Love it or hate it, Email is one of the most commonly used forms of communication, and more than 205 billion individual emails are sent every single day. Many of them are spam, but the rest are our bread and butter communication. Email quickly spread from desktop to mobile, and today, the majority of emails are read on an Android smartphone or tablet. Such devices come with pre-installed email app, Google’s Gmail. Alternatives are plenty, and many other email apps are available with distinct features and unique functions. Let’s thaw a look at the pros and cons of the most commonly available emailing apps for Android smartphones and evaluate which are the best. The apps can be downloaded from the Google Play Store for free and work smoothly on Android mobiles.
Forewarning: Email Security
Email security is likely to be a deciding factor in selecting an email app, primarily if you use it for work-related correspondence. You will have valuable data contained in your emails, and the notion that it can be compromised is unthinkable. You may want to add encryption to your work-related emails, and there are a few viable options on the market for desktops including Symantec Desktop Encryption, which automatically encrypts, decrypts, verifies, and scans all incoming and outgoing messages. However, for smartphones, whenever you access public WiFi, you are at risk. Communication via WhatsApp and Viber are encrypted automatically, and one way to send confidential correspondence, but they don’t have the ease of use and acceptance or Email.
Gmail
Google’s Gmail is perhaps the most renowned of all email apps for Android and iOS smartphones. The app started out as free, with an advertising-supported service provided by Google. Launched in 2004 as a beta release, its virtual gates opened to the general public in 2007. Gmail initially offered an impressive storage capacity reaching 1 GB per user, while other providers like Hotmail, and Outlook only offered 5 MB of storage space. Today, Gmail provides all users with a whopping 15GB of free storage capacity. Moreover, Gmail has over a billion users, and the app has one billion hits for installation at the Google Play Store! Gmail has a high rating among its users, at 4.3 stars out of over 2 million user reviews. Its popularity continues to surge, its features continually improving. Your Gmail app for Android is compatible with non-Gmail addresses, including Outlook, Yahoo Mail, and IMAP/POP email services. Adding new email accounts is straightforward and painless, and they are displayed in a single unified inbox. Gmail is the ultimate go-to email app for Android smartphones and tablets, and it is not likely to be dethroned easily in the foreseeable future.
Boxer
Boxer is a worthy alternative to other, more established Android email apps. It was nominated for the prestigious Webby Awards for Best Mobile Productivity App in 2015. It supports a wide variety of options including Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, Hotmail, iCloud, Office 365, Exchange, IMAP and POP3 mail accounts. It also integrates smoothly with Dropbox and Evernote, and it has unique features like a built-in to-do list. You can use a variety of handy shortcuts, swipe to archive, to trash, or even block emails, and there are twelve options for customisation. Boxer is available in three different versions. There is Boxer for Exchange, adding exchange support via ActiveSync. Then there is Boxer Pro and the Boxer Pro + Exchange. The Pro provides multiple account support options, quick custom replies, and personal email signature and The Pro + Exchange throws in extra Exchange support.
K-9 Mail
Die-hard Android users who are entirely familiar with the operating system since its infancy love the K-9 Mail app. It was and still is one of the original alternative email apps offered on Android smartphones. It is also popular among open-source crowds and is a community developed project. Anyone can chime in and contribute, and that communal effort serves up a tremendous open-source email app. It supports IMAP email, Exchange 2003/2007, multi-folder syncing, flagging, filing, email signatures, bcc to self, PGP, and mail on SD. The support for PGP is an exciting feature with the climate surrounding personal privacy and security within the digital age. K-9 Mail integrates flawlessly with Android’s Privacy Guard. It is a unique, free and open source app that allows you to encrypt, decrypt and sign files, send and receive messages and emails using Public Key Encryption, and you can even encrypt and decrypt data files or messages using symmetric encryption, and securing them with passwords.
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook can trace its origins to an email service called Hotmail. It was acquired by the Microsoft Corp. in 1997 for close to $400 million and was promptly renamed Windows Live Hotmail. That later changed again in 2013 into what we know it as today, and Outlook is Microsoft’s answer to challenge the mighty Gmail. It is a paradigm of sleek and web-based and capable mobile apps. The Android Outlook app supports Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Gmail, Yahoo, and old Hotmail accounts. Its Focused inbox feature is a key selling point, and its purpose is to keep all your essential messages right at the top of your screen, ensuring you don’t miss them. You can quickly access your calendars and files directly from your inbox, improving your on-the-go productivity. Microsoft’s suite of apps is a viable alternative to Google, especially if you are using Microsoft Windows.
WeMail
WeMail organises your emails into a unique chat-like experience, which promises a 50% reduction of space on your inbox. You won’t need to keep scrolling down multiple pages to find an email, and it features one of the fastest, most advanced email search systems which permits you the find precisely what you are looking for instantly. All your valuable documents, files and photos are accessible with a single tap of a finger, and you don’t have to type to compose emails, the app provides a dictation function, and you can simply speak into the app to compare emails, and they will be converted immediately.
