1. TRIAGE: EMAIL FIRST AID
As the name suggests, this is an app that wants to administer some ‘first aid’ to your email accounts. The app does this by stripping back the functionality and interface massively. Instead of complicating matters, it gives you just two options for each message in your inbox; either archive it or keep it. This is done with a swipe in the preferred direction, and the simplicity of the decision that faces you suddenly makes ‘inbox zero’ a real possibility. While gesture-based email inboxes are certainly not a new thing, nothing else on the App Store or Google Play dispatches it with quite the same ruthlessness and minimalism. Using Triage can’t help but make you better at fl ying through your unread messages and, ultimately, make you more productive. Triage supports the likes of Yahoo! Mail, Gmail and iCloud accounts, and the interface displays all of your new messages as a stack of cards to swipe through. Tap any message to see its full contents, and there’s a reply icon in the corner of each message so you can quickly fire something back with ease. This is not an app designed to take the place of your main desktop app, just a great way of cleaning it up.
iPhone | iOS 7.0 | £2.99/$4.99
2. MAILBOX
Mailbox has a clean interface loaded with simple features and smart productivity tools
Mailbox arguably started the trend of gesture-centric email management, and the fact that a lot of its features have found their way into the iOS 7 revamp tells you how highly regarded this app is. Swipe in diff erent directions to send messages to various folders or use the very cool Snooze feature. This allows you to be prompted again later by an email so that you can react to it at the appropriate time.
iPhone+ | iOS 7.0 | Free
3. MOLTO
Molto is one of the most interesting email experiences you will have. For starters, it takes your unread messages and almost makes them look like pages from Flipboard, with a grid system peppered with attached images. Molto also includes a Photo Inbox just for your friends’ uploads to Facebook, and no matter how many accounts you sync, Molto keeps everything to a single inbox.
iPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | Free
Android | OS 4.0.3 | Free
4. BOXER
It looks similar to Mailbox and the native iOS Mail app, but Boxer comes with plenty of extra punch to stop you considering it just an imitation. Swipe and drop messages into to-do lists, ‘Like’ a message to send an acknowledgement that you’ve seen it and take advantage of Dropbox and Evernote integration. Boxer also supports Gmail labels, a major appeal for many.
iPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | £3.99/$5.99
5. MAIL PILOT
The fi rst thing you will say about Mail Pilot, regardless of how much you love it, will be about the price tag. It is pretty steep for an email client, but some of the productivity tools on off er may well tempt you into purchasing. Mail Pilot is geared towards tasks and getting you to complete them; use messages as to-do lists, set emailrelated reminders and collect groups of related mail together in the Lists section.
iPhone+ | iOS 6.1 | £10.49/$14.99
6. EVOMAIL
Another app with a great gesture-based interface, but there are some other highlights in Evomail to look out for. The app has a Snooze feature that allows you to turn off alerts for the weekend so the office emails don’t follow you around. Emails are also structured like conversations, so you can find old messages quickly and easily. An intuitive experience.
iPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | Free
Android | OS 4.0 | Free
7. SEED MAIL
Seed Mail keeps things very simple with both its functionality and interface. It offers support for the main email providers such as Gmail and Yahoo, but also incorporates iOS Contacts and Calendars to make organising your life after reading your emails a much cleaner process. This is an app that may feel more at home in the hands of a professional, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it out.
iPhone | iOS 6.0 | Free
8. CLOUDMAGIC
One of CloudMagic’s most impressive features is actually its search engine, which makes the process of finding a message lightning fast. Star emails and then set reminders to respond to them – you can even set a passcode lock for your accounts so your correspondence stays private. In addition, you can also view your inbox and draft messages in offline mode.
iPhone | iOS 6.0 | Free
Android | OS 4.0 | Free
9. MYMAIL
If you can stop yourself drooling over the interface (who thought email could look this good?), myMail has some great features. Friend’s avatars and profile pictures bring colour and order to your inboxes while the ability to mute accounts can help separate work and home time. myMail also supports push notifications, so those new messages come directly to you.
iPad+ | iOS 6.0 | Free
Android | OS 2.2 | Free
10. SPARROW
Sparrow has been a hugely popular mail client app on desktop for some time, and now has an iOS companion. Loaded with smart gestures and organisational functionality, this app brings your various email accounts all together into one inbox and makes corresponding a speedier process. Watch out especially for the Smart Contacts feature, which places your most frequent recipients at the top of the list.
iPhone | iOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99
