After spending months going back and forth between Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail… I feel like I have a pretty good grip on the pluses and minuses of each of the email apps for both iOS and macOS.
It is slightly sad that it seems that non of them want to simply dominate the platforms and take over the user ship.
Gmail online
This is the most powerful of the email apps that we are reviewing today, and with their new updated look… Gmail finally makes Mac users feel better about using Gmail full time.
Positives
– Snooze
– Send later
– Reminders when someone doesn’t reply
– Predictive text
– Keyboard shortcuts
– Priority sorting
– Good look and feel
– Great signatures
– Send and archive function
Negatives
– Only in browser (no native macOS app)
– No autocorrect
– No support that I know of
– Poor support for multiple accounts
Gmail iOS app
As with the Outlook apps, they would get a whole lot farther if they would try to roll out features on both apps at the same time, or at least close behind each other.
Gmail online is just so much more powerful than the Gmail for iOS app that it makes the using of both together a tough decision.
Side note: Gmail has really dropped the ball on the online version of their Calendar (and email now that I think about it) because they don’t all the use of multiple email accounts at the same time without sharing or forwarding. It’s a huge pain that seems like it could be easily solved. The really interesting thing is that the Google Calendar iOS app DOES have multi account support (so they are in one place and don’t require toggling).
Positives
– Fast app opening
– Push email
– Priority sorting
– Predictive text
– Snooze
– Jump back to inbox after action (archive, trash, move, etc.)
Negatives
– Poor look and feel
– Takes too many clicks to reply
– Multiple accounts are hard to use, and cannot be combined to one inbox
– No support
– Snooze is hard to use
– Swipe only supports one action (archive or trash)
– Mobile signature is pushed to the bottom of all text.
Outlook macOS app
This could be a really interesting app if Microsoft would hold it to the high standards that they do with their PC version. And if they could simply move faster on the features that are needed to make it a clear winner.
Having spoken with the Outlook for macOS support many times, it feels like they are disorganized in their vision for what they want the app to be, and/or their team is just too small (or too slow) to do anything about it.
Side note: There are also some really weird things going on when you have multiple email accounts and using the contacts. If you have the same contact in multiple accounts… it makes duplicates which looks really bad.
Positives
– App feels stable
– In app support
– Great signatures
– Integrated calendar (hard to use)
– Fast sorting via keyboard shortcuts
– Combined inbox
– Autocorrect (but not as good as Apple Mail)
– Stand alone app
Negatives
– Archaic look and feel
– No priority sorting (unless using individual accounts)
– No send later (unless you have an Outlook email)
– No snooze
– No add to contacts
– Very slow to add features
– Features are rolled out to different types of accounts at different times
Outlook iOS app
This is the best email app for iOS if you want to work through your email fast! You will have to wait a little longer for it to load when you open it, but once it’s open, it’s fast and intuitive.
One of the major downsides is the functionality of the calendar is garbage (but it does look pretty).
It has also been hard to commit to the Outlook for iOS app full time due to the Outlook for macOS lacking so many of the quality features the iOS app has.
Positives
– Great look and feel
– Fastest for working through email
– Swipe options (snooze, archive, trash, etc.)
– In app support
– Regular updates and feature adds
– Add calendar events from email
– Combined inbox
Negatives
– Very slow to open app (the slowest of email apps tested)
– No send later
– No add to contact option
– Integrated calendar that looks good, but is super sloppy to use compared to other apps tested
– Poor contact images (doesn’t always find them)
– Search is a little clunky
Apple Mail macOS app
This is a very pretty mail app, but in all honesty, it feel like Apple has given up on their mail app altogether. It’s clunky, and lacks so many features that power email users want. That being said… you are able to add add-ons that will fill some of those feature needs, but add-ons are never as good as native features.
Positives
– Clean look with great shadowing
– Send later with add on
– Snooze with add on
– Add to contacts is spot on
– Add calendar event from email
– Combined inbox
– Contact images
– Great email signature options
– Stand alone app
Negatives
– Jumpy functionality that feels clunky
– No priority inbox
– Very slow sorting (no keyboard shortcut for this feature)
Apple Mail iOS app
It seem like this is the mail app that is used by the majority of iPhone users, but I really can’t say why that is. This is the least powerful of all the iOS apps we’re looking at today.
Other than being fast and looking nice, the features are few and far between.
Positives
– Fast to open
– Great look and feel (except for email width)
– Combined inbox
– Great search function and speed
– Add to contacts from email
– Add to calendar event from email
Negatives
– No priority inbox
– Too many clicks to send
– After action you’re directed to next message rather than back to inbox
– No snooze
– No send later
Conclusion to the iOS and macOS email conundrum
It’s a bummer that someone doesn’t want to dominate the iOS and macOS email space. Maybe it’s because there isn’t a clear money maker with so many people using the free versions of the apps or email services…
That being said, it seems like the enterprise users would be demanding more features from these apps (especially Outlook for macOS and Apple Mail for macOS).
What we’ve found… the winner for the best email app for iOS is Outlook for iOS with Gmail for iOS being a few clicks behind and the ability to slingshot past (if they make some smart moves), and Apple Mail for iOS being pretty far back in the dust.
The winner (although not as clear as you might think) for the macOS user is… Gmail online. The Gmail online app just has so many more native features for the power email user than either Outlook for macOS or Apple Mail for macOS.
The major issues that still plague the Gmail online are their inability to allow multiple accounts to easily play with each other without using workarounds that are a pain.
Do we have winners… we do! But it’s still anyone’s game at this point, and the winners still have some pretty big holes to fill if they want to get to complete domination.