With well over a billion active users, Gmail is the largest email service in the world and 75 percent of its users check their email via their mobile device. That said, it’s not necessarily best to use the Gmail app to access your email. Nor is it always best to use the email apps that come stock with your smartphone’s software, like Apple Mail. There are superior email apps available that can better align with your needs, whether you’re a Gmail user or not. Here are four to try and why.
Aqua Mail
Aqua Mail is a niche yet fan-favorite email app for Android power users. It only works with Android, but that's actually one of its biggest selling points because it integrates so well with other popular Android-only apps, such as Tasker and Light Flow. It also has a more customizable layout than Gmail. There is a free version, but you're going to want the one-time payment of $20 for the Pro version to get rid of bloatware (ads, gross) and support for more than two accounts.
Compatible with: Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, FastMail, Apple, GMX, AOL, Office 365
Works on: Android
Price: Free ($20 for Pro version)
Microsoft Outlook
Outlook has a rap for being the email app of choice for businesses — and it's true. It syncs brilliantly with Office 365, which a lot of business use, and its built-in calendar makes scheduling meetings and attaching important files super easy. That said, it's a good email app for really anyone, whether you have iPhone or Android, Gmail or Yahoo Mail. The most unique thing about Outlook is its Focused inbox feature, which automatically filters out things you don't want to see, like spam, and prioritizes your most important emails.
Works with: Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo Mail, Office 365, Hotmail/Outlook, iCloud
Works on: Android, iOS, Windows
Price: Free
Newton Mail
Newton Mail is a premium email app designed for power users as well as businesses. Back in 2016, it was one of the few email apps that had features like snoozing, read receipts and scheduling. Even though many of its features have been adopted by numerous other email apps, Newton Mail has obviously developed a strong relationship with its users (so much so that two die-hard fans saved it from termination in May 2020). And today, its great organizational and time-saving features, along with its wide compatibility with many popular premium productivity apps (such as Evernote and Todoist), have kept its loyal userbase just as loyal as ever.
Works with: Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo Mail, Office 365, Hotmail/Outlook, iCloud
Works on: Android, iOS
Price: $50/year (14-day free trial)
ProtonMail
ProtonMail is an email app that puts privacy and security at the forefront. It's an end-to-end encrypted email service, meaning nobody except you can access your data or emails — not even the government. (Its run by the same company behind ProtonVPN, a a popular VPN service.) It also allows you to do neat things, such set expiration times for messages or set a password for the specific email for non-ProtonMail users. Despite these heightened security measures, it's actually a really easy to use. The only real downside is that the free version caps your storage and won't let you send more than 150 messages per day.
Works with: Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo Mail, Office 365, Hotmail/Outlook
Works on: Android, iOS, Web
Price: Free (or $5/month or $48/year)
