Multi-Platform Email Client

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reven

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#2071748 11-Aug-2018 14:04

I would argue that gmail.com is an app. its running in a browser, but its still an app. a lot of "apps" these days are html/js/css just running in a webview to appear as a desktop app. code is code.

nunz

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#2071861 11-Aug-2018 18:49

Smartermail offers a free version - you can host it on a windows based pc or server. it lets you pull mail from other sources, forward mail to other sources, migrate mail from all sorts of sources, handles imap, activesync (pay for that) nad pop. Also has a great web interface with a mobile version.

timmmay

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#2071876 11-Aug-2018 19:43

nunz:

Smartermail offers a free version - you can host it on a windows based pc or server. it lets you pull mail from other sources, forward mail to other sources, migrate mail from all sorts of sources, handles imap, activesync (pay for that) nad pop. Also has a great web interface with a mobile version.

That approach doesn't seem particularly smart.

nunz

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#2071880 11-Aug-2018 20:17

timmmay:

nunz:

Smartermail offers a free version - you can host it on a windows based pc or server. it lets you pull mail from other sources, forward mail to other sources, migrate mail from all sorts of sources, handles imap, activesync (pay for that) nad pop. Also has a great web interface with a mobile version.

That approach doesn't seem particularly smart.

As a product it meets all the criteria above:

1 - It lets you aggregate mail from multiple sources

2 - It lets you collect mail at one source and disseminate it

3 - It is completely controllable.

4 - It has a single experience for all platforms - with an optimised mobile experience.

5 - it lets you import from multiple sources.

6 - You can have email on other platforms and import it in to be aggregated using imap / pop or just do a straight import.

7 - It also has calendar, video chat, IRC, contacts, to do lists, etc etc. For a business it might just make sense and hosting is not hard - a small windows pc on your own fibre network or an amazon desktop instance.

Whats not to like about that?

timmmay

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#2071887 11-Aug-2018 21:31

nunz:

Whats not to like about that?

You have to run a central mail server, effectively. That's a commodity service, let someone else do it. Like gmail.

Technofreak

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#2071889 11-Aug-2018 21:48

So far as mobile devices go I've yet to see an email client that integrates with the devices calendar, notifications etc and contacts better (or even anywhere close) than the inbuilt email client. For that reason I stick with the native email client. Perhaps I've been lucky with my devices in that I've only ever had one where I has cause to look for a third party app then I used Outlook for Android which worked more than satisfactorily from a pure email point of view.

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ANglEAUT

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#2071929 11-Aug-2018 23:51

timmmay:

..., let someone else do it. Like gmail.

Some people might strenuously object to that idea.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

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jarledb

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#2071931 12-Aug-2018 01:22

IcI:

Some people might strenuously object to that idea.

You won't have much privacy if you can't deal with hosting and securing such a service on your own.

And by deal with, I mean have the competence to know how to properly secure it and keep it updated/patched at all times.

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ANglEAUT

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#2073054 14-Aug-2018 00:42

jarledb: You won't ...

I didn't want to derail the conversation, just having some light hearted fun.

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

nunz

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#2074596 16-Aug-2018 19:12

timmmay:

nunz:

Whats not to like about that?

You have to run a central mail server, effectively. That's a commodity service, let someone else do it. Like gmail.

The original posters was looking for a unified experience across all platforms. Someone opened the door to gmail. Someone kicked it because it is gmail. I offered an alternative. Its actually surprisingly simple.

The benefit of the above compared to gmail is service and control. Gmail has poor service and support - if any at all. It's a rock solid platform with an excellent history of stability and security - but also a history of reading your mail and using to advertise (just said they will stop doing that).

It doesn't have some opportunities for aggregation and forwarding etc that SM does - so it makes sense to look at SM as an alternative with more options than Gmail. But with great power comes great responsibility and more work.

nunz

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#2074597 16-Aug-2018 19:16

Technofreak: So far as mobile devices go I've yet to see an email client that integrates with the devices calendar, notifications etc and contacts better (or even anywhere close) than the inbuilt email client. For that reason I stick with the native email client. Perhaps I've been lucky with my devices in that I've only ever had one where I has cause to look for a third party app then I used Outlook for Android which worked more than satisfactorily from a pure email point of view.

The native client varies from phone to phone. Got a moto from work - it sucks for contacts, the email client sucks and the calendar sucks. (it is however a good quality camera - pity i wanted a phone). something as simple as having contact groups for group txt / emails was impossible. Also mail client crashed and integration is poor. Using third party options now.

As an aside - if you are over a certain age the collagen in your fingers decreases making touch less effective. Pity the moto does everything with one touch enabled button. Leads to a lot of swipe, swipe, swipe swipeswipe ...bugger moments.

Technofreak

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#2074644 16-Aug-2018 21:29

nunz:

Technofreak: So far as mobile devices go I've yet to see an email client that integrates with the devices calendar, notifications etc and contacts better (or even anywhere close) than the inbuilt email client. For that reason I stick with the native email client. Perhaps I've been lucky with my devices in that I've only ever had one where I has cause to look for a third party app then I used Outlook for Android which worked more than satisfactorily from a pure email point of view.

The native client varies from phone to phone. Got a moto from work - it sucks for contacts, the email client sucks and the calendar sucks. (it is however a good quality camera - pity i wanted a phone). something as simple as having contact groups for group txt / emails was impossible. Also mail client crashed and integration is poor. Using third party options now.

As an aside - if you are over a certain age the collagen in your fingers decreases making touch less effective. Pity the moto does everything with one touch enabled button. Leads to a lot of swipe, swipe, swipe swipeswipe ...bugger moments.

I feel your pain, fortunately I've only had one device make me go to a third party app, and that was mainly because of Geekzone and one or two other sites. There was no way use hyperlinks (in fact they links didn't show as hyperlinks) in emails from these sites.

How well do the third party options integrate with things like contacts, calendar, notifications etc?

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

nunz

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#2074647 16-Aug-2018 21:42

Technofreak:

nunz:

Technofreak: So far as mobile devices go I've yet to see an email client that integrates with the devices calendar, notifications etc and contacts better (or even anywhere close) than the inbuilt email client. For that reason I stick with the native email client. Perhaps I've been lucky with my devices in that I've only ever had one where I has cause to look for a third party app then I used Outlook for Android which worked more than satisfactorily from a pure email point of view.

The native client varies from phone to phone. Got a moto from work - it sucks for contacts, the email client sucks and the calendar sucks. (it is however a good quality camera - pity i wanted a phone). something as simple as having contact groups for group txt / emails was impossible. Also mail client crashed and integration is poor. Using third party options now.

As an aside - if you are over a certain age the collagen in your fingers decreases making touch less effective. Pity the moto does everything with one touch enabled button. Leads to a lot of swipe, swipe, swipe swipeswipe ...bugger moments.

I feel your pain, fortunately I've only had one device make me go to a third party app, and that was mainly because of Geekzone and one or two other sites. There was no way use hyperlinks (in fact they links didn't show as hyperlinks) in emails from these sites.

How well do the third party options integrate with things like contacts, calendar, notifications etc?

Depends. Your milage really varies. Most apps can do notifications - as long as you allow them in security settings. integration - most want to read contacts so that's okay - if you let them. Calendars - so many choices. Got to find the one that works for your phone as again - variances all over the place. AS a side note - Outlook sucked on the moto. Crashed, calendar integration was messed up and kept doing things like a focused mail box. I ended up using the gmail app on the moto for calendars.

The moto doesn't do icon tags / flags / numbers. I cant see how many unread emails on the mail app or missed texts on the text app. Have to swipe down from the top and review notifications. Unread tags aren't visible.

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