Google is today pulling the plug on Inbox by Gmail, the popular smart mail app that is also on the iPhoned-editing until the last minute is used. We help everyone make the switch with our favorite Google Inbox alternatives.
Inbox stopped: these are our 4 alternatives
After years of loyal service, Gmail’s Inbox app stops working today. Last year, Google already announced that the app would be discontinued, in the meantime many functions have made the switch to the default Gmail app. But not all of them.
Are you looking for a good alternative due to the disappearance of Inbox by Gmail? Then you’ve come to the right place. As far as we’re concerned, we give our favorite and three other choices.
1. Our favorite Google Inbox alternative: Spark
If you are a fan of Inbox, you like a tidy mailbox that helps you organize and bundle your mails. Readdle’s Spark does exactly this with the tagline “Love your email again”: an app for iOS, macOS and watchOS that clearly distinguishes between important and less important messages.
Spark distinguishes between your Smart Inbox and normal Inbox. In the Smart version, emails are sorted based on personal emails, newsletters and notifications. This makes it clear at a glance which messages immediately demand your attention and which are probably less urgent.
This makes Spark an excellent (free) alternative to Inbox, which you can also expand with useful extra functions. Spark has a built-in calendar and smart search function, you can set reminders and schedule an email to send it at a later time. The dark mode and Mac app complete the package. Spark is in our opinion the best alternative to Inbox.
2. Gmail
Google has done its best to port features from Inbox to Gmail, in the hopes that users will make the switch too. For example, you can now set smart reminders in Gmail, the app proposes an automatic reply when you receive an English-written mail and you receive suggestions for unsubscribing from newsletters that you do not read anyway.
The design that was introduced at the end of last year also provides a tidier appearance on mobile, with advertisements also being given a clear color and grouped, just as was the case with Gmail.
That may be enough for many people to make the switch from Inbox to Gmail. In any case, it’s worth a try if you’re not a fan of Spark.
Also read: New design for Gmail: 4 changes in a row
3.Outlook
Microsoft’s alternative to Inbox will take some time to get used to, but Outlook has definitely improved as a mail app with the last few updates. For example, the search function has become smarter, so that you can not only browse through all your emails, but also instantly find attachments or upcoming calendar appointments. The built-in calendar also provides an overview, provided you take the time to use and set it, of course.
Opinions will differ about the design of the app. For example, switching between priority e-mails and others does not yet work accurately enough for us and e-mails quickly merge because they look too similar at a glance. This is due to the lack of bundling of, for example, advertisements and newsletters.
4. Apple Mail
There is of course also another mail app on your iPhone that also works well on the Mac and Apple Watch: the mail app from Apple. The inbox of this app is a lot less clever, but it does take over your entire Inbox mailbox. This means that all archived and pinned emails are immediately in the right place in the Mail app, which saves you a lot of work.
In the standard mail app you can quickly switch between an overview with only unread mails, your pinned messages and the general inbox. Of course, the Mail app’s design best matches that of the other apps from Apple and iOS, which may be a plus for some people. However, we can’t get used to the huge font of the menus and the fact that your inbox is just not smart enough.
Also looking for a new tasks app? We help you
A popular feature of Inbox was the built-in tasks app, allowing you to organize and create tasks directly from your emails. If you miss this function, we recommend using a tasks app next to your mailbox. In the article below, we’ll discuss the Things 3 app, one of our favorite and most comprehensive task apps for iOS and macOS.
Also read: Why Things 3 is such a good task app