9 Outlook Alternatives For iPhone, Android
Microsoft Outlook is a popular mobile email app, but it's far from your only option. Here is a list of alternatives for iOS and Android if you want to try something new.
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If you manage business emails on your smartphone, there's a good chance you do it on Outlook. Microsoft's mobile email app is extremely popular among enterprise customers and, along with the rest of the Office suite, is now available on iOS and Android mobile devices.
Outlook has gotten some major changes over the past several months as Microsoft focuses on appealing to an increasingly mobile workforce. Skype was recently integrated with Outlook to simplify meeting coordination: Now, when new events are added to the calendar, organizers will be prompted to add a Skype call.
The company is also integrating business management into Outlook with Project Madeira, a new initiative targeting small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs). The public cloud service ties business operations with Office 365 so SMBs can manage finances and operations without leaving Outlook.
[Read: Microsoft, Google, and other tech companies push for encrypted email.]
Enterprise customers can also test the beta preview of Outlook Premium, an upgraded version of its Outlook email service that will bring additional features to paid subscribers. The preview will let testers create up to five custom email address domains, give them access to simpler data sharing, and remove banner ads.
But even with the addition of new and improved features over the last few months, Outlook may not be the right email app for you. Maybe you're looking for a simpler email app, or one that can aggregate email from multiple accounts.
Fortunately, there are a number of email apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play to explore.
Here, we take a closer look at 9 email apps for users who are tired of Outlook, don't like how it works, or want a tool to handle multiple email accounts. Have you used any of these apps? Which would you be willing to try? We'd like to hear your thoughts and suggestions in the comments.
Boxer is a suite of mobile email, calendar, and contacts apps that handles Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo, and AOL accounts. The developers behind Boxer created the app to communicate and work more efficiently.
Some noteworthy features include Gmail label support, smart folders that remember where you prefer to file documents, a dashboard of important and time-sensitive items, contacts integration with social media, and the ability to customize swipes to delete, archive, send to spam, or other actions. Boxer is integrated with common services like Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Salesforce, and Twitter for quick access.
Business users may want to check out VMware Boxer, a mobile email app created to keep corporate data secure and compliant while giving users access to their work messages, calendar, and contacts across devices.
Boxer is available for $4.99 on iOS and free with in-app purchase options for Android.
Spark is a free iOS email client built to accelerate the normally tedious process of weeding through your inbox. It works with email addresses from Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, and Yahoo.
The "smart" inbox collects email items from all of your accounts and automatically sorts them into personal, newsletter, and notification categories for easy organization. From there, you can swipe to "pin" important tasks or messages to the top of your inbox or snooze emails that can wait for later. If you make a mistake, you can shake your iPhone or hit "Undo" to go back.
Spark also makes it easy to open, save, and search attachments with a tap. With smart search, you can search your inbox using plain English phrases like "attachments from John last week." It also integrates with services including Box, Dropbox, OneDrive, iCloud Drive, and Google Drive so you can easily connect.
TypeApp is a free third-party email client available on Android. It handles addresses from a broad range of email providers including Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yandex, Hushmail, AOL, and Yahoo.
Some handy features worth noting include automatic sorting into predetermined categories, customizable menus, mobile printing, smart conversations, and the ability to customize push notifications for different accounts. It's also visually appealing, with color coding and photos to accompany contacts.
On the security front, TypeApp gives users the option to set a timed lock screen for keeping messages private.
Inboxcube is a free email app for iOS created to work with IMAP-based providers including Gmail, iCloud, Outlook, and Yahoo. The app sorts your content into "cubes" to keep everything organized. Cubes are used to store emails, attachments, contacts, starred content, videos, documents, and Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files.
With Inboxcube you can swipe between email conversations, personalize your theme, and send messages with a chat-like capability called the "Type-to-Reply" bar. The app is designed so you don't have to leave if you want to read an article or post to social media. Facebook, Twitter, and Dropbox integration lets you share using Inboxcube, and an in-app browser lets you access online content without switching apps.
Inboxcube notes emails are stored exclusively on users' devices -- not on the company's servers.
Hop takes your email messages and turns them into chat conversations. The result is an interface that bears a closer resemblance to a text messaging app than a traditional email inbox.
While Hop is less formal than traditional email apps, it's no less organized. You can set Hop Groups to communicate and collaborate with family, friends, and colleagues; assign custom notification alerts for different types of messages and contacts; and sort promotional email into separate feeds so you can focus on content that matters to you.
Hop also offers audio calls with other Hop users. You can use it to send videos, photos, audio messages, doodles, and Web images with anyone in real-time.
CloudMagic is a robust and visually appealing email tool designed to work with IMAP-based accounts including Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and iCloud. Email accounts and preferences are synced across all devices, which helps with easy setup on a new smartphone or tablet.
A unified inbox lets you view email from all accounts in one place. While writing, you can choose the address you want to send replies from; attach files from services including Google Drive, iCloud, and Dropbox; and add an HTML signature. CloudMagic is integrated with productivity apps including Wunderlist, OneNote, Trello, Todoist, Evernote, Salesforce, Instapaper, and OmniFocus.
For security, CloudMagic lets you protect messages with a Passcode lock and remotely wipe data if your phone gets lost. It's also worth noting emails are pushed from the cloud instead of received via constant polling. That method is easier on data and on smartphone battery life.
Timyo is a free email app built for iOS. It's currently limited to Gmail "for now" but may possibly expand the service in the future.
The app has redesigned the inbox with Agenda View, which lets you know at a glance which emails are prioritized and when they should be addressed. When you send an email, the recipient will see a simple and polite message informing them when is best to respond. Timyo will keep you posted on which replies are pending or overdue.
When you swipe on a message in your inbox, you'll have the option to select Today, Tomorrow, Pick Date, or Done to decide when the email should be addressed. A tab bar at the bottom of the screen shows you how many messages are in each timeframe.
The company notes that user emails are not stored on Timyo servers.
Mailwise is a free Android email app built to connect with a broad range of email providers including Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, Live, and email servers such as Zimbra and Zextras Suite.
The app has a simple interface and is easy to configure. You can swipe for immediate action, sort your inbox by starred and unstarred messages, and quickly search through old email. Contact management is easy, given the option to press a contact's image to add their email address and other details. You can also set notifications per sender and create a "quiet time" to silence notifications unless they come from people marked as VIP.
Inbox, built by the team behind Gmail, was built to improve inbox organization. It keeps all your Gmail messages, and has the spam protection that comes with Google's email service.
Some of the features in Inbox include Highlights, which presents key information you can read without opening the email; Reminders, which presents tasks you need to do; Snooze, which silences emails and reminders until a time you choose; and Bundles, which groups similar messages so you can handle them all at once.
Inbox, built by the team behind Gmail, was built to improve inbox organization. It keeps all your Gmail messages, and has the spam protection that comes with Google's email service.
Some of the features in Inbox include Highlights, which presents key information you can read without opening the email; Reminders, which presents tasks you need to do; Snooze, which silences emails and reminders until a time you choose; and Bundles, which groups similar messages so you can handle them all at once.
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