5 Android mail apps for the Gmail-weary

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 30 Aug 2013

en it comes to quality third-party mail applications, it’s slim pickings in the ay store. Android users are usually left to choose from ’s Gmail app or the manufacturer-provided option that came with their device.

Those aren’t the only options for checking email, however, if you’ve got multiple accounts across different services, you’re probably looking for something with a little more functionality than what’s offered. If you look hard enough, you’ll find a number of feature-filled gems in the ay store just waiting to be installed. Some of the apps tack on features like added security a “quiet mode” that mutes your email when you’re not in the mood, while others are useful for dealing with the email aliases you’ve been collecting all those years.

MailDroid

MailDroid’s connection management lets you manage how often MailDroid checks for email.

If you can stomach the banner ad fixated on the bottom of the screen, MaiDroid is a powerful mail application that’s both easy on the eyes easy to use. It supports bdav, , IMAaccounts, as well as Microsoft Exchange 2003, 2007, 2010.

MailDroid comes with a versatile search filter the ability to set up rule-based connections that can help you save cellular data or prioritize your existing connection for other apps. You can also set up Bookmarks to get quick access to specific folders within your account.

If spam is getting out of h, you can pay MailDroid a monthly fee to rid of it for you. If you use your tablet to check email, the app also offers a split-screen mode. The app comes with a few caveats, however: Calendar integration ActiveSync aren’t supported you’ll have to fork over a whopping $17.99 to remove advertisements.

ice: Free or $17.99 

K-9 Mail

K-9 Mail features split-screen message view.

Don’t be fooled by its cheesy robot dog icon—K-9 Mail is a powerful email application that can help you manage multiple accounts. K-9 Mail automatically detects settings for every new email account it features gestures a split-screen mode that’s not limited to tablets. There are also a plethora of settings to choose from for your various mail accounts folders, you can set up a “quiet time” to keep your phone from buzzing when you should be sleeping.

ice: Free

K-@ Mail o

K-@ Mail offers various split-screen viewing modes.

The streamlined refined interface of K-@ is right up there with the best mail apps on Android. ke K-9 Mail, K-@ also features a “quiet time” setting, in addition to text-to-speech lock-screen notifications for those especially important messages. As an added bonus, it comes with its own widgets a variety of different split-screen modes.

ice: $3.95

AquaMail o

AquaMail o’s priority inbox doesn’t work as well as Gmail’s.

AquaMail is particularly good at easily setting up accounts from services like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, without a lot of fiddly server settings. It also supports other stard email protocols such as IMA , SMTfor corporate email like tus Notes Exchange.

The app integrates with other third-party launcher apps such as Tasker, Nova uncher, Apex uncher o. It also offers a backup restore function for your email, you can choose whether or not you want to automatically add a contact after you send off a message.

rhaps the best feature for AquaMail is its Smart Inbox, which works similar to Gmail’s iority inbox, though it’s not as accurate. AquaMail was one of the most customizable email clients of the bunch, but you’ll need to fork over $4.95 if you want to manage more than two email accounts remove the promotional signature it attaches to outgoing messages.

ice: Free or $4.95

Emoze

Emoze offers additional security settings that let you remotely delete your email if your phone gets swiped.

Emoze doesn’t feature the most aesthetically pleasing interface, but it is a relatively straightforward email client that offers a unified inbox, always-available push email, a designated attachments folder. You can also set up a sync schedule to assign peak days times for synchronizing email, Emoze displays a “show traffic” bar that makes it easy to determine how much of your data plan you’re saving with your settings. Emoze’s stout features are its encryption remote wiping abilities.

ice: Free

These aren’t the only email applications in the ay store, but they are some of the most functional that we could find. Keep in mind that if you’re an Outlook.com or Yahoo! Mail user, both services offer their own apps for Android, if you happen to love an email client that we didn’t include in the listing, do leave us a comment.