.

Edison Mail

Edison Mail is one of the smarter email apps available for your iPhone and iPad. It's especially great for those whose inboxes fill up continuously and want to do something about it.

With Edison, you'll have support for multiple email accounts. It works with Gmail, Hotmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Outlook, Exchange, AOL, IMAP, and more. The coolest feature with Edison, however, is how you can unsubscribe from annoying newsletters with one tap. If you do a lot of traveling, Edison displays travel notifications and trip info on a single screen. This way, you'll find your itinerary in one place without having to search for flight and hotel info one by one.

Edison even takes cues from Spark and other email apps with features like smart notifications, quick replies, bulk delete, thread views, snooze, and more. If you are looking to take back control of your inbox, Edison is a great app to help you do it.

Gmail

It might seem obvious, but avid Gmail users should be making use of the official Gmail app.

The Gmail app offers support for multiple Google accounts, real-time notifications, and universal search that works across all accounts. The convenient Undo Send feature is available here to prevent embarrassing mistakes. You can even clear out your inbox quickly with intuitive swipe gestures, organize messages with labels, and even respond to Google Calendar invites directly.

There is a lot to love about the official Gmail app, and it's definitely one you should be using if Gmail is your primary email account.

Yahoo Mail

The Yahoo Mail app is a good contender to consider whether you use Yahoo's mail service or not. It not only works wtih outside accounts but it has a ton of features.

The Yahoo Mail app looks gorgeous with a fresh and clean design that's easy to use and navigate. You can take action on individual messages through intuitive swipe gestures, customize the color and theme to your liking, send GIFs directly in messages, and more. Some other tandout features include Deals View, which notifies you when deal emails are about to expire, and Travel View that displays gate changes, delays, and even cancelations.

Yahoo Mail can even send you notifications when the emails come from people, so you aren't bothered with newsletters and other unimportant messages. Plus, Yahoo Mail gives users 100GB of space of cloud storage, so you don't have to worry about space, and there's support for third-party cloud storage solutions.

Note that a $2 per month Yahoo Mail Plus subscription is required to unlock some of the app's best features.

Airmail

Airmail has been around for a long time on the Mac and became the go-to third-party iPhone and iPad mail app when it first launched on iOS. That was several years ago, but the app has continued to stay up to date with the latest iOS features and design trends, which continue to make it worth trying out.

Notable features include a unified inbox with support for all of the major mail providers, the ability to snooze messages, and excellent search and organizational tools. Airmail is also highly customizable with color for different accounts, different view types, and control over what various swipe actions do.

If you want to use the same mail app on your iOS devices and Mac while having everything stay in sync, Airmail is a good choice. Note that some features require a $3 per month or $10 per year subscription, though you can get a good feel for the app for free.

Newton Mail

If you're looking for a little more out of your email app and don't mind paying for a subscription for some great extras, then Newton Mail may be of interest.

With Newton Mail, you can add multiple accounts and view all of your messages in a unified inbox. Some of the standout features behind Newton Mail are read receipts, so you can see when the message has been read, a daily recap on messages that need your attention, send drafted emails later, undo send, and much more. Plus, you can unsubscribe to emails in a single click! And there is a ton of third-party service integration, like Dropbox, Evernote, Instapaper, Trello, and others.

Newton Mail has a 14-day free trial to check out all of the features. If it is a service you wouldn't mind paying for in the end, a subscription costs $49.99 per year.

Manage your mail

There are many options for email apps out there and, frankly, it can be pretty overwhelming choosing between all of the third-party email clients on the App Store and their differing feature sets.

Ultimately, it's going to depend on your needs and preferences, but these are some of the best iPhone and iPad mail apps we've come across. A different app may appeal to you so it's worth trying out a few of our top picks to find the right balance for your inbox.

Updated April 2022: Updated for iOS 15 and iPadOS 15.

Apple's default Mail app for iPhone and iPad is great. It's got a bunch of useful features that make your work and life easier. That being said, the Mail app only covers the basics, which is fine if you're just starting out. But if you're looking for other apps packed with more features. If you want to try a new mail app, here are five popular options. Don't worry; we'll also tell you how to set up third-party email apps on iPhone or your iPad.

How to set up your email in Spark

Spark is one of our favorite email apps to use, and for good reason. It can detect different email types in your inbox, so it splits them up accordingly (Personal, Notifications, and Newsletters) to be easier to manage. It works with Google, Exchange, Yahoo, iCloud, Outlook, Kerio Connect, and other IMAP email accounts. Getting it set up is easy, and you can have as many accounts as you want.

1. Launch the Spark app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. If this is your first time using Spark, you'll see a Welcome Screen, where you can tap on Skip or Got It.
3. Enter your email address into the text field.

4. Check the box for the Privacy Policy.
5. Tap on Next.
6. Spark will then launch your provider's website to sign in, make sure to tap on the Continue button.
7. Spark will ask you to let it send you Notifications. If you want this, tap on Allow.
8. Give Spark permission to access your email account in the in-app browser.

9. The email you've entered is now used for syncing your Spark data (multiple accounts and saved preferences) across multiple devices on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
10. Going back to Spark, confirm with the Start using Spark button.
11. Spart will ask you to access your iPhone contacts. To let it do it, tap on Allow.

The first email that you enter into Spark will be used to "log in" to Spark and sync your information across multiple devices using Spark. But you can also add as many individual email accounts as needed underneath this primary one.

1. In Spark, tap on the side panel button in the top left corner of the  Inbox view.
2. Tap on the Settings button at the bottom of the side panel.

4. Select Add Account.
5. Choose your provider.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions for the provider you've chosen.
7. Repeat steps 1 to 10 above for as many email accounts as you want to add in Spark.

How to set up your email in Airmail

Airmail is another popular third-party email app for iPhone and iPad that is packed with many useful features for power-users. It supports iCloud, Google, Exchange, Yahoo, Outlook, AOL, and generic IMAP and POP3 accounts.

Airmail is free to use, but you can subscribe to Airmail Pro, which brings a bunch of extra features, iPad trackpad support. If you're thinking about getting Airmail Pro, you should consider getting a trackpad keyboard for your iPad to step up your game to the next level.

1. Launch the Airmail app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Choose the account provider that you want to add.
3. Airmail will bring up the webpage for your selected provider so you can log in with your credentials.
4. Grant Airmail access to your account by tapping the Allow button.

5. Agree to Airtable Terms and Conditions, and you can also let Airtable send you notifications for future deals.
6. Click Continue.
7. Grant Airmail access to send notifications and whichever bits of information you want it to access (Contacts, use Siri, etc.).

Again, Airmail supports multiple accounts, and there is no limit to the number you can have. Here's how to add more accounts in Airmail.

1. Tap on the hamburger button (three lines) in the top left corner of the Inbox view.
2. Tap on Settings in the bottom left of the side menu.
3. Select Add Account from the menu.

4. Repeat steps 2-7 from the above section for all of your accounts.

How to set up your email in Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is a great option that's geared more towards business email use. But don't be fooled by the branding—Outlook works with several different email services, including Hotmail, Outlook, Gmail, Live, MSN, Yahoo, and Microsoft.

1. Launch Outlook on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Input your work or personal email address into the text input field.
3. Tap on Add Account.

4. Outlook will launch the provider webpage for you to log in with your credentials.
5. Tap on Allow to give Outlook permission to access your data.
6. Outlook will then verify and add your account.
7. Outlook will ask if you'd like to send it diagnostics and usage of data. If you want to share it, you can tap on Accept

8. After adding the first account, Outlook will ask you if you want to add another account, where you can choose between Maybe Later or Add.
9. If you choose Add, just repeat steps 2-5 above.
10. If you choose Maybe Later, you'll be redirected to your inbox. Outlook might ask you to grant it permission to use your contact information and send you notifications.

You can always add more accounts later. Here's how to add another account (again, unlimited) later on.

1. In Outlook, tap on your account avatar in the top left corner, or just tap on the Inbox header.
2. Tap on the gear icon in the bottom left of the side menu to access Settings.

4. Choose Add Email Account from the popup menu.
5. Repeat steps 2-5 from above until you've added all of your accounts.

Not only you'll learn how to set up third-party email apps on iPhone, but with Outlook, you can also set up and add a storage account. This means you can log in to your favorite third-party Cloud storage solution (OneDrive, Dropbox, Box, or Google Drive) to send files directly in your emails.

1. On the Settings menu, instead of tapping on Add Account, tap on Add Storage Account
2. Select the Cloud Storage system you want to use.

How to set up your email in Edison Mail

Edison is a great option because one of the standout features is the ability to unsubscribe to annoying newsletter type emails with one tap. If you have an issue with overflowing mailboxes with junk mail, then try Edison!

1. Launch Edison Mail on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Choose to let Edison access your contacts and whether or not to receive notifications from the app on the first launch.
3. Enter your Email address.
4. Tap on Add account.

5. Edison launches the provider's webpage for you to log in with your credentials.
6. Grant Edison permission to your account by tapping Allow.

7. Edison will ask you to enable Focused Inbox, which is a feature that lets Edison separate your emails into Essential and Non-essential. If you want to use it, tap on Try Focused Inbox.
8. You'll be redirected to your inbox.

Just like the other third-party mail apps, you can add another email account if you want to. Here's how!

1. Tap on the menu button in the top left corner (three lines).
2. Scroll down and tap on Settings in the bottom left corner.
3. Select Add Account in the Settings view.

4. Repeat steps 2 to 5 from the initial setup until you have all of your accounts in Edison.

How to set up your email in Newton Mail

The final option we have is Newton Mail. However, Newton is a subscription-based service, and it costs $50 a year. It costs money because it has amazingly powerful features like read receipts, send later, undo send, connects with many third-party apps and services, gives you a recap, snooze, and much more. Fortunately, you can try Newton out completely free for 14 days, no strings attached. Newton Mail also works with various services, including Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo, Hotmail/Outlook, iCloud, Google Apps, Office 365, and IMAP accounts.

1. Launch Newton Mail on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Select Get Started.
3. Choose your email provider.

4. Newton Mail launches the provider's webpage so you can log in with your credentials.
5. Make sure to tap on Allow to grant Newton access to your email account.
6. This email account will now be your Newton Account, so create a password to be associated with it.

8. You'll be taken to your inbox, but Newton Mail will also let you know that your 14-day trial has started.
9. Tap OK to confirm.

If you already had a Newton Account, you just needed to log in after the first step.

While Newton doesn't give you the option after the initial set up to add more accounts, you can always add them later. The email that you used to create the Newton Account means that's what you sign in with to sync all of your email accounts in Newton across multiple iPhones and iPads.

To link more email accounts with your Newton Account, do the following:

1. In the inbox view, tap on the menu button in the top left corner.
2. Tap on the Settings gear in the bottom right corner of the side menu.
3. Select Email Accounts.
4. Tap Add More.

5. Choose the email provider you want to add.
6. Newton directs you to the provider's webpage in the in-app browser, so you can log in with your credentials.
7. Confirm account access for Newton by tapping Allow.

8. The email account is now linked to your Newton Account and added to Newton Mail.
9. Repeat the steps above for as many accounts as you need.

What's next?

Congratulations! Now you know how to set up third-party email apps on iPhone and iPad. Now you need to choose the best email app for you. Here's a list of the best email apps for your iPhone or iPad, in case you're not sure which one to choose.

Questions?

These are five of the most popular email apps on the App Store, and it's easy as pie to set up your email in them and get going. What are you using for your email? Need more help with these apps? Let us know in the comments!

Updated October 2020: Includes iOS 14 and iPadOS 14 settings.

You might wonder why you'd need to disable image loading on your mail. Well, the answer is simple: Advertisers and spammers are getting smarter each day. And they love sending emails with images on them. At best, it's just an annoying email offering a product you don't need. At worst, someone could use these images to detect when the email is opened and potentially collect other information. To protect your devices from snoopers, you can disable image loading in your favorite mail app on both your computer and mobile device.

How to disable image loading in Gmail

In Gmail, you have the choice of always having email images load or disable image loading automatically, and having the system ask you before doing so.

1. On your computer, log into your Gmail account.
2. Click on the Settings wheel at the top right.
3. Select See all settings.

4. Under the Images section, click the Always display external images toggle.
5. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen.

1. On your computer, log into your Gmail account.
2. Click on the Settings wheel at the top right.
3. Select See all settings.

4. Under the Images section, click the Ask before displaying external images toggle.
5. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen.

When Ask before displaying external images is selected, Gmail disables dynamic email. When activated, at least through the web, you can complete specific tasks without leaving a message, such as filling out surveys or responding to comments.

1. Click on an email with remote images.
2. Select Display Images Below.
3. Click Always Display Images From to enable pictures to display automatically on future messages from this contact.

If you mainly use your iPhone or iPad to check your mails, you might want to disable image loading right from the Gmail app. Here's what you need to do:

1. Open the Gmail app.
2. Tap the Menu on the top left corner.
3. Scroll down and select Settings.

4. If you have multiple Gmail accounts, you'll need to select the email address you want to change.
5. Tap on Images.
6. Select Ask before displaying external images.

How to disable image loading in Apple Mail on Mac

Regardless of your email provider, you can disable image loading in the Mail app on your Mac:

1. Open the Mail app on your computer.
2. Click Mail on the Mac Toolbar.
3. Select Preferences under Mail.

4. Click the Viewing tab at the top of the screen.
5. Uncheck Load remote content in messages.

You can check the box to enable image loading once again.

On an email-to-email basis, you can still load remote content in the Mail app on Mac:

1. On those emails, click Load remote content at the top of the screen.

You can now see the remote content on the email.

How to disable image loading in Mail on iPhone and iPad

To disable image loading from your iPhone or iPad, follow these steps:

1. Tap the Settings app on your mobile device.
2. Scroll down and select Mail.
3. Toggle off Load Remote Images under Messages.

To see images on these emails:

1. Tap on the email in the iOS Mail app.
2. Select Load All Images at the top of the email.

How to disable image loading in Outlook on Mac

Much like you can do on the native Apple Mail app on Mac, you can also disable image loading on the official Outlook app.

By default, images aren't loaded on emails in Outlook. To change this:

1. Go into the Outlook for Mac app.
2. Click on Microsoft Outlook on the Toolbar.
3. Select Preferences.

4. Click Reading under Email.
5. Under Security, click Never so pictures aren't automatically downloaded from the internet. You can also select In all messages and In messages from my contacts, depending on your preference.

To see images on these emails:

1. Click on the email in the Outlook app for Mac
2. Select Load All Images at the top of the email.
3. Choose Download pictures.

To view images on the official Outlook iOS app:

1. Tap on an email in the app.
2. Tap Download Images at the top of an email.

How to disable image loading in other email programs

If you're using another email system on Mac or through the web, you can disable image loading by looking into the settings for that service. Most likely, this is listed as Settings or Preferences.

For a more straightforward approach, use the Apple Mail app for Mac for all of your email accounts. However, if you're not into the Mail app, you can always use other mail apps. Here are our top picks for the best mail apps for Mac..

Questions?

Let us know in the comments below!

Update October 2020: Added new details about the Gmail app on the iPhone and iPad on iOS 14.

I liked Postbox's previous versions when I reviewed them for other sites. But over the years, I drifted away from Postbox, Inc.'s eponymous pride and joy, and every other dedicated email app, in favor of just checking Gmail on the web. I spent so much time in my browser anyway that firing up another app to check or send messages seemed pointlessly time-consuming. Yet the brand new Postbox 7 has succeeded in turning my head.

The last version I tried layered impressive features atop the increasingly creaky underpinnings of Mozilla Thunderbird; Postbox 7, while still based on Mozilla code, has a far sturdier – and faster – foundation. The previous version looked stodgy, square, and gray; the new one blooms with 20 eye-pleasing themes. Add that to a frankly ridiculous level of useful abilities, and you've got an app that makes a solid case for keeping one less tab open in your browser.

$30 per year - Download now

The email client you never knew you wanted

Postbox is best described as "Apple Mail but with literally every feature you ever wished Apple Mail had, plus some other features, plus more features on top of those."

Sure, it does all the usual email-y things, quickly and well and in a nice-looking interface. It supports both IMAP and the increasingly rare, old-school POP mail. Colorful, well-labeled icons prevent confusion, message and thread headers come with handy previews and message counts to track data, and messages with inline photos and other formatting display beautifully. The aforementioned themes offer a lovely mix of colors and styles, both in light and dark mode, to suit any preference and personality.

Setup's a snap, too, whether you're starting fresh or importing settings from a previous version. I dreaded having to slog over to Gmail and create yet another app password, but nope! Postbox not only configured all its settings correctly based solely on my email address but also helpfully opened a window to Gmail to walk me through its end of the setup process automatically. And once that was finished, a flotilla of useful, coherent tutorial videos popped up for my edification.

The programmers' promise that Postbox 7 is three times as fast as its predecessor holds up, too. On an aging laptop or a modern iMac, the app felt fast and responsive – at least once it finished indexing all 2,000 of my downloaded messages. That process was understandably poky, but not agonizingly so. As with previous versions, Postbox's help files proved clear, concise, and easy to follow – which is good, because as you'll soon see, you'll probably want to consult them more than once.

In short, you can rest assured that Postbox 7 covers the basics well. But the more you venture off the beaten path of forwards and replies, the more you begin to see what Postbox can really do.

Calling all power users

Every client will show you messages, of course, and plenty also let you narrow those messages down to just the ones you've flagged as reminders. But Postbox also lets you view your messages by attachments or photos, and each view (once indexed) is fully searchable. You don't need to go trawling through piles of messages in search of that one adorable picture of your nephew when it's right there at your fingertips.

A similar helpful sidebar pops up in the Compose window, putting both attachments and images already in your inbox right at your fingertips, should you wish to send them along to friends. The Compose sidebar also adds a handy address book that instantly pulls in all your macOS Contacts. But if a separate Compose window's just too much to bother with, you can also compose a quick reply to any message right from the main message-viewing window.

But that's just the start of what Postbox can do. (This is where those aforementioned help files start coming in handy.) If you're juggling multiple accounts, you can set up "domain fencing" to ensure that you never accidentally send a personal email from a work account, or vice versa. Once properly warned, Postbox will flag any addresses that don't seem to match the domain you're sending from. (One would think any number of politicians might clamor for that particular feature.)

If you find yourself copying and pasting the same form email messages over and over and over, Postbox can save you the hassle. Its built-in responses feature lets you create as many different premade messages as you want, right at your fingertips in the compose window. (You can even name them so that they appear in custom-made nested categories within the Responses menu.) Its Placeholder feature uses simple snippets of code to mark places in those responses where Postbox can either automatically pull in data like the recipient's name or address, or just let you easily hopscotch through the message filling in those blanks yourself. And if you're pressed for time or just a particularly bad speller, Postbox even offers its own extensive library of professionally written responses for your use.

But wait, there's more! Postbox 7, not content to offer full HMTL editing of any message, also offers Clips — easily insertable chunks of custom HTML, including CSS styling, that you can add to any message. You can use its existing library of attractive-looking elements like captioned image blocks, pull quotes, bullets, and more to create beautiful email newsletters with ease or create your own custom clips alongside them.

And in addition to built-in support for Evernote and several other popular productivity apps, Postbox's Quick Post feature works with services like IFTTT and Zapier, and through them with apps like Trello and Slack, to quickly add service-friendly tags to an email and fire it off to those services for easy integration.

Postbox 7 has ditched its predecessor's Thunderbird-based add-ons but replaced them with Postbox Labs, a home for experimental (and largely unsupported) extensions and additions to the program's capabilities. At launch, the rather modest selection includes the ability to encrypt your mail through OpenPGP.

Before you lunge for your wallet…

Obviously, I liked Postbox 7 a lot – but that doesn't mean it's perfect. I ran into annoying but non-dealbreaker hiccups during my test of the program. One email address, copied from Microsoft Outlook, pasted in strangely, and repeated attempts to edit it couldn't manage to fix it. Another time, a fresh install of the app wouldn't index my messages until I quit the program and reopened it.

Postbox 7 is also way, way, way more email client than most human beings will ever need. Unless you rely heavily on email in your professional life or really dig all of Postbox's integrations with other productivity tools, you can probably get by with Apple Mail or your web-based mail of choice. That's especially true since Postbox 7 has switched to the dreaded subscription-based app model. If you want to enjoy its considerable splendor, expect to pay $30 every year for the privilege.

My verdict

If you live and die by email, that $30 could be money well spent. Postbox runs like a champ, looks like a dream, works like a different and mostly good but very occasionally weird and confusing dream, and has more cool tricks stuffed into it than one of those high-end Swiss Army knives the approximate thickness of a paperback book. You might not need an email client this great, but if you do, you likely won't find a better one.

$30 per year - Download now

You can use your Apple Watch not only to check your email, but also to send a response. Here's everything to know about using the native Mail app on your wearable device.

Select the mailboxes to use on Apple Watch

To decide which of your configured email accounts are accessible on Apple Watch:

1. Tap on the Apple Watch app on your iPhone Home screen.
2. Select Mail under the My Watch tab.
3. Tap Mirror my iPhone.

4. Select Include Mail.
5. Check/Uncheck the mail accounts and folders to include on Apple Watch.

Viewing mail on Apple Watch

To see mail on Apple Watch:

1. Tap on the Digital Crown on your wearable device.
2. Select the Mail app.
3. Tap an account or mailbox to view its contents.

Answering a message

1. Tap on a message in the Mail app on Apple Watch.
2. Firmly press the display.
3. Tap Reply.

4. You can answer a message in four different ways: through voice, using the sketch button, with an emoji, or with one of the canned messages.

Delete, mark as unread or read, or flag a message

1. Tap on a message in the Mail app on Apple Watch.
2. Firmly press the display.
3. To delete a message, tap Trash.
4. To mark a messge unread or read, tap Unread or Read.
5. To flag a message, tap Flag.

Try some new bands

Looking for a new Apple Watch band? Check out three of our favorites:

Genuine soft leather band ($25 at Amazon)

If you like a leather band, but want something a bit outside the norm, then check out these inexpensive leather bands, which come in three colors and have extra holes so that they breathe and have a sportier look about them.

Woven nylon band with buckle ($22 at Amazon)

This comfortable woven nylon band features the durable and long-lasting NATO (G10) strap design, which has a buckle and is built for all-day wear. The connectors are black steel so that they blend in seamlessly.

Faux diamond/rhinestone metal bracelet ($20 at Amazon)

For more of a pop, this band contains fake diamonds/rhinestones, with wider spaces in each link, available in silver, gold, black, and rose gold. It's the perfect dress band and matches well with the Apple Watch colors. Available for the 38mm and 40mm watches.

Questions

Do you have any questions about your Apple Watch? Let us know below.

SmallCubed Software's MailSuite is a $60 collection of plug-ins for Apple's mail app designed to help you organize and manage your mail. The suite consists of four components: MailTags, Mail Act-On, Mail Perspectives, and SigPro, each of which previously lived as standalone plug-ins you could purchase individually and which are now sold as a single package. Each of these plugins is an enhancement to Apple's Mail app. You have the option of choosing to install them all or you can select only those plug-ins you want to use.

A fully working version of MailSuite can be downloaded and tested at no charge for 60 days. This is a generous test period and should give you more than enough time to determine whether or not this is a valuable tool for you to use. I used the trial version for this review.

See at SmallCube

• MailTags provides excellent message management and action tools
• Setup of the plug-ins is made easy because of an excellent installation tool

• Nearly non-existent documentation
• Non-responsive tech support
• Difficult-to-discover features

As MailSuite is a collection of plug-ins for Mail, you'll need to do a little bit of setup before you can put MailSuite to work. The initial installation is easy and the installer app provides excellent instructions on the changes you'll need to make so the app has access to the information it needs in order to work properly. This includes changes to the Security and Privacy System Preference, enabling full disk access for MailSuite, and enabling the plug-in in the Mail app so it can make changes to and track messages in Mail. MailSuite smoothly guides you through this process, making it easy to get the suite installed and running.

No Help

While setup was friction free, figuring out how to use MailSuite was not nearly so simple. It was at times opaque, confusing, and difficult to discover. Occasionally it was all those things at once. To get started, I tried to find a help document or something along the lines of "Getting Started with MailSuite." There wasn't one. MailSuite does add a MailSuite menu to your Mail app, but this only includes links to enable each of the plug-ins and links to the SmallCubed website. I did finally discover some information on the MailSuite support site, but there was no specific documentation for MailTags or Mail Act-On, and limited documentation for Mail Perspectives and SigPro. In short, I was largely left to my own devices when it came to learning how to use these tools.

I also sent three messages to SmallCube's support site, all with the same support request number. I have, as of publishing, yet to hear anything from support, other than an automatically generated, "We've gotten your message and we'll get back to you."

MailTags

MailTags is the crown jewel of the SmallCubed MailSuite, with easily discoverable features and a fairly obvious interface. It's also a devilishly simple tool for organizing your email messages and the only one of all the MailSuite plug-ins that I like.

MailTags uses a tagging feature, similar to what you'll find within macOS, to help you quickly organize your messages and queue them up for some future action. Tagging is an open database format, which means you don't have to create pre-defined tags to make tagging work for you. You can create new tags on the fly as you need them. So, for example, if I was sending an email to my editor about this review, I could tag that email message with iMore, Lory, and Reviews and then I could use any of those tags and Mail's Spotlight search to organize, find, and retrieve those messages in the future. This can eliminate or enhance your use of Smart Mailboxes or folders for organizing mail messages you receive.

You add tags using a modification MailTags makes to the Mail app. Create, view, or reply to a mail message and you'll see a small tag just below the Reply-To: section of that email message. Click the tag icon and a small sheet appears that allows you to add tags and action items, including adding ticklers, notes, and setting priority levels for the message, and this is in addition to the tags you use to organize those messages. All of this adds up to a tool that supercharges your email and has the potential to supercharge your workflow.

And the Other Three

The other three plug-ins hold promise, but a significant lack of documentation results in a lack of clarity on how to configure and make the best use of Mail Perspectives, SigPro, and Mail Act-On. It also wouldn't have hurt if I'd gotten at least one response back from SmallCubed support. So, keep this in mind if you choose to purchase MailSuite. You may have a steep learning curve that consists of digging in and figuring out what each app does and what you have to do to make it work for you, with limited support from SmallCubed.

Mail Perspectives is like QuickLook for your mail messages. Using Mail Perspectives you create "views"—essentially, small floating inboxes —for the email accounts you specify. This allows you to quickly check your email at a glance without having to bring up Mail's main window. You can also view entire messages and reply to them by selecting a message in the View window and hitting the spacebar. You can snap off a new email message using the view window's Compose button. Views are Space aware, so they work well with Mission Control.

SigPro is a plug-in that allows you to create and use dynamic signatures for all your email addresses. To do this you use drag-and-drop variables and fixed text within a normal Apple Mail signature. Once you define the text and variables, selecting a SigPro-enabled signature can dynamically change your signature to reflect the email address you're sending a message from and can include links to your Skype handle for Skype calls, and information about what you're currently listening to on iTunes.

Mail Act-On is the black hole of the SmallCubed MailSuite. This plug-in is designed to help you perform a variety of tasks on every email message you send. Presumably, you should be able to automatically move messages to archives or inboxes, set dates, and reminders for action items you need to take on a particular message. It appears that some of these features are integrated into MailTags, as there are action items you can take on mail messages within the MailTags sheet. Otherwise, without digging into the Mail Act-On preference, it was really unclear how to use this feature or how to make changes to it and there was nothing that helped me easily discover how to use it.

As it happens, I did dig around a bit, as that's my job, and I finally figured out how to access Mail Act-On within mail, add new actions, create reply templates, and use many of the plug-in's other features. But this plugin really needs documentation and there is absolutely none.

Here's another reality: If you buy a utility like Keyboard Maestro, and you're willing to spend a little bit of time with it, you can do everything that you find in Mail Act-On and SigPro, plus you can use Keyboard Maestro to do a million other things, all with excellent documentation.

Mail It In

MailTags is the only reason you'd want to step into SmallCubed's MailSuite. Of the four plug-ins, it is, as noted above, a powerful tool for organizing and managing your email messages. But $60 is a lot to pay for that one utility. There may be more value in the other plug-ins, but those benefits are not easily discoverable and, with tech support that appears to be non-responsive, it's likely not worth your time or money investing in the entire SmallCubed MailSuite.

See at SmallCube

Mail Managed

Finding the right tools to make managing your email easy can be a challenge. What do you use to make your mail great?

There's an old aphorism—the best things in life are free—that is rarely applied to the tech world. Yes, your social media life and some of the email services you may be using are "free," as long as you understand that that "free" comes with a cost: You aren't spending money you're spending personal capital. Which is to say, you're giving yourself away, a bit at a time, with every email you send and receive. MX Guarddog turns that understanding on its head, providing you with powerful SPAM, virus, malware, filtering at a price that is legitimately free. Yup! Free.

See at MX Guarddog

At what price, "free"?

I stumbled across MX Guarddog, kind of accidentally on purpose, about 5 years ago. I had been paying for a service called Postini to filter SPAM for email on domains I owned and for clients who were also hosting their own email. Google bought Postini and in 2012 they rolled its features into Google Apps. I started looking for something else.

After spending a couple of weeks trying different software for my Macs and PCs and playing with a number of other services I realized that, no matter what I used, it was going to cost a fortune and be a management nightmare. So I searched for something like, "inexpensive SPAM filtering" and up popped MX Guarddog.

I confess... I thought it was a scam.

I sent several skeptical email messages to see if I could figure out what the other shoe was and when it was going to drop. They responded to everything I sent with patience and understanding.

There was no other shoe.

All they wanted was a basic text link on my web pages. No glitzy images. No big banner ad. No "filtered by MX Guarddog" in every email message. Just a simple text link. That was it. Nothing more. Yes, you can pay for MX Guarddog. It will cost you .25¢/email address/month. But a simple link makes everything free.

Done.

The setup

To use MX Guarddog you need to be hosting your own email or be using a service that hosts your email and you need to be able to make changes to your mail exchanger record (MX Record) so that instead of directing mail to your mail servers, all of your domain's email is directed to MX Guarddog's servers. MX Guarddog can automatically import accounts for filtering by linking to your hosting service's CPanel, a standard tool used by many hosting services, or by linking your Active Directory, LDAP, OpenLDAP, IBM Domino, or Zimbra server to the service.

Once you've made those changes you're done. As soon as the updated MX Record information is pushed to the Internet's DNS servers, any new mail sent to your email addresses is pushed through MX Guarddog's servers and the messages get checked for SPAM, phishing attempts, viruses, and all types of email evil-doing.

The finish

What happens to your email?

The good stuff, the email messages without any problems, get sent directly to your inbox, just like you want them to. Problematic emails are stored on MX Guarddog's servers in a quarantine. Users receive a daily quarantine report that they can scan for legit email messages. If everything is junk, they don't have to do anything; MX Guarddog drops items from the quarantine after seven days. If an email message in the quarantine is legit, just click it to release the message and whitelist the address the email came from.

Simple.

If you're on the fence, you can use MX Guarddog for free, which is to say, without a link on your website, for 30 days.

The upshot

MX Guarddog is a solid tool for controlling the onslaught of SPAM aimed at your inbox. Easy to set up and simple to manage, if you're the master of your domain email, MX Guarddog is all you need to keep your inboxes SPAM, malware, and virus free.

See at MX Guarddog

What do you use to manage SPAM on your network and domain-based email?

Do you have a go-to service for filtering SPAM? What's your preferred service and why is it special?

Airmail, the third-party email app for Mac, has received a lot of new features and improvements with version 3.0, and the app is now more in line with its counterpart for iPhone and iPad, adding Smart Folders, VIP contacts and notifications, and "send later" support for Gmail and Exchange accounts. Airmail will now also sync rules, VIP contacts, and Smart Folders over iCloud between iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Here are the major new features that you'll find in Airmail for Mac 3.0:

• Smart Folders
• VIP Contacts
• VIP notifications
• Actions
• Send Later (Gmail and Exchange)
• Customizable Menu
• Customizable Gestures
• Customizable Keyboard Shortcuts
• Customizable Folders
• Calendar integration (apply to new permissions)
• Fuzzy Label, Move to
• Message Rendering Engine
• Action Space Key to scroll
• Action Unsubscribe
• Rules Export/Import
• iCloud sync for Rules, VIP Contacts and Smart Folders
• Rules can Forward messages 
• Integration Asana
• Integration Trello
• Gmail (Primary Inbox support)
• Redesigned threads

Airmail 3.0 is a free update for existing users, and can be found now on the Mac App Store.

• $9.99 - Download Now

Spark, the email app from Readdle, has been updated to version 1.6, adding support for the iPad, including the iPad Pro. The app has also added support for watchOS 2, and spruced up some of the parts of the user interface.

To go along with iPad support, Spark will also now sync your email accounts and settings across devices. This is done through iCloud, so you don't need to create a new account in order to sync.

Spark also now supports a total of nine languages, including English, German, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, and Portuguese.

You can grab Spark for iPhone and iPad from the App Store now. Readdle is also working on a Mac version of the app, though they have yet to announce a release timeline.

• Free - Download Now

Popular Mac email app Airmail is now available for iOS, offering a wide array of features including the ability to snooze emails, interactive notifications, filters, multiple account support, customizable swipe actions, Apple Watch support, and so much more. Airmail works with most service providers like Gmail, Google Apps, Microsoft Exchange, IMAP (iCloud) and POP3, and has third-party integration with Drive, Dropler, Box, OneDrive and Dropbox.

Airmail also offers iCloud sync, which means that your account settings and preferences will be synced from your iPhone to your Mac and vice-versa. Here's a quick rundown of some of the features that you'll get with Airmail:

• Accounts support: GMAIL, EXCHANGE, IMAP and, POP3
• Push Notifications, with VIP and Custom actions.
• Push Notifications, full body preview and custom sound.
• Badge, Unread, Messages, and New
• Apple Watch app with glance and interactive notifications
• Customizable Swipes
• Thread and single message support
• Snooze Messages, Bulk Editing, Drafts, Aliases, Multiple signatures and Unified Inbox
• Horizontal layout
• 3D Touch quick access, Peek and Pop
• iCloud Sync Mac/iOS, iCloud Sync Label color Mac/iOS, iCloud Account settings sync Mac/iOS, iCloud Preference sync Mac/iOS, iCloud VIP sync
• Handoff Mac/iOS

A dedicated version for the iPad is in the works, and will be available at a later date. If you're frustrated with the email client you're currently using and are looking for a more customizable option, look no further.

• $4.99 - Download Now

Airmail for Mac has picked up an update to version 2.6, featuring a redesigned menu, ability to defer emails, a utility that lets you resize attachment images, and more.

Here's a full list of the features introduced in version 2.6:

• Snooze!
• Attachments Image Resize
• New Smart Unread Selection - Use "Mark Always" for the old behaviour
• New shortcut W - Full Menu Access
• New shortcut D - Snooze
• New shortcut Z - Send to Services
• Redesigned Menu
• Fixed Google Authentication Window
• Fix LDAP not persisted
• Fix Message Scroll issue
• Fix on Snooze on GMT
• Fix Exchange attachment send
• Fix Search in threads

For the uninitiated, the third-party client offers a slew of features, such as the ability to attach directly from your iCloud account, Handoff support, Today View, and a unified inbox if you've got more than one email account.

• $9.99 - Download Now

Spark, Readdle's email app for iPhone, has been updated to version 1.5, bringing support for per-account default signatures. You can also customize the actions you can take on a notification, and improvements have been made to Spark's Move feature.

Spark 1.5 features the following enhancements:

• Default signature: One of your most requested feature is here - now you can assign a default signature to each email account.
• Custom swipes in notifications: For those who gets a lot of notifications, we added custom swipe in notification actions.
• Intelligent Email Move: We've made Move even better and now you can use search for faster work. Moreover, the most important folders are available in Suggestions.
• Zoom HTML Emails: It was planned from day one. Now your can zoom in and out HTML emails.
• Enhanced performance and stability.

Readdle, which also makes apps like PDF Expert, Calendars, and Documents, is working on an iPad version of Spark, which it says its plans to release soon. A Mac version of the app is also in the works.

You'll find Spark for iPhone 1.5 on the App Store now.

• Free - Download Now

Spark, the email app from Readdle, has been updated with support for even more features in iOS 9, as well as expanded support for 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s. Notably Spark now supports "peeks" and "pops" of email and attachments, letting you take a quick look at a message or file before opening it completely.

Spark 1.2.2 also features support for Spotlight search, along with a few fixes. Here's everything you'll find in the update:

Spark supports the latest and greatest iOS 9 and iPhone 6s.

iOS 9 spotlight search comes handy once you want to find something in Spotlight.

Quick Actions allow you easily Compose a new email or view your calendar - just press harder on the Spark icon to see all options.

More 3D Touch support for happy iPhone 6S owners:

• Peek into Emails to quickly preview what's inside.
• Peek into Attachments to find the right one fast.
• Use Quick Actions to access Compose, Search and Inbox from your home screen.

And some improvements for everyone else:

• Background email refresh is faster and more energy efficient
• Rare issue with Inbox sync for some Gmail accounts is fixed
• "Message was moved or deleted" bug has been eliminated

Spark 1.2.2 for iPhone is avaialble now in the App Store.

• Free - Download Now

Spark, the email app from Readdle, has hit version 1.1, bringing support for rich HTML signatures, email aliases for Google, iCloud, and Yahoo accounts, and more swipe options, including swiping to Spam, or to a connected cloud service of your choice. You can also add multiple attachments from services like Dropbox

You can check out all of the new goodies in Spark 1.1 in the list below:

• HTML Signatures: Create feature-rich email signatures with images and links.
• Swipe to Evernote: Save emails to Evernote with a single swipe.
• New Swipe Options: Customize your swipes: move to Dropbox, Box, swipe to Spam, etc.
• Email Aliases: Use your email aliases to send emails with Spark. Works with iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo.
• Move Emails Like A Pro: Move multiple emails at once between different email accounts.
• Attach Several Files at Once: Select multiple documents or photos and attach them with a single tap.

Spark 1.1 is available for download from the App Store right now.

• Free - Download Now

Third-party email app Boxer, one of the best mail apps for iPhone, has hit version 6.0, adding several major new features. Most notably, Boxer now offers integrated contacts and calendars, offering an integrated solution in a single app, much like Microsoft's Outlook or Readdle's Spark.

Boxer's Calendar and Contact features integrate well with email. For instance, not only can you simply add an appointment or invitation from an email, but you can also send your availability without needing to move back and forth between apps. Boxer will also keep track of your favorite contacts, with favorites and most recent contacts just one tap away.

As for email, Boxer's signature feature, it has received some substantial updates as well, which you can find in the list below:

• Full screen iPad view
• Set account colors
• Tap an email address to add contacts
• Set 'unread inbox' as default view
• Perform actions from the lock screen
• Unread messages are now highlighted
• Apple Watch support for notifications
• Create calendar invites from email
• New calendar invite card. More than accepting/declining events, your invite now tells you whether or not you're busy.

You can grab Boxer 6.0 from the App Store right now.

• $4.99 - Download Now

The feature launched in May, and is now available for Inbox on Android, iOS and the web. Undo Send allows you to unsend an e-mail up to ten seconds after you've hit the send button, with an "Undo" button appearing next to the delivery notification.

Inbox launched last year with an invite-only system, but is now available for everyone to download.

Source: Google: Via: TheNextWeb

There are several enhancements in Airmail 2.1. The app has a new layout for the message composer, and now supports Fantastical 2. When you add a Gmail account to Airmail, you can now view threaded conversations in Gmail accounts. Items can now also be sent to the app's extension.

You can see all of the changes and improvements in the list below:

• New Icon
• New Composer Layout
• New Sort menu shortcuts
• New Gmail Threads (New Accounts Only )
• New Fantastical 2 Support
• New "Send To extension""
• New Permanently deleted form trash
• New Save attachments as
• New Move Thread behavior
• New Import accounts
• Improved Printing/Pdf Multiple messages
• Improved Privacy (prevent execute some scripting)
• Improved Operations
• Improved Reminders and Calendars (multiple events)
• Improved plugins handling
• Improved case sensitive accounts.
• Improved Gestures
• Improved Drafts
• Improved Send and Send again
• Improved Search (New Accounts Only )
• Improved Search in quoted Messages
• Fix Quick reply mapped correctly
• Fix Mark as read bug
• Fix Hangs
• Fix Crashes related to the message display
• Fixed Cancel on Send Delay
• Reverted ToDo, Memo, Done Layout
• Removed Local Flags
• Removed Menu on Message list

You can grab Airmail 2.1 from the Mac App Store right now. The app is on sale for a limited time for $9.99, 50% off its normal price of $19.99. For more on Airmail 2, be sure to check out our full app review.

• $9.99 (normally $19.99) - Download Now

Mail Pilot version 2.0 is now available for both iPhone and iPad and includes a lot of refinements and new features that make your inbox even easier to manage. With the addition of iCloud sync, better gestures, and enhanced navigation, Mail Pilot 2 transforms your emails into individual tasks so you can get things done even faster.

If you've used Mail Pilot prior to the new version, you'll still feel right at home. The overall experience is more refined, more mature even. Mail Pilot 2 supports a few different color schemes, all of which are tasteful and beautiful. The most important feature remains easy access to the inbox — you'e only ever one downward swipe away. Yes, I've accidentally triggered Notification Center a few times by swiping to close to the top, but overall its a productivity win.

Mail Pilot works much the same as other email apps that use scheduling and snoozing. You can archive mail, delete it, or save it for later. If you save it for later, you can choose a time and date for it to re-appear in your inbox. However, Mail Pilot takes things one step further and also allows you to create lists. It's not unique to Mail Pilot, but it's powerful none the less. With lists you can group emails from any account you have linked. All messages added to these lists then show up in one view, regardless of whether or not they're saved to the same email account.

The main difference between Mail Pilot and other "getting things done" type mail apps is the level of organization and structure. Since Mail Pilot literally turns your inbox into a todo list, it should mean that less will slip through the cracks. Until you actually mark a message as complete, it will remain in your inbox. Marking a message as complete moves in into the archive. If you want more actions, just hold down on a message and you have several options to flick messages away.

The good

• Clean design that's easy to navigate
• One swipe away from your inbox, no matter where you are
• Great drafts support
• Multiple ways to organize which makes Mail Pilot 2 even more flexible than ever
• Attachment support for most used cloud storage services

The bad

• If you're not precise when swiping down, you can unintentionally activate Notification Center
• Bulk edit mode is difficult to find (you have to swipe down on the inbox message view to reveal a select button)
• No native push notifications, background app refresh only
• No oAuth support for Google

The bottom line

Mail Pilot 2 is a decent refinement to what was already a good product. The price point may be a barrier of entry for a lot of people but for anyone who wants complete control of every detail — and are okay sacrificing true push to get it, Mail Pilot may be worth it to them.

To celebrate the launch of Mail Pilot 2, Mindsense is discounting the price to $7.99, normally $9.99. You can also snag the Mac app for $14.99 right now, normally $19.99. If you pick up either, let us know in the comments what you think!

• Mail Pilot 2 for iOS - $9.99, $7.99 on sale - Download Now
• Mail Pilot for Mac - $19.99, $14.99 on sale - Download Now

Outlook is Microsoft's relaunch of Acompli, the iPhone and iPad email app they acquired last December. It's been rebranded but it still supports not only Microsoft Exchange and Outlook mail accounts, but Google, iCloud, and Yahoo as well. For file storage, you can instantly hook into Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and Box. There are focus lists and scheduling options to help you get through your inbox faster, and your calendar is only ever a tap away.

Not only does Outlook support all these services and perform all these tasks, it does so exceptionally well. So well in fact, it may be the mail app you've been waiting for.

When you launch Outlook on your iPhone or iPad you're asked to configure your accounts, both email and file storage. If you don't want to set them all up right away, you can always add more later through the Settings section.

One of my favorite things about the Outlook app is the navigation along the bottom. I can single-handedly tap between my inbox, calendar, files, and recent contacts — even on an iPhone 6 Plus. In the mail tab, Microsoft has two main inbox views to help you get through your mail; Focused and Other. The Focused list smartly moves things that Outlook thinks are important to you. All other messages are filtered into Other.

At first I wasn't sure what the Focused list was actually doing. As time went on, however, I realized it was picking up and filtering spam messages, bulk emails, and other kinds of content that I really didn't need to concentrate on. All that was left were emails from developers, my family, my editors, and anything else that I had scheduled for later.

Speaking of scheduling emails, yes Outlook does that too. The first time you attempt to schedule a message, you're asked if you want to set up a scheduled box. This is a single folder that appears in your folder directory. After that, you're done. I prefer the implementation Microsoft is using for snoozing emails to Mailbox's. Mailbox wants to create all new file structures in my accounts. I already have folders set up and have for years, let me use them.

Outlook also lets you set up gestures, however, you can't have more than one function per gesture. For example, in Mailbox I typically slide part way to the left to archive and all the way to delete. In Outlook, part way or all the way achieves the same results.

Bulk email handling, by contrast, is really well implemented. If you tap and hold on any message in your inbox, you enter bulk edit mode. You can tap on more emails to select multiple messages to manage. I tend to delete messages more than I archive them, so I set a swipe gesture for delete and if I need to archive, I can do it in as little as two taps.

Outlook dedicates an entire tab Calendars. While it won't replace Fantastical 2 on my iPhone or iPad Home screen any time soon, it's convenient to be able to toggle to my calendar and see if something conflicts without having to leave the app. I would, however, like to see Microsoft do more in terms of sharing and attaching events inside the Outlook. A month view would also be a welcome addition.

In terms of file integration, I love what Outlook brings to the table. One tap and I have access to every single file in my inbox, whether it was a regular attachment, a Dropbox file, or a Google Drive document. I can even see stuff I have stored that isn't in my email. We use Google Drive a lot at Mobile Nations for shared spreadsheets and I use Dropbox to house a lot of my own attachments, so having both in one feed is bliss. If any single feature will sell me on using Outlook on a regular basis, file handling will be it.

The good

• File management is epic, seriously
• Bulk mail management is better than most other clients
• Scheduling only adds one single folder to your email's file directory, not several like other email services do to accomplish the exact same snooze abilities
• Notifications are blazing fast, and lots of tone options, yay
• Awesome landscape view for iPhone 6 Plus owners

The bad

• Draft support - I've been spoiled by Apple giving me draft cards that I can flick away so having to dig through a file system for drafts bums me out
• Reaching from Focus to Other in the inbox view one handed is a chore on an iPhone 6 Plus, perhaps some UI magic there would alleviate some of that frustration
• Calendar integration could use a month view and better share options

The bottom line

Microsoft didn't destroy Acompli when they turned it into Outlook. If anything, they made it better. Little issues aside, Outlook for iPhone and iPad is a valuable tool for any working professional using any iOS device. The direction Microsoft took feels right this time and if they can follow through, Outlook could just be the mobile mail app many of us have been waiting for.

• Free - Download Now

When I reviewed Airmail last year, it was arguably the best mail app available for the Mac. Since then, I've used a handful of other apps before ultimately settling on the Mailbox for Mac beta. However, Airmail 2 just landed, combining the same advanced features with an even better Yosemite-style interface. So, is it enough to regain my heart, and the OS X mail app crown?

Airmail 2 includes the ability to upload attachments for iCloud accounts, a Today View widget, action extensions, and sharing extensions. This makes Airmail even more convenient on the Mac. As usual, you can set universal shortcuts for both composing new messages and for calling up Airmail.

Airmail 2 supports almost every account type you can throw at it, including Exchange. Airmail is also a pro with aliases and Gmail labels. I've had very few times that I've added labels or had syncing problems. If I did, Airmail has a nifty tool in settings that allows you to easily rescan folders. This has fixed any syncing problems 100% of the time. You can also scan your local address books too right from the start so Airmail can easily auto-complete emails as you type them.

One of my biggest concerns when switching back to Airmail was my habit of "snoozing" messages in Mailbox. I manage most of my mail on my Mac and only really use mobile when I need to quickly respond to something or refer to something. While Airmail has a more traditional approach to mail, you do have the option to mark items as starred or transforming them into todos.

If you star a message, it'll show up as flagged in other mail apps, including Apple's Mail app for iOS. The todo option highlights the message as red in Airmail for Mac and also shows them in the Todo section of the Today Widget. If you want another level of organization, you can also mark messages as memos.

For the first 24 hours I twitched slightly about having messages in my inbox since I have become so accustomed to clearing it out on a regular basis. With Mailbox, I'm at "inbox zero" whenever possible and "snooze things" where appropriate for later. However, since I deal with most of my mail on my Mac, the todo and memo workflow works really well. I only wish it translated better to iOS, whether in the form of an Airmail app or something else.

The good

• Keyboard shortcuts for archive and trash make triaging your inbox a breeze
• Lots of advanced features to play with for all kinds of account types
• Yosemite interface is very nicely done and includes many welcome features such as a today widget

The bad

• No snooze options like other email apps such as Mailbox
• No iOS app

The bottom line

Airmail 2 is one of the most customizable and powerful mail apps available for Mac. If you can think of a setting you want to customize, you most likely can. However, all of that may be more than most people need. If you want complete control, Airmail is for you. If you want simplicity, or you're an inbox-zero kind of person, you might want something else.

• $19.99, $9.99 on sale - Buy now

If you have yet to receive an invite to try out Inbox, you could get one very quickly later this evening. Google will accept all requests to try out their Gmail-based email management app from 3-4 pm Pacific Time (6-7 PM Eastern Time) today.

All you have to do is email inbox@google.com sometime in that 60 minute time period and Google claims you will get your Inbox invite by 5 pm Pacific (8 pm Eastern). If you are unsure if you want to try out Inbox, Android Central's editor-in-chief Phil Nickinson wrote some of his hands-on impressions of the app a few days ago.

• Free - Download now

Source: Inbox (Twitter)

Every day dozens and dozens of new and updated apps and games hit the iOS and Mac App Stores. More still go on sale all the time. It's impossible to keep up with them all, but it's not impossible to pick out the very best. Here they are!

New iOS apps

• Scenes: A new photo editing app with support for layers, opacity, and fine grain filter control. $0.99 (on sale) - Download now
• Polymo: A replacement camera app for iPhone that focuses on simplicity and organization. Add tags before you start shooting and watch your collection become organized before your eyes. With a clean layout and private mode, Polymo is worth looking at if you're considering a replacement camera app. $1.99 - Download Now

Updated iOS apps

• Angry Birds Epic: Bug fixes galore for the turn-based combat RPG featuring everybody's favorite furious fowl. Free, IAPs - Download now
• Jelly Mania: New chapters added to this candy-themed match-3 puzzle game. - Free, IAPs - Download now
• StartFX: A sharp-looking app for new foreign exchange traders. Latest update adds educational services info, analytics, and news feeds. - Free - Download now
• AIM: The classic instant messaging app reintroduces the presence icon, so you can tell if a contact is using the app or SMS. Can now set the return key to send messages. Free - Download Now
• Game of Thrones Ascent: The casual strategy game based on the hit book and TV series has introduced World Events. Free, IAPs - Download now
• GoodReader: Popular PDF reader adds background Google Drive sync. $6.99 - Download now
• ProCamera 7: Superfunctional camera app brings back audio trigger. $0.99 - Download now

Discounted iOS apps

• Trimaginator: Turn your photos into funky triangular mosaics. Alter points and stretch out triangles to make some truly unique images. $3.99 Free - Download now
• Retromatic: Add some vintage flair to your pictures. $1.99 Free - Download now

Updated Mac apps

• Marked 2: A strong desktop Markdown editor has been updated to include a special GitHub-flavored editor. $9.99 (launch special) - Download now
• Airmail: A replacement mail app with support for multiple accounts, Dropbox, and many other third party apps. This update adds official support for Fantastical, new actions, Omnifocus 2 support, and lots more. $1.99 - Download Now

More apps and updates?

If you try any of the apps or updates, let me know how they work for you. If you got any new or updated apps today that you loved, but don't see here, let us know about them!

I like to use my iOS devices as extensions of each other. The Home screen of my retina iPad mini in many ways mirrors the one on my iPhone because these are the apps that I want to have access to no matter which screen I'm using. I use one of Apple's iOS 7 wallpapers, and I keep only a few of Apple's stock apps on my screen, but they are the ones I use constantly.

• Wallpaper: While I change my wallpaper frequently, my current favorite is iPad variant of the Seas by Louie Mantia, and you can find this and more like it over on his website.
• Fantastical: I was so happy when Fantastical came to iPad back in April. Flexibits did a great job in turning Fantastical into a full-fledged iPad app. The iPad is the tool I use for scheduling, and Fantastical makes it easier than it's ever been. $14.99 - Download Now
• Youtube: I find that a lot of the video watching that I used to do on a laptop now takes place on the iPad. That includes a lot of YouTube videos. Just as I do on my phone, I make use of AiRPlay to send videos from my iPad to my Apple TV. Free - Download Now
• Dark Sky: - Dark Sky replaced The Weather Channel as my go-to weather app on the iPad. It makes good use of the screen real estate of the iPad, confining the three different weather readouts to one screen as oppsed to three on the iPhone. $3.99 - Download Now
• Editorial: I write mostly on my Mac, but every now and then I like to get some work done on my iPad. Editorial is the best text editor for iPad that I've used, bar none. It supports Markdown, supports Dropbox exactly how I need it to (you'd be surprised how hard that is to find), and features TextExpander support. The workflows you can build turn Editorial into a mobile blogging powerhouse. $6.99 - Download Now
• Simplenote: Simplenote is for in-depth notes that I need to be able to access on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The syncing is easy to set up and very fast and reliable. Free - Download Now
• Facebook: I don't make as much use of Facebook for iPad as its place on my Home screen would suggest, but it's good to have there when I just want to browse through Facebook on my downtime. Free - Download Now
• Tweetbot: Tapbots hasn't released an iOS 7-style refresh of Tweetbot for iPad as they have on the iPhone, but Tweetbot remains my iPad Twitter client of choice none the less. While the asthetics are outdated, the functionality is not. I have yet to find a Twitter client that meets my needs quite like Tweetbot. $2.99 - Download Now
• Tumblr: Tumblr's official app is just as fun to use on the iPad as it is on the iPhone. Searching through popular and recent posts in tags is easy, and the number of apps and services that Tumblr can connect to gives me a number of sharing options beyond the standard iOS set. Free - Download Now
• Instapaper: This app has been one of my favorites since before the iPad. Instapaper has been my go-to read-it-later service for years now. $3.99 - Download Now
• Audible: As with Pocket Casts, i find the iPad version of Audible useful when I need to charge my phone or listen to audiobooks through a speaker. Free - Download Now
• 1Password: My password manager of choice on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac. I have a lot of accounts, and I use the app's password generator to create new passwords that are unique, complex, and secure. Because I've started using more complicated passwords, I keep 1Password on my Home screen to quickly access them when I need them. It's especially useful when I need my complex passwords in apps, where iCloud Keychain doesn't work. $17.99 - Download Now.
• iBooks: I mostly read books on my Kindle Paperwhite, but every now and then I purchase something from the iBookstore. I also use iBooks to read and organize my gaming-related PDFs and any user guides I might have. Free - Download Now
• Launch Center Pro: If I'm creating something on my iPad, Launch Center Pro is usually how I get it started. While the iPhone app mostly facilitates communication and scheduling, on the iPad Launch Center is my go-to to start documents, launch bookmarks, and open entertainment apps. $4.99 - Download Now
• Beats Music: This is my streaming music service of choice. I prefer the curation features to those of other services, and I think that it does music organization the best of all of the services that I've tried. Free - Download Now
• Pocket Casts: I actually use the iPad version of Pocket Casts frequently. I find it especially useful when I wish to listen to new podcast episodes through a speaker and the battery on my iPhone has worn down. $3.99 - Download Now
• Mailbox: I complete the same sorts of tasks on multiple devices, and I like to use the same app on all of them whenever I can. As on the iPhone, Mailbox is my email client of choice on the iPad. Mailbox lets me easily sort and archive my mail with gestures that are easy to use. Saving and email for later is easily my most-used feature. Free - Download Now

So that's my first Home screen. My second page holds interesting or fun apps, but I don't use most of them regularly. My third page is full of folders. My first page never stays exactly the same for very long. What do you keep on your Home screen, and how do you decide what goes on your front page?

Since all of the cool kids are doing it, I thought that I'd show you what's on my iPhone. My iPhone is the single most important piece of technology in my line-up. It goes with my everywhere, and is my primary method of communication. I keep the most important apps on my first Home screen. I don't use most of the stock apps enough for them to merit a place on my first screen. Those few that remain, however, I use every day without fail. Messages, Camera, Maps, and Safari all remain on my Home screen.

• Wallpaper: I like to rotate my wallpapers quite a bit, and I love some of the ones that Apple included in iOS 7, but I'm always on the lookout for wallpapers from around the internet. My current favorite is the phone variant of the Seas wallpaper by Louie Mantia. He has a number of different wallpapers that he's made, all available from his website.
• Fantastical 2: I've been a Fantastical user for awhile, first on Mac, then on iPhone. I bought Fantastical 2 as soon as it was available from the App Store. The reminder integration in Fantastical 2 means that I have more space on my Home screen. $9.99 - Download Now
• Carousel: I've tried a few photo storage and organization solutions, but recently I've been taking a look at Dropbox's own photo app, Carousel. I was using Dropbox as my backup photo storage, and Carousel lets me view and share photos stored in Dropbox better than the actual Dropbox app. The only problem I've had so far is the inability to hide a selection of photos at once, like those stored in a shared folder. Free - Download Now
• Dark Sky: Dark Sky moved up to my main screen after its major 4.0 update, which made the app a lot more useful as a general purpose weather app without dumbing the hyperlocal prediction that made it an essential app to begin with. $3.99 - Download Now
• YouTube: I don't watch a lot of video on my phone, but I use the YouTube app with AirPlay to watch things on my Apple TV, rather than using the built-in Apple TV YouTube app. The app also occupies the same position as the stock YouTube app did pre-iOS 6. Free - Download Now
• Vesper: While I use apps like Evernote and Simplenote for more in-depth note taking that I need to access anywhere, Vesper is the perfect app to just get down a quick note right when I need it. Now that Vesper has added sync, it's even better, and it might even replace Simplenote for me one day. $2.99 - Download Now
• Flipboard: Opening Flipboard is for me what reading the newspaper in the morning was for my parents. It's usually the first or second app that I go to in the morning, after checking email and sometimes Twitter. Opening Flipboard is a lot easier than using Twitter to catch up on the news I may have missed overnight. Free - Download Now
• Paper: Facebook's Paper is a great app for browsing Facebook posts. It is, in fact, much better than the standard Facebook app. Paper is especially great for looking at photos, and makes good use of gestures for navigation and viewing.
• Tweetbot 3: I've been a Tweetbot user since day one. When they launched Tweetbot 3 last year, I bought it without hesitation. It's everything I want in a Twitter app. $4.99 - Download Now
• Tumblr: Tumblr has created an excellent app for the iPhone, and it's one of those apps that's just fun to use. It's dead simple to create any type of post using the app, browsing is fast and fluid, and each section is easy to find. The recent addition of mobile themes let you put your personal flair on part of the app. Free - Download Now
• Beats Music: Beats Music has become my streaming service of choice. I enjoy the discovery features of Beats, and it's superior to Spotify when it comes to organization. Additionally, it allows me to select when high quality music is streamed to my device, and automatically switches to streaming lower-quality music when I turn off Wi-Fi so I don't use as much data, something I have to manage manually on Spotify. Free - Download Now
• Pocket Casts: I listen to a lot of podcasts, and I've found Pocket Casts by Shifty Jelly to be the perfect tool for the job. The use of color and animation, along with highly customizable episode filters, make Pocket Casts a joy to use. $3.99 - Download Now
• Audible: Audible is the app for listening to audiobooks. I don't always have time to sit down and read, but I can listen to a book while doing other things. Audible uses Amazon's Whispersync to sync the listening position of many audiobooks with their ebook counterpart in my Kindle library. Free - Download Now
• 1Password: My password manager of choice on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac. I have a lot of passwords, and I need not only to keep them secure, but also to make them unique. I use the app's password generator to create passwords that are unique, complex, and secure. Because I've started using more complicated password, I keep 1Password on my Home screen to quickly access them when I need them. $17.99 - Download Now
• Launch Center Pro: After using it sporadically for a little while, Launch Center Pro earned a place on my dock. It's just so versatile, a Swiss Army knife of apps. I use it to write text messages to friends and family, to start searches, to create text files, and open specific functions of other apps. Creating and discovering new workflows for Launch Center Pro is always interesting and fun. $4.99 - Download Now
• Mailbox: Mailbox became my go-to email app on iPhone shortly after its launch last year. Working with email on my iPhone is rarely about responding to it, and almost always about organizing or getting rid of it. Mailbox lets me easily sort and archive my mail with gestures that are easy to use. Saving and email for later is easily my most-used feature. Free - Download Now

So that's my first Home screen. My second page holds interesting or fun apps, but nothing I would call "mission-critical". My third page holds all of the rest in folders. My first page never stays exactly the same for very long. Tomorrow I'll probably move Soulver on there because I'll convince myself I absolutely need a calculator app on the first page. What do you keep on your Home screen, and how do you decide what goes on your front page? Let me know in the comments, and show us what's on your home screen over in the forums.

Every day dozens and dozens of new and updated apps and games hit the iOS and Mac App Stores. It's impossible to keep up with them all, but it's not impossible to pick out the very best. Here they are! Today we've got Twitter client updates, a cool new black and white photography app, games and more!

New and updated iOS apps

• Lenka: Dedicated black and white camera app developed by famous photographer Kevin Abosch. $2.99 - Download now
• Assassin's Creed: Pirates Play as a young and ambitious pirate, fight real time naval battles, build up your crew and your ship. Adds new chapter appendix, new ship customization feature, more dynamic naval fights, and much more. $4.99 - Download now
• Twitter 6.8: The official app for the popular social network. Makes minor improvements and lets you upload and view animated GIFs. Free - Download now
• Slack 1.43: Team communication service. Now remembers last channel viewed when you switch teams, custom emoji can be used as integration icons/avatars, bugs fixed and more. Free - Download now
• Speedtest 3.3.0: Test the speed of your Internet connection. Update offers more accurate test results, with some bugs fixed too. Free - Download now
• PDFPen Scan+ 1.3.2: Use your iOS device camera to scan and perform character recognition; create searchable PDFs. Resolves stability issues, fixes bugs. $6.99 - Download now
• Uber 2.28.0: App for popular ride sharing/private driver service. Localization updates. Free - Download now
• HBO Go 2.5.0: On-demand movies and shows from HBO (assuming you're a subscriber via a supported cable or satellite TV service). Minor updates and bug fixes. Free - Download now
• Mailbox 2.0.3: Mail app for Gmail and iCloud accounts. Now swipe and hold to create an auto-swipe pattern; other improvements made to auto-swipe. Attachment improvements and bug fixes. Free - Download now
• Echofon for Twitter 7.3.03: An ad-supported client application for Twitter. New HD photo previews and bug fixes. Free - Download now
• Hue 1.4.0: Everyone's favorite connected bulbs get some UI improvements in the iOS app as well as support for Hue Tap, fade times for alarms up to 60 minutes and improved overall stability. Free - Download Now
• Deezer 4.9: Chromecast support and higher quality audio now available from popular music streaming service. Free - Download Now
• Dropbox 3.2: Re-order favorites list, setup Dropbox on your computer using your camera and more! Free - Download Now
• Google Hangouts 2.1.0: Cross platform messenger gets some bugfixes and performance improvements. Free - Download Now

New and updated Mac apps

• Brush Color Pro: Greyscale your image then choose part of it to pop with color. Free - Download now

More apps and updates?

If you try any of the apps or updates, let me know how they work for you. If you got any new or updated apps today that you loved, but don't see here, let us know about them!

Inky Mail is a new alternative mail app for both iPhone and iPad that can help you quickly triage and get your inboxes under control. Even though Inky is new to iOS, it's been available on the Mac for quite some time. I even named it one of the best alternative Mac mail apps currently available. The thing that makes Inky so unique is not only how it sorts your mail, but how it can sort what messages are actually relevant and important to you.

The first thing you'll notice when you launch Inky on either Mac or iOS are the Smart Views. These are areas that you can use to collect different kinds of messages. The most significant of these views is the filtered inbox. This keeps all the noise and distractions away. Essentially it'll filter out any kind of newsletters, social invites, and other kinds of noise that can distract you from getting things done. In my experience, the filtered inbox works rather well. It occasionally filters something out it shouldn't, but those occurrences are few and far between. As for the rest of the Smart Views, if there is a particular one you don't want to use, you can disable it in settings.

Sorting items in Inky can be done in several ways. My favorite sort option is relevance. Over time Inky can gauge what messages are extra important to you and what ones are not. If Inky ever gets something wrong, you can correct it and it should remember your preferences. Relevance is shown on all inbox views with a water droplet. The darker blue it is, the more relevant Inky things that message thread is to you.

If you use a different mail app on your Mac or need to grab something inside a folder or label, you can easily access all your folders with Inky. For some people, not being able to easily access old folders in alternative Mail apps such as Mailbox can be a deal breaker. We've all come across a time or two that we need to dig for an older message. At times like this, you can just drill down to folders like you used to in Inky, no need to switch to the built-in Mail app anymore.

Inky also features a one click reply feature that lets you easily reply to similar emails with a boiler plater response. You can pick from a handful of already made responses or you can create your own. Anyone that spends a lot of time answering similar emails will appreciate this feature.

I did experience a few issues with Inky on iOS and my biggest one is that there is currently no contact sync. This means Inky can't look at your contacts in order to pull them in, it simply advises you to do this from your computer. It's been one of my biggest pain points with Inky and one of the things that keeps me from wanting to use it on a regular basis.

The good

• Great interface that's easy to use and navigate around
• Smart Views and the filtered inbox to a great job at triaging cluttered inboxes
• Support for Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo! Mail, Outlook.com, IMAP or POP servers — Inky can even pull Google apps accounts with no manual setup needed on your part
• Zero setup system lets you create an Inky account and only add your accounts once, after that just sign in on a new device and all your stuff is right as you left it
• Real time package tracking information via Smart Views
• Cloud storage support via Dropbox

The bad

• I found a weird UI bug in the compose screen where the from address field kept hiding and unhiding while typing, hopefully that'll be fixed soon
• No contact syncing on iPhone and iPad
• Push notifications were a bit sketchy for me and didn't work 100% of the time

The bottom line

Inky Mail takes a uniquely awesome approach at helping you triage and tackle your inboxes. Smart Views work wonderfully and integrated cloud storage with Dropbox make it a decently well-rounded option. I hope the intermittent push issues I'm experiencing get worked out as that's currently a deal breaker for me when it comes to as using Inky Mail on a regular basis. Regardless, I'm excited to see what the future holds for Inky Mail as it's off to a great start on iOS.

If you try out Inky Mail on iPhone or iPad, be sure to let me know your initial impressions in the comments!

• Free - Download Now

Every day dozens and dozens of new and updated apps and games hit the iOS and Mac App Stores. It's impossible to keep up with them all, but it's not impossible to pick out the very best. Here they are! Today we've got music apps, games, note taking tools and more!

New and updated iOS apps

• Djay 2.5.2: The popular DJ app for the iPhone makes it easier to switch between iTunes and Spotify libraries, improves key display in the library Match tab and ands the Record button immediately when switching back to your local iTunes library. Free - Download now
• Beats Music 2.1.0: The music service that Apple just acquired as part of a $3 billion deal. The trial period has been extended from 7 to 14 days, the annual subscription price dropped from $119.88 to $99.99, and a whole bunch of bug fixes. Free - Download now
• Write 2.5: The note taking and text editor for iPhone with Markdown support and more adds dozens of new features and makes some bug fixes too. $1.99 - Download now
• Trainz Simulator 2: N3V's realistic train simulation game is now available for download. Compared to the original this new game has new routes and sessions, multiplayer support, online chat and much more. $7.99 - Download now
• Surgeon Simulator 1.0.5: The riotous game that puts the life of patients that need surgery in your hands now sports an alien autopsy mode! $5.99 - Download now
• PDF Expert 5.1: PDF Expert lets you read, annotate, and edit your PDFS and is now a universal app for both iPhone and iPad. Version 5.1 brings with it a much speedier experience, continuous scroll, and more! $9.99 - Download Now
• Inky Mail 0.98: A new alternative mail app for iPhone and iPad. Inky Mail, which is already available for Mac, now makes an appearance on iOS bringing with it smart gestures, one click unsubscribe, and more powerful features than what the native Mail.app can offer. Free - Download Now
• Real Racing 3 2.3.0: The amazingly realistic auto racing game adds next-gen Le Mans prototypes, "an Epic Le Mans Campaign," Circuit de 24 Heures du Mans, party play (Bluetooth controller and split-screen multiplayer support), Porsche Time Trial Competition, and improvements to multiplayer. Free - Download now
• Total Conquest 1.5.1: Battle online to control the Roman Empire. A new resource: Ambrosia. Summon Mars and Bellona to your province, new Centaur unit, new potions and other changes. Free - Download now

New and updated Mac apps

• Write 1.0.1: The Mac companion app to the iOS app listed above. A full-featured note-taking app with Multimarkdown 4 support, customizable theme and export CSS, drag and drop image URL support and more. $6.99 - Download now
• Reeder 2.0: The popular RSS newsreading app is back, with support for Feedbin, Feedly, Feed Wranger, Fever and Readability, as well as local/standalone RSS. $9.99 - Download now
• Pocket 5.5: Popular read-it-later service for iOS. This version brings a Pocket premium option that gives you permanent libraries, better search, suggested tags, and more. Free - Download Now

More apps and updates?

If you try any of the apps or updates, let me know how they work for you. If you got any new or updated apps today that you loved, but don't see here, let us know about them!

Every day dozens and dozens of new and updated apps and games hit the App Store for both iOS and Mac. It's impossible to keep up with them all, but it's not impossible to pick out the very best. Here they are! Today we've got some brand new levels for Candy Crush fans, some performance fixes for Mailbox users, and more!

New and updated iOS apps

• Mailbox: Popular email alternative app for both iPhone and iPad. This update includes bug fixes for an issue where iPad users weren't seeing reply buttons when reading emails. There is also integration with App Links now. Free - Download Now
• Candy Crush Saga: Candy Crush is an addictive match three puzzle game available for both iPhone and iPad. This update includes lots of new levels in both regular game play mode and in dreamworld. Free - Download Now
• Zipcar: A companion app for the popular car rental service, Zipcar, which is available in many metropolitan areas. This update to the Zipcar app includes enhancements that make the reservation process smoother. Free - Download Now
• Despicable Me: Minion Rush: Popular endless runner game for iPhone and iPad that features all your favorite characters from the Despicable Me movies. This update features bug fixes to general game play. Free - Download Now
• Screens: Screens is a popular screen sharing and remote desktop app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. This version brings stability improvements and connection fixes for both iPhone and iPad. $19.99 - Download Now
• TuneIn Radio: A popular radio streaming service for both iPhone and iPad. The new update brings one-click play options for your favorite stations, the return of the time remaining feature, and more. Free - Download Now, $3.99, Pro version - Download Now
• Google Drive: Google's cloud storage app gets bug fixes and improvements, along with tighter integration with the new Google Docs and Google Sheets applications. Free - Download Now
• Google Docs: Google's app for creating and editing documents gets performance enhancements and bug fixes in version 1.0.1. Free - Download Now
• Google Sheets: The spreadsheet creation and editing app hits version 1.0.1 with bug fixes and performance improvements. Free - Download Now
• inGroove: This is a new app that ties into Google Analytics to give you predictions on all of your important website performance metrics in a simple, easy to use interface. Free - Download Now
• Vima GPS Run Tracker: Vima is a new GPS run tracker for iPhone that focuses on staying simple but allowing runners to track the data that's important. With color coded routes, social integration, and support for the Pebble, there's a lot to like with Vima. Free - Download Now
• Marco Polo: Marco Polo is an interesting twist on keeping track of your iPhone. Let it run in the background and if you ever misplace your iPhone, just yell Marco and wait for your iPhone to respond. Now if only it could help me find my keys... $0.99 - Download Now

New and updated Mac apps

• Cloud: Companion Mac app for the CloudApp link shortening and file sharing service. This update includes many fixes and enhancements including the ability to correctly upload to folders at the same time. You can also retain file names when uploading Photoshop files now. Free - Download Now

More apps and updates?

If you try any of the apps or updates, let me know how they work for you. If you got any new or updated apps today that you loved, but don't see here, let us know about them!

My iPad Air serves a different purpose in my workflow than my iPhone 5s. The apps I have installed on each sometimes overlap but for the most part, they're set up completely different. My iPad is what I turn to at home for media and to wind down and relax while my iPhone is my on-the-go choice. I've already given you a look at what apps I have on my iPhone so here's a look at what's currently on my iPad!

• Wallpaper: I change the wallpaper on both my iPhone and iPad quite often but lately I've been a huge fan of regular gradients. In this instance, I just did a Google search for iPad gradient wallpaper and found a nice pink and blue one I really liked. It's been there for about a month now and I've yet to grow tired of it. When I do, it'll get swapped for either a different gradient, or a photo of my dogs.
• Stock apps: There are a few stock apps I always keep floating around my main Home screen and those are Calendar, Messages, Music, Safari, Reminders, FaceTime, Photos, Camera, Contacts, App Store, iTunes Store, Videos, and Settings. These are here because they're the apps I use the most out of all the stock apps. However, I can't wait to eventually replace the stock Calendar and Reminder apps with Fantastical if and when an iPad version is available.
• Mailbox: I've recently found email harmony between Mailbox for iOS and Airmail for Mac. So I've ditched the stock email app and have turned my inboxes into productivity powerhouses. Mailbox is in the dock on all my devices and will stay there unless something better comes along.
• Yahoo Weather: I have several weather apps on my iPhone since that's the device that's with me most often when I'm outside. However, when I'm on my iPad and want to check the projected forecast, Yahoo Weather more than gets the job done, in the most beautiful way of any iPad weather app I've ever seen.
• Flint: - We use Campfire to communicate here at Mobile Nations and Flint by Big Comet is the best Campfire app I've found so far. I use it across my iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
• Byword: I nail out some serious writing on my iPad when paired with my favorite keyboard case. Byword has been helping me do that on iPhone, iPad, and Mac for years now. I couldn't be happier with it and don't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who's looking for a great writing or Markdown app.
• Reeder 2: I've tried many RSS apps on my iPad and I always end up coming back to Reeder. It's clean, easy to use, and keeps me up to date on all the news I care about most. I've been using Unread on my iPhone but when it comes to iPad, Reeder 2 is still king.
• Facebook: As much as I hate to admit it, I still use Facebook pretty regularly. The official Facebook app is much better than Facebook in Safari and until there's a version of Paper for the iPad, the official Facebook app it is.
• Twitterrific: I frequently switch between Tweetbot and Twitterrific on my iPad but since the Tweetbot app for iPad hasn't been updated yet, I've been sticking with Twitterrific until that happens since it fits iOS 7 much better. I'll re-evaluate when Tweetbot 3 is made available for the iPad.
• Sonos: I recently set up a Sonos system throughout our condo and I'm absolutely in love with it. Whether I want to listen to music in the office, adjust the volume in the living room, switch songs, or group different speakers together, I can do it all from my iPhone or iPad. The app does need an iOS 7 overall badly but it still gives me complete control over my entertainment system and because of that, it earns a spot on the Home screen of every iOS device I own.
• Songza: I love Songza because it does a great job serving up electronic and trance music I actually like. For that reason I gladly pay to be a premium member and it's on the Home screen of every device. I use it at home, in the car, and when I'm at the gym. If you haven't tried Songza, you're missing out.
• 1Password: I use 1Password across every device I own, including my Mac. I depend on it heavily to remember all my passwords and autofill them. I couldn't live without it and that includes on my iPad.
• Trello: We've recently adopted Trello as our content planning tool across Mobile Nations. Being able to launch it on my iPad and view what I have due for the next several days in invaluable. I can even add content, edit things, assign other members of our staff content, and more. It's a great planning and project management tool, all completely free.
• Games folder: Part of winding down for me is playing my favorite games. My current vices seem to be Candy Crush, Farm Heroes Saga, Threes!, Clumsy Ninja, and Octagon. Which one I pick up ultimately depends on the kind of time I have to play. There are also classics in my games folder that I play from time to time including Dots, Bejeweled Blitz, Plants vs Zombies, and more.

That about covers what's on the first Home screen of my iPad. My second Home screen is chock full of folders that are separated by groups like Productivity, Entertainment, Reference, and more. They're apps I don't use nearly as much as everything on the first page. Now I want to hear from you guys! What apps deserve a spot on the first Home page of your iPhone or iPad? Do we have any in common? Let me know in the comments!

I've been on the hunt for the perfect cross-platform email setup ever since Mavericks made the native Mail app so awkward and unreliable. I've looked at the best alternative mail apps for Mac and done the same for both iPhone and iPad. As it turns out, Mailbox and Airmail play rather nicely together... with a little help.

I've been using Airmail on and off since its release. Mavericks sealed Airmail's fate as my go-to Mail app when Mac Mail decided to eat my iMore account. I'm not talking a few emails here and there missing. I mean everything was gone. There was nothing left on Gmail's servers either. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So at that point I shut down Mac Mail and launched Airmail. Since then, I've been terrified to even open Mac Mail.

Where iOS is concerned, I can't say I've ever had a bad experience. I've just come across small annoyances that add up to large ones. My main being that I have to choose Archive or Delete, I can't just have both. Sure I can move items into my archive folder or trash but that's messy and complicated. Swipe gestures both ways would solve this but alas, Apple says no. So that led me on the quest to find a better alternative for iOS as well.

I knew Airmail was my choice where OS X was concerned. There's just too many features to pass it up. I've never found an email app for the Mac that I like more than Airmail. For Gmail users there are keyboard and swipe options for archive or delete, lots of custom folder mapping features, alias support, and most important to me, a send and archive option. It's also been the most accurate when it comes to syncing content inside folders. You can even rescan and build folders in the settings menu which has always immediately cleared up any discrepancies I've encountered.

I tried pretty much every mail app available for iPhone and iPad and always found myself coming back to Mailbox. It may not have as many options as its competition but my main goal is to triage mail as quickly and effortlessly as possible. With Mailbox I found myself being able to clear my inbox, compose messages, and reply to things in fewer taps and swipes than other mail apps. Eventually, that combined with the reliability of Mailbox's push notifications were what made me settle on it.

Now it was time to create a uniform workflow....

I started by launching Mailbox on my iPhone and thinking about what lists I needed. I knew I didn't want to get into a folder situation again where organizing them all took more time than actually reading emails did. So I created a few basic lists such as Receipts, Important, and Travel. You can always add lists whenever you'd like but my goal was to not make them extensive. I save things until they can be archived these days, that's it. To finish setup on my iPhone and iPad I disabled all notifications for the stock Mail app and enabled them for Mailbox. The only thing I left on were the sounds for VIP contacts. That way I knew if someone important was emailing. Mailbox chimes in too but it's a slight annoyance I'm willing to deal with, at least for now. In a future Mailbox update I'd really like to see more notification options especially for VIP contacts.

Next I cleared up both my iCloud and iMore accounts on the desktop by hiding folders in Airmail. If I couldn't see them in Mailbox they were no good to me anymore. Hiding them ensured all my folders are still there if I need to refer to something but they aren't distracting me and cluttering up my new workflow.

I also tweaked some Airmail settings and preferences to my liking, which may be different for everyone, but this mainly consisted of the following:

• Hiding anything that Mailbox didn't require
• Enabling Send and Archive
• Making sure the Delete key archived mail while Command + Delete trashed messages
• Tweak folder mapping to match what Mailbox recommends for desktop clients

The last step is the most imperative and the one I paid the most attention to. The Orchestra website gives a very good overview of the perfect mail setup so desktop mail plays nice with Mailbox for iOS. It will generally apply to any desktop mail app, including Airmail. The support article can be found here:

• Using Mailbox with Gmail and iCloud on the desktop and on the web

The link contains a nice chart that lays out how you should map folders in both places. I simply made sure iCloud was set up correctly on the web and then mapped them all in Airmail's settings the way Mailbox suggested.

I repeated these steps on both my iMac and my Macbook Air so both versions of Airmail looked the exact same. Once that was done, I tested my workflow to make sure things filed and behaved as I wanted. My only annoyance with this setup is that I can't delegate items for later as easily in Airmail as I can in Mailbox. For now my solution is to just deal with them on my iPhone or iPad when I can. If I'm in Airmail, I leave them in my inbox until I switch devices. It's not an ideal solution but it's one I'm willing to live with until I have a native Mailbox client for Mac. Perhaps there's a way to use Airmail's todo options but I haven't quite figured that out yet.

Other than that, messages re-appear in all my inboxes when Mailbox puts them there, I can manage and view my lists across OS X and iOS and they're perfectly in sync. The whole setup took me an hour or two to tweak and get perfect. Almost three weeks later, I'm happy with this setup and I've found myself handling email a lot more efficiently than I ever have.

Your thoughts?

My setup won't suit everyone but it's the closest I've come to achieving complete email harmony outside of using stock Mail apps. If you've tweaked and toyed with email because you don't like the native options OS X and iOS provide, let me know in the comments what you're currently using and why!

Inbox Cube is a new email client for iPhone that aims to make email more of a visual experience than a plain text one. While you have classic email views that show the inboxes we've all grown accustomed to, you can also view and sort all your attachments and files to find what you need by looking, not reading.

As of now, Inbox Cube supports Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo and AOL mail. Once you've configured your email accounts, you're taken to the main email view of Inbox Cube. This view is the traditional email inbox that we've all become accustomed to. The other views are the ones that make Inbox Cube unique from other mail clients.

The main two are attachments and contacts. Attachments feeds in all attachments in image form. You can sort them by type at the top in order to narrow results. The contacts tab smartly picks out who you contact via email the most. You can also view all contacts or add contacts to your favorites within Inbox Cube. To add a favorite, just hold your finger down on a contact to bring up the menu.

When it comes to the attachments section of Inbox Cube, the first time you search, it can take a significant amount of time to find and load all your attachments so I'd highly suggest doing it over a WiFi network. I'm an email hoarder and pretty much archive almost everything instead of throwing it away. If it isn't in archive, it's filed away in a folder somewhere. If you've got less of an issue saving emails, Inbox Cube won't take as long to load and sort all your attachments.

To interact with mail in the traditional view of Inbox Cube, slide your finger to the left over any message to bring up the action menu. Here you can reply, forward, start, delete, or move the message to any folder of your choosing. The one thing I can't get used to with Inbox Cube is that there isn't a unified inbox and for some people that manage a lot of inboxes, that could be a deal breaker.

The good

• Interface is great and easy to navigate throughout
• Attachments view is extremely useful for finding files quickly
• Native push notifications
• Smart contacts section makes it easy to pick out the people you email most

The bad

• No unified inbox
• The favorite contacts section is a little awkward, I would personally just prefer rows with three contacts each in alphabetical order and the current layout makes me feel like I'm scrolling more than I should need to
• Loading attachments initially can take quite a long time

The bottom line

If you send and receive a lot of attachments, Inbox Cube can help you find them fast, no matter where they're filed away. Inbox Cube may not be a complete email powerhouse but it's definitely a different experience than what most of us are used to, and for some, that could be a refreshing change. No unified inbox support could be a deal breaker for those that have a lot of accounts to manage though.

If you happen to check out Inbox Cube, let us know your thoughts in the comments!

• Free - Download Now

Hop is a new email service that aims to make email more manageable. Unlike other services that use smart mailboxes, Hop transforms your emails into conversations instead of messy threads and attachments. The difference makes you actually want to respond to emails more often.

Most of us spend lots of time in our inboxes and it isn't always a task we look forward to. After spending some time with Hop over the last week or so, I've actually found myself coming back to an empty inbox more often than not. I've found that the reason for that is because Hop doesn't make me feel like I'm responding to emails. I feel like I'm taking part in an actual conversation.

Hop currently supports Gmail, AOL, Yahoo!, and iCloud. Once you configure your account, you're taken to the main inbox view. From here you can toggle the view on the top menu between conversation and traditional inbox view. Traditional inbox view is what we're all used to. The messages view is where you'll want to be, trust me.

Responding to an email is as easy as tapping into any message and just responding. That's it. You can attach images, upload files, open files that are sent to you and more. The only difference is how you view what you're doing. To me, that's the made the difference in how often I'm answering emails. I've also found that I'm treating email more like how I treat text messages and IMs which isn't a bad thing. I'm more short and to the point. There's something about email composers that make us feel like we have to fill them. I've learned not to do this with the help of Hop and I'm sure the recipients of my emails appreciate it.

The good

• Message style views make email less of a chore and more of a conversation flow
• Push notifications are wicked fast, in almost all cases I got Hop notifications before the actual Mail client told me I had messages
• Traditional inbox view is still available for when you really need it

The bad

• Limited account support at this time, no Exchange

The bottom line

For people that don't look forward to opening their inboxes every morning, Hop will make you change your mind. Not only does it make email seem more personal, it has a funny way of helping you empty your inbox without you even realizing you're being productive. And for anyone that has a nasty habit of being too wordy in emails, Hop can help you solve that problem too without even knowing it.

• Free - Download Now

Unibox for Mac is a new and unique alternative email client for Mac. Most of us are used to using emails as an inbox system that works in order of when we received things. Unibox aims to change that by making email about the people we interact with more than just the strings of messages attached to them.

Upon launching Unibox, you instantly notice that it's quite a bit different than the standard inbox we've all become accustomed to. The left hand navigation pane is segregated by the people who have emailed us instead of showing lists of folders and inboxes. The list is sorted in order of date so you can go back in time and see when someone emailed you. If you have contact photos in your Contacts app for someone, their picture is filtered in as well.

Unibox supports many types of accounts including iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo!, Windows Live Mail, Exchange accounts that are IMAP enabled, and more. There's also support for lots of shortcuts when creating and archiving mail. The typical suspects are there as well such as Cmd + N to create a new message.

One of my favorite things about Unibox is its ability to let you toggle between attachment views and only view attachments sent between you and a contact. You can then download them from the server when available if they aren't there already. This makes it incredibly easy to find a file or attachment without weeding through countless emails.

You can drill down into folders you've already got set up in your current inbox easily using the top navigation. Unibox will then only show people relevant that are contained in that folder making it easier to pinpoint exactly the conversation you're looking for.

There are cons to this navigational style though. The huge and most obvious one being that when it comes time to sort certain conversations, it's just not as simple as dragging and dropping to folders. This can make Unibox unrealistic for heavy emailers that rely on folders or tags. You can right click any message and move it to a folder accordingly but it creates steps that folks who rely on folders regularly won't like.

The good

• Beautiful interface that's simple and looks like it belongs in OS X
• Drilling down into conversations is easier than ever with Unibox
• Keyboard shortcuts make it easy to perform simple things like archiving, deleting, composing, and replying make emailing faster
• Lots of different types of accounts are supported

The bad

• No traditional inbox views will be a turn off to folks that rely heavily on drag and drop for folders and sorting
• Sometimes conversations are missing if users have multiple emails and they aren't all in your address book

The bottom line

Casual emailers will never look at email the same after using Unibox, in a good way. The interface is refreshing as is the layout. Unfortunately, people that depend heavily on folders and being able to sort and sift through an inbox quickly will dislike the navigational layout and the inability to toggle to a unified inbox view. I can't help but feel if there was a happy medium or a way to view a traditional view, that'd make Unibox the best of both worlds.

If you happen to try out Unibox for Mac, let me know what you think in the comments. If you use folders often, do you find the layout inhibits you from being able to sort messages quickly and efficiently?

• $9.99 - Download Now

Google has never had anything approximating what you could call a normal IMAP implementation for Gmail. However, under Mail in OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion and previous versions, many of us learned to work around and otherwise live with it. No longer! OS X 10.9 Mavericks changes the way the Mail app works, and in doing so, is less forgiving of Gmail's idiosyncrasies than ever before. Joe Kissel on TidBITS:

Gmail in Mail over IMAP has always been a pain for me. I never hid All Mail, so that's not a problem now, but it uses a ton of disk space and up until recently kept generating simultaneous connection and bandwidth usage errors.

I have a paid Google Apps account, so on iOS I simply use Exchange for Gmail via Google Sync, which works much, much better, and faster. Sadly, Google doesn't seem to allow for Exchange connections on OS X.

So, unless and until Apple changes Mail for Gmail's sake, or Google figures out how to better serve IMAP, we'll stay caught, painfully, in the middle.

Check out Joe's article for some small amount of relief, and if you're struggling with Gmail in Mail.app, let me know how it's going for you.

Source: TidBITS

Standard email just isn't secure. If the internet didn't kill privacy, people and agencies using and abusing it have certainly put it into intensive care. There's nothing we can do to protect the servers our mail goes through, but luckily there is something we can do to protect it before it goes through those servers. We can encrypt it with pretty good privacy (PGP). And open-source system, which means any flaws or back doors are more easily investigated and detected by more people than a closed, proprietary system would be. GPGMail 2 employs PGP, is available for Mac (and Windows), and can help you make sure your emails are only read by the intended recipient.

Keep in mind for messages to encrypted and signed, all users should have keys generated and custom passcodes to decrypt messages.

• How to set up GMGMail 2
• How to generate a key with GPG
• How to send a secure message
• How to search for another user's key

How to set up GPGMail 2

1. Download GPGMail 2 from the GPG website. Mac download, (Windows download.)

2. Once the file downloads to your Mac, double click on the .dmg (or for Windows users, the .exe file) in order to open it and start the installation.
3. Now double click on the Install icon in the install window that pops up.

4. Follow the prompts on the screen to complete installation.

5. You may be asked for your system password in order to finish installation. Do that and continue with the installation.

6. You will get a message when the installation is complete.

How to generate a key with GPG

1. Launch the newly installed GPG Keychain Access application on your Mac if it didn't open automatically after installation.
2. Refer to the screenshot below to see the settings for generating a new secure key. You can change things such as the key expiration data, etc. Make sure you check the box for Upload public key after generation underneath the selected email address you want to generate a key for.
3. Now click on Generate Key.

4. You will now be asked to choose a passphrase. Type it in and then type it in once more to confirm it. Make sure you remember this passcode as you will use it to encrypt and send secure messages.

How to send a secure message

1. You can now launch Mac Mail and send your first encrypted message. Just launch a new compose window and notice the new OpenPGP icon in the upper right hand corner. If it's green, you're good to go.

2. Compose a test message to yourself and click Send.
3. You will be asked to enter the password you chose in the last section in order to send the message. Go ahead and do that.

4. Once you receive the email, check the **details of the message and you should see security and encryption information about it. If you do, you've set up everything correctly.

How to search for another user's key

1. Launch the GPG Keychain Access app you downloaded to your Mac earlier.
2. On your keyboard, type the shortcut Control + F and a search box will pop up.

3. Search for the email address of the person who also has a public key and their email address will aggregate. Select the ones you want to add by clicking on them.

4. Once you're done, click on Retrieve Key.

That's all there is to it. You now can send signed and encrypted messages back and forth.

Again, for this process to work correctly, all users should have keys and you will need to add each other in order for both ends to be encrypted and signed at all times.

For more documentation and information on GPGMail 2 and similar products, you can visit the GPGTools website. There are also options for iOS devices using the oPenGP app in conjunction with Dropbox to save and sync keys on mobile devices as well. Just be sure not to use Dropbox syncing for secret keys!

Thanks: Anthony!

• oPenGP, $3.99 - Download Now

Lavabit, a private email service currently best known for being NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden's communication medium of choice, has suddenly and unexpectedly announced it's shutting down, hinting it would rather do that than comply with something it claims it's not even allowed to talk about. Ladar Levison, owner and operator, on the Lavabit home page:

And this bit at the end:

Apple, which we use for iCloud mail, has physical ties to the U.S. Google, which we use for Gmail, has physical ties to the U.S. Microsoft for Hotmail/Outlook, Yahoo! and the list goes on. Companies not shutting down and not leaving the U.S. may very well be capitulating to demands that violate the basic tenants of trust and privacy, two of the cornerstones of any consumer relationship.

Then again, which country could any such company go where they wouldn't be subject to the same spying, foreign and domestic? The NSA is by no means the only signal intelligence service in the world, and likely not the agency with the freest reign to surveil both their own citizens and others.

Privacy likely died the day the internet came online. Operating in shadows, however, leads to rot. Hopefully more information comes to light, so everyone can make better informed decisions, either way.

Source: Lavabit, thanks G!

Evomail is an email app for iPhone and iPad that takes a lot of the same features we love from Mailbox, Dispatch, and more but adds certain highly wanted features that a lot of others unfortunately lack, such as folder support. Evomail currently supports Gmail, iCloud, and Yahoo! accounts which makes it a pretty relevant option for almost everyone.

To start using Evomail, you just need to configure your mail accounts. While Gmail, iCloud, and Yahoo! are already supported, the developer has said that more mail account types will be coming in the future as well. Once you're signed in you're ready to start swiping your way to an empty inbox.

Much like other popular mail apps, Evomail uses swipe gestures to let you filter your way through emails faster. Swipe to the right to mark a message as complete and swipe to the left to delete it. Tapping on a message will open it. You can star it or share it along the top or return to your inbox.

Along the bottom of the message view you can interact with messages in more advanced ways. From here you can put a message inside a folder that you've created, mark it for later, mark it as done, or delete it. If you choose to mark it for later you can choose from three quick options; later today, tomorrow, or next week. If you want a more detailed way to mark for later, you can do so by tapping on the carat below the quick settings. From here you can choose a specific date and time for the message to re-appear in your inbox.

From the main menu of Evomail you can dig deeper into individual account settings and change things such as signatures on a per-account basis. There aren't a ton of options but it gets the job done. I'd really like to see some options to set notifications on a per account basis such as disabling push for accounts I don't really need it for.

The good

• Folder support! If you miss being able to file things away in apps like Mailbox, Evomail gives you your organization power back
• Great interface with menus that not only make sense, but are placed logically
• Advanced snooze options for custom dates and times
• Push notifications
• Signatures on a per account basis

The bad

• Push notifications can be off or on, not on a per account basis, definitely not a deal breaker but it would be a nice addition in a future update
• No Exchange support

The bottom line

Evomail for iPhone and iPad is not only beautifully designed but provides a happy medium between productivity powerhouse and full on mail suite. With swipe gestures for marking messages quickly, you'll be able to empty your inbox in no time. Features like folder support also gives you the ability to organize when you'd like and when you have time without relying on a secondary option such as the native Mail app.

• Free - Download Now

Dropbox is currently hosting their inaugural DBX developer conference, and has announced a couple of interesting items already. First up is the new "Dropbox Platform," a suite of tools for developers to utilise to access Dropbox data across different devices and operating systems. Better still, the new Datastore API will provide the ability to sync contacts, to-do lists, oh, and game states.

Google announced a cross-platform gaming tool back at Google I/O, but we'll certainly welcome another. Dropbox is available in some form on every major mobile OS, plus Mac, Windows and Linux, so the possibilities are far and wide. One forthcoming example of some of the new Dropbox tools is their recently aquired iOS app, Mailbox, which will soon be able to send file attachments from your Dropbox account right within the Mailbox app. No word yet on when it'll be rolling out. What do you guys think? A step forward for cross-platform syncing?

via Engadget

For those of us that have lots of emails to keep up on everyday, the default iPhone mail app can be somewhat lacking. There are other options in the App Store but it always seems to be give and take. Dispatch aims to close a good majority of that gap by providing functionality that makes you more productive. With support for snippets, multiple account types, extensive share sheets, and more, Dispatch may just give apps like Mailbox a run for its money.

Dispatch is a new third party mail client for iPhone that has one simple goal and that's to make email management easier and lightning quick. In that regard, it succeeds. Most of this is done by the use of snippets. For folks who have a lot of emails to tend to, you probably have noticed that a lot of your responses end up being similar. This is where snippets come into play.

You can pre-generate common responses for use anytime you'd like. You can even set them to only be used with certain accounts if you choose. You can then access them whenever you respond to someone or compose a new email. Just tap the snippets button in the lower right hand corner and search for what you're looking for. Once you've found the snippet you'd like to use, just tap on it to insert it into the message. You can then edit it or add more, or simply just send.

If you've used a client like Mailbox or Mail Pilot, you'll feel right at home with the way Dispatch functions. Swiping to the right will reveal your list of accounts while swiping to the left on an email will give you some options. The usual suspects are found here including read/unread, deleting, starring, mark as spam, and more. Swiping all the way to the right will archive the message. If you accidentally swipe too far and wanted the actions menu, there will always be an undo button on the top for you to utilize.

In most aspects, Dispatch functions just like some of the other popular clients. The different is snippets and account support. I tested iCloud, Gmail, Google apps, and Rackspace accounts with Dispatch. All were able to be linked without a problem. Rackspace emails required a little extra attention but after about 30 seconds, they were set up and running perfectly.

One of the absolute best features of Dispatch is how it ties in with other apps such as 1Password, Due, Omnifocus, Things, Evernote, and many more. This means if you open an email with a calendar appointment, you can share it with apps that pertain to that kind of email. This makes is super simple and quick to get events and appointments where they need to be without transferring information manually. To me, this is really what makes an app like Dispatch invaluable for heavy email users.

The good

• Support for other third party apps such as Evernote, Due, and more make sharing content with other apps painless
• Snippets make responding to common emails wicked fast
• Multiple account support, not just Gmail
• Appealing interface that looks better than most others
• Per account signature support

The bad

• No push notifications
• No unified inbox
• No remind me later option

The bottom line

Due is quite possibly the best third party email client I've ever used for iPhone. It's well designed and a lot of though was put into share sheets and what they supported. The no push issue means I'll have to rely on notifications from another client, for now at least. I'll definitely be opening Dispatch instead of the native mail app whenever I need to do some major house cleaning throughout my inboxes though.

• $2.99 - Download Now

Airmail for Mac is a new third party mail client that not only supports a plethora of account types, but is also one of the most visually appealing email apps for Mac I've ever used. For users who are still clutching onto Sparrow while waiting for a viable alternative, you may just find your solution in Airmail.

Upon first launching Airmail, you'll be asked to start configuring accounts. It's easy enough and for most accounts, Airmail can automatically import settings. I have several Google apps accounts with custom domains and Airmail had no problem figuring that out on its own without me having to enter Gmail settings manually. From what I remember, Sparrow and Mac Mail wanted me to manually enter some stuff.

The only kind of account I had an issue linking was a few Rackspace hosted emails. It appears that Airmail has an issue with SSL on Rackspace so if you're using one of those accounts, you'll just need to set up IMAP or POP support without authentication for now. All the other kinds of accounts, including iCloud, imported settings automagically without any manual inputs.

After you've got your accounts set up, you'll be taken to the main view of Airmail. Your account navigation will be off to the left with a message column to the right of that and your reading pane to the far right. For users who have used Sparrow over the years, you'll feel right at home. Airmail has a slightly more pleasing interface in my opinion but most of that will be subjective. Airmail offers a good amount of minimal themes to choose between in settings if you don't like the default one.

As far as settings, Airmail supports Gmail shortcuts just like Sparrow does for those who have been accustomed to using those. You can enable them by just checking a box within settings. Everything else you'd expect to find in settings is there from per account signatures, aliases, folder mapping, and more. Dropbox is also supported for uploading email attachments, if you choose to utilize it. Set it up once, and Airmail, just like Sparrow, will auto-upload your attachments.

Odds and ends settings such as custom notification sounds and message sort order are also present. Airmail also lets you choose how much of your Mac's resources you want it to use. This basically means you can choose Airmail to be a bit slower to spare some system resources or you can allot it more in order to speed up the application.

The good

• Great interface that manages to be rich and colorful but not over the top
• Custom image support for each account makes it easy to pick out accounts in the side bar and toggle between them quickly
• Most account types, including Google apps, automatically detect which means no entering manual mail server info
• Pretty good folder mapping options on a per-account basis

The bad

• A few crashes here and there but I'd expect those to be fixed in an upcoming release
• Rackspace emails require a little bit of tweaking to get them to work correctly, the authentication issue needs to be addressed
• Just like Sparrow, you can't save messages from one mail account to another and it's the one feature I still miss in Mac Mail, but can do without

The bottom line

For Sparrow users who are clinging on to an unsupported client, Airmail is the best alternative out there. I have eight mailboxes and Mac Mail always lagged to the point of being painful. Sparrow did a great job of handling many boxes and Airmail does just as good of a job. Sending mail is quick, even with larger attachments.

If you're looking for a supported alternative to Sparrow or just want to shy away from Mac Mail, Airmail is quite possibly the best choice available. And at only $1.99, you really can't ask for more.

• $1.99 - Download Now

Mail Pilot has just received an update which adds the much requested support for Exchange accounts that are IMAP enabled. Other features in the update include an improved add account system, bug fixes, enhancements, and more. Mail Pilot was also nice enough to give us some codes to give out to our readers...

If you'd like to try out Mail Pilot now, you can download it via the link below. We've also been given six codes to give out to our readers. All you have to do is leave a comment below to enter. Winners will be announced next week!

• $14.99 - Download Now

There are lots of alternative mail clients available in the App Store and Mail Pilot for iPhone and iPad is the newest addition. While the workflow concepts are simliar to that of apps like Mailbox, the overall interface and design is rather different. Not to mention, Mail Pilot supports an array of clients including both Gmail and iCloud.

I backed Mail Pilot in its infancy stages last summer when it started out as a Kickstarter project. It was a great idea and I'm excited to finally give it the review treatment and find out whether or not it really was worth the wait.

The first thing you'll be asked to do after downloading Mail Pilot to your iPhone or iPad is to sign into all of your accounts. The main difference between Mail Pilot and Mailbox is that there isn't support for only Gmail. Mail Pilot actually supports all mainstream IMAP email servers. This means you can add your iCloud account, Yahoo, AOL, Gmail (including Google apps), or any other modern IMAP account. I've strayed away from apps like Mailbox because it supports only Gmail, which leaves me toggling between two mail clients in order to access all my accounts within iOS. Not really a valid solution in my book so I'm excited at the prospect of having a secondary option for an all in one alternative.

Syncing my accounts was super simple and only took a few minutes. After that I was able to view all my inboxes in one place or separate them via the pullout menu on the left hand side. Here you can easily access all your incomplete items, dates & lists, items you've set aside, completed items, and sent messages. You can also drill down and view things on a per account basis right another the main menu. For most users, you'll probably spend most of your time in the unified view since it makes quickly accessing and marking messages much easier.

Mail Pilot for iPhone and iPad uses a series of gestures and taps in order to interact with messages. Tapping on any message will open that thread. You can easily view all messages attached to it as well as reply or forward in a single tap. There's a small carrot in the bottom right hand corner of each message. Tapping on this will display a submenu containing message actions. You can either file it away for an exact date, add it to a list, save it for an undetermined amount of time with the generic save for later option, or delete it. If you add it to an exact date with the calendar icon, it will automatically appear back in your inbox on the date you have specified. If you choose the general save for later date, it'll show up under that tab in the bottom navigation for you to deal with at your convenience.

The good

• Support for almost every IMAP account which will keep everything in sync between devices and other mail clients
• Intuitive gesture controls that just make sense
• Folder syncing is super fast
• No reservation line, which means you can get access right now

The bad

• No push notifications (yet)
• Price point may be a little higher than what some are willing to spend for something iOS technically already does

The bottom line

Considering Mail Pilot took so long to come to fruition, other third party mail clients made appearances and will ultimately make the competition even tougher. The high price point may be enough to turn off some users while others will automatically choose it over other options since it supports a plethora of IMAP account types, not just Gmail. The lack of push notifications is a letdown but leaving the default mail sound for the native Mail app on somewhat solves the problem.

Overall, Mail Pilot is off to a great start and if they can overcome some small issues such as lack of push notifications, they could easily become a fan favorite when it comes to alternative mail apps for iPhone and iPad.

• $14.99 - Download Now

If you send a lot of emails on your iPhone or iPad that go to different people, you may want to blind copy some users, or all of them for that matter, so they don't see each other's email addresses. Regardless of the reason, if you forget there isn't a need to delete the email and re-enter it in the appropriate field. iOS actually gives you the ability to move them pretty seamlessly.

Here's how.

1. Launch the Mail app from the Home screen of your iPhone.
2. Tap on the Compose button in the lower right hand corner.
3. Type in the contacts or emails you'd like to send the email to.
4. Hold down on the one you'd like to move to a different send field and simply drag it to the new field and release your finger.

That's all there is to it. This is a great tool for times when you need to blind copy someone and accidentally but an address in the wrong field. Try it out and let us know how it works for you!

Incredimail is a visual email client for iPad that displays your email as a collage of snippets of text and photos from your messages. With Incredimail, you can see more of your emails at first glance and easily flip through your messages.

Incredimail offers full IMAP and iCloud support and features a unified inbox. You can also choose to look at individual accounts from the sidebar. When browsing through your email, they are displayed as a collage of boxes that contain previews of your messages. If you've connected your Facebook account and you have an email from someone who is also on Facebook (same email account that the user has registered with Facebook), then their profile image will appear. Incredimail will also display photos in message previews.

When you tap on an email, it'll open up full-screen with options to reply, forward, star, or mark as unread. If the email is part of a conversation, then a preview of just those emails will display first.

In addition to email, Inredimail also has a photo inbox. This inbox currently only supports Facebook, but they have promised to add more services in the future (hopefully Instagram!). From the Photo Inbox, you can view images posted by your friends, like them, and share to Twitter.

The good

• Full IMAP support
• Unified inbox
• Visually organized inbox
• Send attachments
• See previews of your email messages
• Facebook Faces on emails from Facebook friends
• Link previews
• Conversation threads
• Live search
• Photo Inbox (currently only supports Facebook)
• Email stationery

The bad

• I would prefer continuous scrolling instead of page scrolling (an option for either would be great)
• As of now, Photo Inbox only offers Facebook support

The bottom line

Incredimail isn't powerhouse mail client; rather, it's for those times you want to take your time and browse through your email. If you get a lot of photos, links, and attachments, the visual layout of Incredimail is a great way to enjoy your email. I have chosen not to add any of my work email addresses to Incredimail and love to use to catch up on those fun emails I put off to look at when I have time and to browse through Facebook photos.

• Free - Download now

Mailbox for iPhone is a brand new email app that's primary purpose is to let you focus on the messages that matter right now and store away the ones that don't. The Mailbox project seems to draw inspiration from both task management philosophies like Getting Things Done, and email management philosophies like Inbox Zero. Through a list of gestures, swipes, and taps, you quickly filter through emails and drill down to the content that matters right that minute, without being distracted by the rest.

When you first launch Mailbox for iPhone, you'll be asked to sign into your Gmail account. Yes, that means Mailbox will have access to your Gmail. That's how it does its magic. If you have concerns about that access, you're better off with a regular email client like Apple's own Mail.app.

You'll also need a reservation code and private number in order to gain access. We're assuming this will change at some point once server load on their end balances out, but for now, it could be a long wait for some users.

Reservation line aside, once you actually gain access to Mailbox and sign into your accounts, you'll be given a brief overview of how to navigate around the app itself. You'll spend a majority of your time in the main Mailbox menu. This is a combined list of all the Gmail inboxes you currently have set up on your iPhone. Along the top you have 5 icons. The first menu icon pulls out the side menu and lets you drill down to items such as settings, adding new mailboxes, or viewing individual inboxes on their own. The far right icon is a compose icon, exactly where you'd expect to find it.

The middle three icons go together and work with the Gmail label system. The first are items that you've marked as later, the next is your inbox as it sits right now, and the last is completed items. This is where items will get sent as you manipulate them in your inbox and move them around. This is where Mailbox really starts to excel over other mail clients as it takes advantage of the built-in labeling system that Gmail offers.

Basically, you start by opening your inbox like you would on any other client, but the way you interact with your messages is very different. Your main inbox within Mailbox for iPhone is meant to be used for tasks and messages that need your immediate attention. If a message comes in that can wait, simply start sliding to the left and a time icon will appear. Release your finger and you'll then be asked to schedule a time that you'd like the message to appear in your main inbox again. After you've completed a task, start sliding to the right until you see a green checkmark and it will be moved to the completed section.

Mailbox also has support for archiving messages. This is where swipe gestures are really handy. Just like you would slide your finger to the right over a message to mark for later, if you continue sliding your finger across the message even further, you'll then see an icon for archive or delete, if that's how you have your Gmail inbox set up. Sliding all the way in the opposite direction brings up the list feature. Again, this integrates with Gmail labels and allows you to mark messages as tasks. The defaults are to buy, to read, and to watch. You can also create new list items, aka labels that will sync up to your Gmail inbox.

The combination of gestures and swipes within Mailbox make it easy to quickly clear out your inbox and focus only on the messages that matter right at that moment. Anything that you've marked for later will appear back in the main inbox at that time. The badge count on the Mailbox app only focuses on items that are either unopened or still in your main inbox. The badge will update accordingly when you sort messages out or into the main inbox or when you receive new messages. Mailbox supports push notifications which means you'll see notifications as soon as they arrive.

While Mailbox is a great way to stay organized and on task, the Gmail only support option may limit some users that use other options such as iCloud. While we understand why Mailbox took that role considering the label system that Gmail provides, it's still a little disappointing to not see any other options available.

The most intriguing thing about Mailbox is the way it handles messages. Instead of dumping things into folders that you may or may not remember to go back to later, Mailbox will do the heavy lifting for you and move them back at the time you've designated. If you like to answer personal emails at night and only deal with work matters during the day, Mailbox will make it easy to stay focused and on task without distraction.

The good

• The overall design is stunning
• Push notifications are extremely fast, sometimes even beating the native iOS Mail app by several seconds
• The gesture driven interface makes it quicker to sort through messages than traditional folders and tapping to delete or move methods
• You can add labels almost as fast as you can mark a message as complete
• Moving messages back to the inbox when you need to read them may be invaluable to forgetful individuals

The bad

• The reservation line is extremely long at this point and users could wait a while in order to get in
• Not ideal for inboxes that involve multiple users
• Sometimes it can be easy to accidentally swipe on a message when scrolling
• Gmail only support, which rules out anyone with an iCloud email for their primary email

The bottom line

Mailbox for iPhone has an elegant interface and an amazing underlying concept. If Gmail is your primary email client, Mailbox is better in every way than any other option out there. Everything from the interface to the way messages are handled through automatically creating labels within the app just works. The gestures are easy enough to get used to and you'll find yourself flicking and swiping through emails in no time.

However, there are times and situations where Mailbox won't be ideals, such as collaborative inboxes. If there are multiple people accessing any one Gmail account, using Mailbox could become a challenge and confusing to people that aren't using it. Then there's always that issue that if you don't use Gmail, you won't have the option to use the service and we aren't sure if there are future plans to add other clients.

If neither of these two problems apply to you, Mailbox for iPhone is currently one of the best ways to manage, sort, and interact with your messages.

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Mailbox, the new email app from Orchestra is now available in the App Store. Mailbox is an attempt to rethink email for mobile devices and allows you to organize and prioritize your email like a to-do list. You can set a time to be reminded about the email from a number of presets or your own custom reminder schedule. Currently Gmail-only, Orchestra says that support for more email platforms is coming soon.

In order to use Mailbox, you must make a reservation, and they are accumulating quickly. Once you have your number, you can see both how many people are still ahead of you and how many people are behind you. The number is already in the hundreds of thousands, so be sure to get your reservation as soon as you can if you want to use the app.

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A new email app will soon be available for the iPhone that wants to change the way we deal with email on our iPhone for the better. The new app created by Orchestra is said to be inspired by the simplicity of the “Clear” to do app and the beautiful interface of the Sparrow email app. The developers are so confident of its success that they have decided to stagger its availability by creating a reservation system where the app will be rolled out to avoid any server meltdowns.

The Mailbox app looks like a beautiful way to access and handle your day to day email. It has a very slick user interface and looks like it will be a very popular app. Having said that, in order for any third party email app to be really useful, it would have to become the default email app on the iPhone. There is nothing more frustrating than clicking a link in Safari and the stock app opening when you are using Mailbox or any other third party app. Currently Apple does not allows you to change default email apps but hopefully that may change in the future.

If that doesn't put you off and you want to get access to the staggered roll out of Mailbox as early as possible, you will have to register your iPhone number with the Mailbox team. You will then receive a reservation place and a private code that you will need to access the app when it is available. You shouldn't have to wait too long for that, it should be out in the coming weeks. Mailbox will be a free app but may offer paid premium features in the future.

Source: Mailbox

Meet Mailbox from Mailbox on Vimeo.

If you get an email that you want to easily find again later, maybe to follow up, maybe just to keep handy, you can flag it right in your iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad Mail app. Flagged messages are easy to spot, thanks to an icon, and even easier to find, thanks to a dedicated smart mailbox that keeps them all handy.

1. Launch the Mail app from the Home screen of your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.

2. Tap on the Inbox or other mail box that contains the message you'd like to flag.
3. Tap the Edit button in the upper right hand corner.

4. Tap on the message or messages you'd like to flag. They'll get highlighted.

5. Tap on the Mark button in the lower right hand corner.
6. Tap Flag.

7. An icon will appear next to the message so you'll know it's flagged.

Once you have a message (or messages) flagged, a special Flagged mailbox will appear in your Mail account list. Tap on it to see a list of all your flagged messages.

If you ever want to unflag a message, you'll repeat the same steps as above and choose Unflag the second time around.

If you've got several emails set up on your iPhone or iPad, you'll most likely want the ones you check most towards the top of your Inbox list. As of iOS 6 this is now possible. If you want your work email listed before your personal email, you can change the order in just a few taps.

Here's how:

1. Launch the Mail app on your iPhone or iPad.

2. Tap the Edit button in the upper right hand corner.
3. You will now see little move icons appear next to your mailboxes.

4. Hold down on the move icon next to the Inbox you'd like to change the position of. Now drag it up or down in the list.

5. Once you've finished reordering all your Inboxes, just tap the Done button in the upper right hand corner.

6. That's all there is to it. Your Inboxes will remain in the order you've put them in from now on.

Additional resources:

• How to use the VIP Inbox on your iPhone and iPad
• How to insert a photo or video directly into an email on your iPhone and iPad
• More email tips

Gmail for iPhone and iPad has been updated with a completely new design and, multiple account support, and more. This update comes only 5 months since Google's acquisition of Sparrow and it's pretty clear that the Sparrow guys have been hard at work with Gmail's new app. For the first time, I'm able to say that the official Gmail app for iPhone and iPad is really great.

The highlights of Gmail 2.0 for iPhone and iPad include the new beautiful interface with hidden sidebar, gestures, and the perfect amount of animations, the ability to easily attach photos and scribbles with a tap of the paperclip icon when creating emails, support for up to 5 accounts, push notifications, threaded conversations, and separate signatures for each account with the option to use the desktop signatures you've already created.

The search in Gmail is also more sophisticated with autocomplete predictions as you type and you can RSVP to Google Calendar invites and +1 and comment on Google+ posts directly from the Gmail app.

Navigating around the Gmail app is great experience. The team behind this new app took great care in making sure everything was perfectly polished. I have not experienced any lagging while scrolling, switching quickly between screens, searching, or anything. Honestly, I hope Apple and Jony Ive are taking notes, because the overall design of Gmail's app is much better than Apple's Mail app.

The good

• Beautiful new interface with tasteful animations and gestures
• Easily attach photos and scribbles when creating emails
• Support for up to 5 accounts
• Push notification support
• Separate signatures for each account with option to use the desktop signatures you've already created
• Sophisticated search with live predictions
• Threaded conversations with profile pictures
• Auto-complete contact names
• Respond to Google Calendar invites
• Read and respond to Google+ posts
• Organize mail by archiving, labeling, starring, deleting and reporting spam
• Universal for iPhone and iPad

The bad

• No unified inbox

The conclusion

I'll admit, when I first got wind of a Gmail update for iOS, I was far from thrilled because of Google's track record with the Gmail app. Within moments of downloading it, I realized how very wrong I was. The official Gmail app for iPhone and iPad is now a great app and could very easily replace Apple's built-in mail app for some users.

Personally, I have more that just Gmail accounts, so I will not be using Gmail 2.0 as my go to mail app, but I do plan to use it when I know I'll be spending a significant amount of time in a particular Gmail account (like going through the huge amounts of app review requests I get each day).

What are your thoughts on the new Gmail app? Is anyone planning to replace Apple's built-in mail app on their home screen with Gmail's?

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Source: Gmail