We put up with it on a desktop but can you imagine what an absolute nightmare it would be to have to log into your email provider’s mobile website to view your inbox and send each and every email? Especially if you’re one of those people who can’t leave their device alone for more than a minute without checking for new messages.
Never again bemoan the limited functionality and lack of third-party app support of native Android software thanks to the widespread availability of email apps. But which one is the best email app on Android? We know choosing one is hard and that’s why we’ve compiled some of the most popular choices in the list below:
Table of Contents
Gmail – The most obvious option
While forced to create an account, not every Android user has to use Gmail as their email weapon of choice but it’s still one of the most popular email services in the world due to its convenience and reliability. And the app doesn’t stay far behind its desktop cousin; with complete Google Drive and multiple account support (Gmail and IMAP included) plus a unified inbox. Moreover, thanks to Google’s latest design enhancements, it looks really clean, which is perfect if you already use your @gmail.com email address a lot anyway and want a simple, convenient, and powerful solution to manage your emails.
[appbox googleplay com.google.android.gm]
Microsoft Outlook – The big bad competitor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELbYRTO8EA0
The history of this app dates back to 2014, when Microsoft laid its hands on Accompli, and after rebranding and making some in-app changes, turned it into Outlook. Microsoft’s app is a really useful and commanding email tool. You can manage your emails and attachments easily and access contacts lists and calendars with a single swipe of your digit. It might not support all email providers but works great with Exchange, Outlook.com, Yahoo Mail, Gmail, iCloud, and Office 365 email accounts. If you receive a lot of emails every day, the app will analyse your ongoing communication to bring the most important conversations to the top. The only drawback Android users will notice with this app is that it’s rather sluggish compared to Google’s native app as well as many other email applications.
[appbox googleplay com.microsoft.office.outlook]
Inbox – The other email app from Google
Inbox brings functions to life that could be seen as cluttering or unnecessary in the standard Gmail app. At the core of Inbox lies the idea of organising everything so that the experience of checking email is as swift and as personalised as possible. It also scans your emails and gives you popups when the most important ones arrive. For similar emails the developers prepared a ‘bundle’ option, where all related emails get bundled together so that you can go through them all at once without distracting yourself with other messages. With a few other equally clever features, Inbox is perfect for anyone who loves being organised. Although setting up Inbox takes a while, it’s really worth the effort to master it.
[appbox googleplay com.google.android.apps.inbox]
CloudMagic – Syncs like magic
CloudMagic is quite the robust email solution. Not only does it support almost any email client, from major online email service providers to any IMAP or POP3 business account, but it can also be connected to many other niche services including Dropbox or Evernote, and even hook it up to the Android Wear range of wearable tech. The design of the app is very clear and, despite being loaded with features, is easy to navigate thanks to the simple colour coding that makes finding emails and documents easier than other apps. CloudMagic is a good solution if you’re looking for a basic email client with a clean and easy to navigate interface.
[appbox googleplay com.cloudmagic.mail]
Type Mail (Blue Mail) – The most beautiful to-do list
The first thought that comes to mind when you play around with this app is how beautiful it is; almost as if it was created by Sir Jonathan Ive himself. Not only is the design great but the whole menu is created in a very instinctive way for idiot-proof accessibility. It also comes with great additional features that make this app great for writing a to-do list and setting up alerts and alarms. It also supports many different email providers, including Gmail, Google Apps, Office 365, Hotmail, Mail.ru, AOL, Zoho, GMX and any other IMAP accounts – even the ones set up on your own server. Type Mail is just the thing for scatterbrains who tend to forget about emails and doing things in general. The only drawback? Make sure you have a long lasting phone battery.
[appbox googleplay me.bluemail.mail]
WeMail – Messenger-style email app
WeMail tries to reinvent the way that email apps should look. Instead of showing you messages in boring old chronological order, it presents them to you in a chat-like manner, giving you the illusion of using a messenger. Even replying resembles the experience of IM clients. Apart from a really slick and clean design, WeMail boasts one of the fastest and most reliable email search scripts of any other clients as well as great email compression. The app also likes to blow its own trumpet by reminding you how much time it saved you by grouping your emails the way it does.
Yahoo Mail – Stay updated reading your email
Another big name on the list, the email application from Yahoo tries to combine the idea of an email app together with a news service as you can literally read the news and check your emails simultaneously. It can be a bit distracting for some people, but Yahoo fans should prefer this association with the desktop version. It’s very easy to use and combines accessibility with all the most basic email features an average user may need. Its only downside is that it only supports Yahoo emails – but if you happen to have an email registered with Yahoo, give it a try as it’s a really convenient email app, especially for those who like to stay updated with the latest gossip.
[appbox googleplay com.yahoo.mobile.client.android.mail]
Nine – A handy app for Exchange users
Quite similar to Microsoft Outlook, Nine offers a bit more customisation for its users. It gives a great experience via the interface, which is very clean and doesn’t get cluttered – even after customising it to your needs. To secure your emails, it can integrate with your fingerprint lock. Although it’s primarily aimed at Exchange users, you can use it with other email servers as well. After a few tweaks it can be the real deal, and with tasks sync, it’s easy to turn it into a handy mobile organiser.
[appbox googleplay com.ninefolders.hd3]
myMail – Access all your messages with ease
The main focus of the myMail app is making it mobile friendly and practical. It supports all of the IMAP and POP3 email accounts, making it a perfect choice if you use more than one email provider including Outlook, Live, Gmail, and Yahoo but excluding Exchange emails so if you have one check out the Nine app listed above and install it instead. Thanks to the ease of use it’s a great choice for people who need to manage a ton of emails, even if you have never used a similar app before. The variety of notification controls only adds to its usefulness. No wonder it’s now one of the most popular alternatives to the big native email apps.
[appbox googleplay com.my.mail]
K-9 Mail – One of the email apps forerunners
K-9 Mail is one of the oldest Android email apps still active today. Over the years, it has gained a lot of fans that have never left it for any of the more modern and advanced email client apps. At first glance, it may seem old as its interface is quite minimalistic but this makes it manageable and saves your battery power for Angry Birds and other vital tasks. The core set of features makes it perfect for those who want to use the app to check emails and make sure none of them get lost. As an open-source app, you’ll get a kick out the fact that you can tweak K-9 Mail heavily if you’re savvy about Android app development and coding.
[appbox googleplay com.fsck.k9]
Boxer – Contrary to its name, it looks really nice
Boxer allows you to connect Outlook, Yahoo, Exchange, Hotmail, Gmail, Office 365 as well as IMAP and POP3 accounts. Unfortunately just like with many other apps, using more than one email account with it requires purchasing a premium version. But apart from the wide range of emails you can connect to, the app looks really good and is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful Android email clients around. It also integrates Evernote and to-do lists, allowing you to organise more than just your email. If you are going to invest into a premium app, Boxer might be one of the handiest and best looking of the contenders in this list.
[appbox googleplay com.boxer.email]
Final Words
We hope our best email client list above has finally answered your most pressing questions about which apps offer straightforward email management and which ones may be too bloated and buggy for your needs. Whether you’re a graduate of the old school and like elementary access to your emails or an Android guru ready to get stuck into backend coding and extra functionality, we’d like to hear from you.
Where is type mail app… It’s the best for me.
Try it you’ll love it.
It’s the 5th one in the list.
Wow.. Nice email apps list
From your list, I really like myMail, specially the image preview and built-in calendar view. It`s fantastic. That company has a reputation of nice apps and games.
But you totally forgot about SolMail (from the late SolGroup and now owned by the giant Kakao Group).
SolMail is the best mail app for Android I ever used and I passed through many until I find one I really liked. It was also considered the most beautifully designed mail app in various places.
SolGroup had often received awards for best UI Design for all their apps (that includes SolMail… SolCalendar, the best calendar app I ever used and it also has to-do/tasks and sync… and SolGroup, a very useful app for those who need to do coop/group work).
They know how to design something beautiful with great user experience, which made me become a fan and admirer of their work as I am myself a UI & UX Designer and a Developer.
I’ve tried many of these apps – and keep coming back to the same one, as I have for YEARS – K9 Mail – Other apps don’t get rid of notifications for emails i’ve read on different devices, you can see fewer emails on a screen with other apps, etc. etc. Here’s a few of my favorite parts of K9mail: Text sizing in the email list menu! able to get rid of the stupid photos that take up 1/3 of the space on the email list menu! Putting the subject of the email ahead of the person sending the email! Fetches emails so much quicker than other apps. 9/10 Highly recommended.
Nine is by far the best for me! No other email app has as much functionality and I have tried all in this list. I use exchange both for personal and business purposes so it is the best choice for me.
so you paid for this?
Yeah I think it is $5 or so but it was a long time ago. I don’t remember exactly.
The fact that I can’t find any information about Bluemail as company or if they store MY data on their servers … is an absolute no-go for me. I’ll look into mymail and nine. Thank you for this list.
I love Bluemail. I’ve tried Bluemail and Typemail (basically the same), but Bluemail has a few extra options. Only thing I can say about the company is that they have excellent tech. support and are very open to suggestions. The few times I’ve emailed their support they respond rather quickly which I can’t say for some of the others.
Outlook doesn’t do POP mail. Gmail and Inbox are slow to retrieve POP mail. CloudMagic states clearly that they don’t support POP3, with no plans to do so. Any better options for POP mail? Bluemail handles POP3 quite well, though It doesn’t seem to have a browser app — only works on mobile devices. Hmmm, Frustrating. Welcome suggestions other than going back to Gmail/Inbox.
I have been using Touchdown email app by Symantec. It has great exchange functionality with the calendar, tasks, and other exchange features.
Would you mind clarifying with the Gmail app? For example, can you use a hotmail account with it, or is it only for gmail accounts? thanks
You can use it with many kind of accounts.
I can’t seem to find a way to disable PUSH notifications on CloudMagic or the Outlook apps. I can’t even see any settings to change the frequency of syncing. This is a bit surprising, since a lot of people disable PUSH to save data/battery/constant notifications.
CloudMagic is no longer totally free. Premium version is $50.00 a year. $50.00 too much in my opinion. Anyone who pays for an email service nowadays is a moron
I was wondering about the incredimail app? is it available in Australia? or has it been taken off. Would really love to have the tablet version, love the desktop one.
I use MailDroid, nothing compares to the number of features that this has. The only issue is that like K9 it has been around a long time and the UI is not as polished as some other clients. However, nothing beats what the features and reliability. I used Bluemail for a while and it is good as well, but I did not like that it went through their servers which MailDroid does not and I started to use PGP.
I’m currently an Aqua Mail user and have been since ditching K9 due to some issue with its database that caused me all sorts of hassle. However Aqua Mail has just been acquired by MobiSystems who produce some of the most annoying, nagging, ad filled bloatware that has ever found its way on to an Android device so I’m currently on the lookout for an alternative. I could go back to K9 as I seem to remember the issue was with POP3 and I don’t use that any more, but it does have a dated interface.
My main disappointment with this article though is that it doesn’t address some very important aspects of the mail clients’ behaviour, in particular with respect to privacy policies and, as Kerry White mentioned, use of my data for their purposes. Blue Mail and TypeApp (the same thing really) pass your email through their systems before delivering it and pull out useful information that can be sold to 3rd parties; that’s how they can afford to provide such an impressive (as I understand it) app free of charge. There are plenty of other email clients that do something similar; you kind of expect it with GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo mail etc as they’re actually hosting your mail for you, but I want a mail client that doesn’t do that and Aqua Mail’s privacy policy explicitly addresses that issue.
Saying that, since being acquired by MobiSystems they’ve added analytic tracking stuff to it and started some nasty behaviour from other MobiSystems apps trying to force Aqua Mail onto users’ devices.
Personally, I would rather pay for an email client than use one that is funded through the sale of my personal data.
I think native Gmail app works fine under iPhone for Gmai push notification. Other than iPhone, here is some working solution to get Gmail push notification on platforms other than iPhone, such as Windows, Mac, and Android. Maybe you will be interested to take a look: 1. Chrome & Firefox & Safari under Windos & Mac 2. Gmail App under Android & iOS & Windows 3. Aura, a notification tool under Mac 4. EVO Collaborator for Outlook under Windows Outlook 5. Gmail Notifier Pro under Windows 6 Checker Plus for Gmail, a Chrome extension able to notify even when Chrome is closed! 7. MailTab for Gmail under OS X 8. Windows 10’s Mail app along with Notification and Action feature. (come back after 7 days to post link)
Mailwise. Hands down