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Best mail app

S

sawyer1370

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 5, 2015
7
1
I wanted to see what people thought was the best mail app. I have several different email addresses I maintain, and I use an iMac, a MacBook Pro and an iPad, depending on the task and need I have during the day.

What is the best mail app that will allow me to consolidate all the emails into one place, and allow me to view the mails and maintain the emails and folders so I can view them equally between all my devices?

I was using Mac mail, but I believe that only works on one device, so if I set it up on my laptop, I can't view the mails and folders on another device. Please let me know if that is incorrect.

thanks!
 
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sawyer1370 said:
I wanted to see what people thought was the best mail app. I have several different email addresses I maintain, and I use an iMac, a MacBook Pro and an iPad, depending on the task and need I have during the day.

What is the best mail app that will allow me to consolidate all the emails into one place, and allow me to view the mails and maintain the emails and folders so I can view them equally between all my devices?

I was using Mac mail, but I believe that only works on one device, so if I set it up on my laptop, I can't view the mails and folders on another device. Please let me know if that is incorrect.

thanks!
Click to expand...
If the folders are not local, and are set up on the server this is not true.
No app will sync local folders between devices.

As for best mail apps (on iOS + OS X)
Mail Pilot for iOS (and Mac) might give you quite a consistent experience between devices.
Airmail is also coming to iOS soon (currently in beta).
 
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Mail Pilot is great for Mac... However I wouldn't recommend it at all for iOS. It is absurdly buggy and hardly ever works, which is a shame because its almost pointless to have one without the other.
 
Spark for me, I haven't found it necessary to open the native mail app since I've bought it, updates have been frequent, I also bought their Calandar app and love it too
 
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ekwipt said:
Spark for me, I haven't found it necessary to open the native mail app since I've bought it, updates have been frequent, I also bought their Calandar app and love it too
Click to expand...
Yup, Readdle apps (Calendars, Scanner Pro, Printer Pro and PDF Expert) are great.
Spark is going to get iPad support soon, and they have announced Mac version too!

That said it's still not as advanced as the apps I've mentioned previously.
 
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I'm also loving Spark especially because of the great search functionality and attachment features (add multiple files at once) on my iPhone. I do hope they soon launch the iPad app. I'm now using CloudMagic on my iPad which is also working pretty nice and also has great attachment features (add multiple files at once) see also my wiki about e-mail apps and attachments. I'm using only gmail (IMAP) and an e-mail account from my website (POP3).

It does seem that Spark has issues with my POP3 e-mails the recent weeks. I'm seeing e-mail coming back although i removed them before within the app.
 
Tulani said:
nobody for outlook for iOS?
Click to expand...

I used it when it was still Acompli. It's still a good app but I moved on to Boxer which I found to be a little better for my needs. But Spark has them all beat. It's my new favorite.

Great search features, custom folder filters, ability to pin emails + ALIAS SUPPORT FTW. But 2 features stand out - Spark is the only email app who I feel has figured out how to manage signatures correctly, IMO. Also, for some reason, it's one of the few email apps where you can add people to your iPhone contacts from the app itself. I found this incredibly frustrating on Boxer & CloudMagic.

Anxiously awaiting the iPad version.
 
E3BK said:
I used it when it was still Acompli. It's still a good app but I moved on to Boxer which I found to be a little better for my needs. But Spark has them all beat. It's my new favorite.

Great search features, custom folder filters, ability to pin emails + ALIAS SUPPORT FTW. But 2 features stand out - Spark is the only email app who I feel has figured out how to manage signatures correctly, IMO. Also, for some reason, it's one of the few email apps where you can add people to your iPhone contacts from the app itself. I found this incredibly frustrating on Boxer & CloudMagic.

Anxiously awaiting the iPad version.
Click to expand...

I was also on the Spark camp and still love it but it still lacks a lot of major features I need.
I'm starting to love Outlook because of a lot of the great features that Spark is missing see below.

Outlook pros:
- iPad support
- Slide Over / Split View on iPad
- can show attachments above e-mail text

Outlook cons:
- not able to attach multiple files at once from the cloud
- lacks a great search feature which Spark has

Spark pros:
- excellent search feature (e.g. 'Jim attachments January')
- attach multiple files at once from cloud storage (unfortunately not yet save multiple files to cloud at once)

Spark cons:
- no landscape view
- no iPad support (also anxiously waiting for the iPad version, beta is on it's way i believe)
- Slide Over / Split View on iPad
- show attachments above the e-mail text
- can't show badge icon of unread e-mails when you don't want to turn on background app refresh on your iDevice

Both lack:
- don't show avatar icon in inbox or conversation mode
- security/password and or TouchID support
- save multiple attachments to the cloud (none of the e-mails I've tested can do this)
- html signatures (which CloudMagic has)
- read receipt
- reminders pending reply

See also my major comparison in this wiki topic.
 
I've always been a 'default' Mail app user as (for me) nothing could replace the default app.

However, I recently discovered "Spark" and it has now become my default mail app both on my phone and iPad Pro. Give it a go, it's free.
 
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Readdlemate said:
Thank you:) We've added iPad and Apple Watch OS 2 support to version 1.6:)

best regards,
Readdle Team
Click to expand...

Hi Readdlemate, is there any optimising that could be done to open and close mail, for instance if i'm checking out a webpage, it moves me to safari and then when i want to go back to Spark, there's a slowdown and wait until i can either go back to my smart inbox or even scroll further into the message.

It just feels a little laggy at times.

FYI the new iPad support is great, thanks for the update
 
ekwipt said:
Hi Readdlemate, is there any optimising that could be done to open and close mail, for instance if i'm checking out a webpage, it moves me to safari and then when i want to go back to Spark, there's a slowdown and wait until i can either go back to my smart inbox or even scroll further into the message.

It just feels a little laggy at times.

FYI the new iPad support is great, thanks for the update
Click to expand...

What iOS version do you use? In Spark Settings go to Email Viewer and select Safari or In - App option.

In iOS 9 when you tap on the link and open it in Safari you can go back by tapping on "Back to Spark" button in the top left corner. If you select "In - App" you should tap on "Done" button to go back to Spark.

best regards,
Readdle Team
 
Readdlemate said:
What iOS version do you use? In Spark Settings go to Email Viewer and select Safari or In - App option.

In iOS 9 when you tap on the link and open it in Safari you can go back by tapping on "Back to Spark" button in the top left corner. If you select "In - App" you should tap on "Done" button to go back to Spark.

best regards,
Readdle Team
Click to expand...

I use is iPhone 6 plus.

Thanks I didn't know there was an In-App option, i just thought you had taken it out of the app. But what i mean is the time it takes for the Spark app to come back to an active state. I feel there's definite lag, and maybe it was introduced in later versions. Not sure maybe its just me. I also have 3 accounts going through to the smart folder, so maybe its just that
 
ekwipt said:
I use is iPhone 6 plus.

Thanks I didn't know there was an In-App option, i just thought you had taken it out of the app. But what i mean is the time it takes for the Spark app to come back to an active state. I feel there's definite lag, and maybe it was introduced in later versions. Not sure maybe its just me. I also have 3 accounts going through to the smart folder, so maybe its just that
Click to expand...

Got it! Not sure...maybe you open large emails or use mobile Internet. Do you use background refresh?

Best regards,
Readdle team
 
no I've had it turned off from when i first bought the phone to save battery life, but i'll test it on Spark and see what happens, i'm cool with power most of the time as i have a spare plug at work, i just hate it from my old phone running out of battery half way through the day

thanks for the suggestion
[doublepost=1457569363][/doublepost]Just a quick edit, i turned on App refresh and it's definitely helped, i've now turned it back on for Facebook, as that annoys me with reloads
 
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