When your email doubles as your work space, it is important to keep it organized. That being said, this can be a frustrating and time-consuming task.
Thankfully, managing your email has gotten a whole lot easier thanks to these innovative apps:
Outlook
Microsoft rolled out its Outlook app for iOS and Android about two months after acquiring Accompli. The decision gave users a more desirable alternative to the Outlook Web App, and a more powerful alternative to the default iOS Mail app offered.
Some of Outlook’s key features include:
- Your inbox is separated into ‘Focused’ and ‘Other’ to help prioritize important emails.
- It will support IMAP and various email services, including Office 365, Outlook, Exchange, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and iCloud.
- Files can be selected from OneDrive, Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive, or from recently sent and received files.
- Microsoft’s Office apps are equipped with a ‘Send with Outlook’ button.
Microsoft has also been working on improved document collaboration features in Outlook. They have added in workflow between Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and of course Outlook to make editing files on a mobile device much easier.
Google’s Inbox
There’s no denying that most of us tend to get our answers from Google. Well, Google’s answer to email clutter is the simply named Inbox. Google’s Inbox app offers Gmail users tons of innovative time-saving features, some of which include:
- The ability to bundle email into social networking, news, updates, and trip bundles.
- Offers highlights.
- Offers reminders (and Snooze).
- Reminders written in Google’s note-taking app, Keep, are added to Inbox automatically.
Inbox has got your back, and will suggest that you add a Reminder if someone sends you a ‘to-do’ email.
Spark
Spark has rolled out its version of the smart inbox as well. The app is loaded with a lot of cool features, and it is definitely smart with natural speech search and the ability to easily toggle between views.
Some other helpful features Spark has to offer are:
- Integration with third party apps including Evernote, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, Pocket, Evernote, and OneNote.
- Features to customize everything from widget shortcuts to email workflow.
- For people who use multiple email signatures, Spark also lets users swipe between them from within an email.
- The ability to minimize an email you’re working on.
Zero
The name says it all! Zero is all about keeping your inbox clear.
Instead of prioritizing or grouping emails, Zero’s Mailfeed takes a different approach and offers a summary of each email in full screen “cards”. Here is how they work:
- Swiping a card upwards will push the email to the archive.
- Pressing the star icon will keep it in the inbox.
- Reply to an email by swiping right to get the inbox view.
Although you are aiming for ‘Inbox Zero’, they have developed a clever way to focus on what you want to keep, not what you need to delete. Along with this, when scrolling through Zero, the interface is similar to that of a social media app, which works well.
Boxer
The Boxer app is offered in a free and paid-for version on iOS, and also as a freemium app through Android.
Boxer supports Gmail, Outlook, Exchange, Yahoo, and IMAP. It offers Box, Dropbox, Evernote, and Facebook Calendar integration. It also has unique swipe features, such as:
- A short right swipe on inbox items (which brings up a grid of shortcuts for things like sending a response, creating a to-do list, or making a note).
- A long right swipe (which offers a shortcut to the to-do list).
- A short left swipe (which will archive the email).
- A long left swipe (which will delete an email).
On iOS, the free version of the app is limited to one webmail account, and you don’t get access to Boxer’s custom quick templates. Though, it does still provide a short list of stock replies.
Mailbox by Dropbox
Mailbox by Dropbox allows and encourages users to transfer as much as possible out of the inbox, while still providing easy access to the archive.
The Mailbox app has its users choose one of three ‘rules’:
- Archive all messages.
- Archive all messages, except for unread.
- Achieve all messages, except for starred.
Mailbox offers a lot of unique swipe actions as well:
- A short left swipe will display a grid of scheduling shortcuts.
- A longer swipe offers a list of to-do shortcuts such as ‘to buy’, ‘to read’, and ‘to watch’.
- Users are allowed the option to create their own shortcuts, too.
Mailbox obviously uses Dropbox when it comes to syncing and storage for file attachments, but by default, the app will send attachments as Dropbox links (as opposed to attaching a file to the message).
CloudMagic
CloudMagic is a search-focused email app that provides a simple and clean design. In April 2014, CloudMagic won the Webby Awards People’s Voice for their visual design, and again in September, winning the “Best Design” award at the Evernote Platform Awards.
Aside from the design and search capabilities, here are some key features of CloudMagic:
- It can send attachments from iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive.
- It supports IMAP, as well as Google Apps, Office 365, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, Exchange, and iCloud.
- Introduced ‘cards’, which are activated by tapping on the content of an email (or the card icon next to the sender’s name) for the option to complete tasks in third-party apps.
- It offers easy bulk email actions.
CloudMagic recently displayed a new contact-focused add-on. The add-on is called Team Contacts, and it is being aimed at business users that want to help their colleagues introduce new contacts from outside of the organization. For now, however, it only works with Google Apps.
OffSite IT helps you stay up-to-date on the latest apps designed with your productivity in mind. Contact us at (866) 828-6674 or send us an email at info@offsiteIT.com for more information.
