Try Mailspring If You’re Tired of Terrible Desktop Email Apps
If you are not the biggest Microsoft Outlook fan in the world, chances are good that you are not using a desktop email client at home. You are probably using a web-based email service, and your daily life probably involves launching your browser to delete, move, or otherwise ignore your messages. Third party apps like Mail (for Windows or Mac) be damned.
In fact, this is the very question that Ars Technica employees have been discussing among themselves recently : is there any other good email client for desktop PCs? There have been some great answers to this question in the past: Thunderbird, Sparrow, and Mailbox, just to name a few. Previously decent email apps that have not been erased from the digital earth are no longer updated, which is not a best practice when it comes to the security of incoming messages.
Unless you stick with your operating system’s built-in mail app, or give Microsoft Office an expensive try, the only free desktop email software that doesn’t seem terrible at the moment is an open source app called Mailspring. Admittedly, I have little use of it myself, as I only use desktop email apps when my employer requires it, but some Ars Technica commenters swear by it, as well as the site’s own IT editor and national security editor, Sean Gallagher:
“I now average about 7,000 emails a week. I started using MailSpring, an open source email client that I use on Linux (my preferred desktop environment for a number of reasons) to deal with multiple webmail accounts and have aggressive spam filtering. I usually store emails either in my inbox or archived to find contacts on specific topics. I learned to stop worrying and love my unread number. “
Mailspring is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Setting it up (on Windows) is a fairly straightforward process. The app will require you to create a specific Mailspring ID in order to use the app, which is one of its drawbacks compared to other apps “just import your email account and go.”
From there, you simply select your email provider from a list of popular providers.
Since I only have Gmail accounts to connect to Mailspring, I was pleased to see that the app actually takes you online to complete the setup, rather than asking you to enter your username and password directly into the app. (Since my Gmail password is huge, copying and pasting it is a hassle.) If you are already signed in to your Internet email account, you will need to authorize Mailspring to access its contents.
I was also thrilled to see that Mailspring actually comes with a variety of different viewing options that can try to mimic your web experience (as much as possible in desktop applications).
It’s also worth noting – and I’m glad the app lets you know ahead of time – that the free version of Mailspring allows you to connect up to four email accounts. You’ll have to pay $ 8 a month to get more, plus access to some cool Mailspring features: read receipts, postponed messages, the always helpful “send later” command, and follow-up reminders.
However, the basic version of Mailspring is a pretty serious email client that seems quick to use – now that I’ve actually tried it for a day or so – and is pretty well organized. I’m not sure if that’s enough to lure me away from Gmail, especially if you’re a big fan of the prioritized or “targeted” inbox concepts that Mailspring lacks, but I definitely see Mailspring finding a happy home on desktops for people who need a simple list of unread emails instead of bells and whistles or a flashy user interface.
Do you have a Windows app (paid or free) that you really like? Tell us about it: david.murphy@lifehacker.com .