5 Great Android App Alternatives to Gmail

Gmail is the lifeblood that drives the Android experience. All the data that flows through your inbox powers the Now recommendations, fill up your calendar. And even tells Play what apps you’re probably into. But there’s nothing to say you’re stuck with the stock Gmail app. There are many other good email apps for Android. Which will also let you stay connected to your Microsoft Exchange account, Outlook.com, Yahoo Mail, or other providers. Each of these apps offers its strengths, with a unique take on managing email. Although they really like the color blue for their icons. So if you want to play outside Gmail’s box, we’ll help you figure out where to tread next.

Inbox by Gmail

Since you probably have at least one Gmail account, Android is essentially useless without one. It’s worth checking out Google’s clever rethink of how email works with Inbox. We’ve covered a lot of the tricks behind Inbox before. But if you’ve yet to explore it. Prepare to adjust your workflow from your usual email tendencies. Inbox is designed to be part of a more extensive get-things-done system. The app bundles similar emails by category. Which is especially helpful for travel, purchases, and updates you’d instead delete all at once.

Inbox helps you with large amounts of email by snoozing messages for later or archiving batches at once.

Inbox uses Google’s machine learning capabilities in several ways. When you want to set a reminder, the app will autosuggest, phone numbers, and contact information. Inbox also offers three replies for many emails. So you can fire back a quick, Thanks for the information! or another canned response in order to save time. I’ve personally found Inbox to be an essential part of my workflow. Although it doesn’t have quite the same number of features. If you value Gmail, but want some help in managing the deluge of email, then give it a look.

Please Note: Inbox signed off in March 2019. Most of the features are in the Gmail app.

Microsoft Outlook

While Outlook may sound like a relic from the days of Windows X, you’ll find it a bright, effective email app. Microsoft got into the mobile game almost overnight. When it bought the well-regarded app Accomplice, did a little under-the-hood work, and relaunched it as Outlook. While it handles Microsoft Exchange Outlook.com. It also tackles Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, and IMAP. Like Inbox you can swipe messages to archive, schedule them for later, or delete them.

Outlook for Android has embraced Material Design, and works with a wide variety of accounts.

One handy task it performs is keeping track of all your files. That appeared in messages or have been used frequently in Dropbox, Box, or OneDrive, but no Drive yet. Microsoft also embraced Material Design and is constantly pushing updates with new features. If you have an Exchange account or want to consolidate all your email in one app, Outlook is a great option.

CloudMagic

Suppose you want something that’s a little outside the box for managing several accounts. In that case, CloudMagic may be an option to explore. It has the usual swipe to archive moves. Still, the signature feature is integration with popular cloud services like Evernote, OneNote, Todoist, and others. These integrations are available in the form of cards. That you touch inside a message to send the content to your preferred service.

Another advantage of CloudMagic is a dedicated Mac app. So you can have a consistent experience on the desktop only if you’re using OS X. It’ll cost you $20 if you want to grab it from the Mac App Store.

Nine

Nine is much like Outlook in look and feel, but it offers a few more customization options. It also smartly integrates with your fingerprint lock, making your email secure.

Nine is built explicitly for Exchange, so you can’t use it for Gmail or other accounts. But the app excels at allowing you to tweak how it looks. With a dark theme and different color choices for the background. You can also swipe messages to schedule them for later, archive them, or delete them. The app also does an excellent job with calendar task sync. Which means calendar invites are constantly updated on my phone.

BlueMail

One advantage of Blue Mail is that it handles pretty much any service under the sun: Microsoft Exchange, Gmail, Outlook.com, iCloud, AO iCloud, and even IMAIL. Suppose you like some of the look and feel of Gmail’s Inbox but want to use it with a non-account. In that case, this may be the best choice. Because the general concept is similar to the ability to swipe messages away.

BlueMail also offers very detailed mail management. You can set how often specific folders sync. Configure quick replies and take complete control over what appears in each swipe menu. If you want to bend your email app to your will, BlueMail has a lot you’ll probably like.

These options make it clear that Android isn’t just Gmail Central. Microsoft and other developers have taken advantage of Android’s feature set to create great productivity aids. Email isn’t going away anytime soon. So pick the app you like the best, so you can tame this most necessary of evils.