Discover the Most Effective iPhone Email Management Applications: A Ranking of the Top 5 Picks

Quick Links

• Apple Mail: For the Best iCloud Mail Experience
• Gmail: For Google Power Users
• Microsoft Outlook: For Microsoft Power Users
• Proton Mail: For the Best Privacy and Security
• Twobird: To Make Your Inbox a To-Do List

Email on your iPhone shouldn’t be a chore and, with the right app, it doesn’t have to be. Here are five solid starting points for anyone looking to manage their inbox on the go.

1 Apple Mail : For the Best iCloud Mail Experience

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Apple Mail , or just “Mail” as it is known, is the default email app included with your iPhone. It’s free and easy to use, you can get started by adding any relevant email accounts under Settings > Mail > Accounts. Mail supports most email services including iCloud, Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and IMAP or POP3.

The service works particularly well with iCloud email accounts and other Apple-specific features. You can use Mail Drop to send attachments of up to 5GB in size for free, and there’s built-in integration with Apple’s Hide My Email alias service that iCloud+ subscribers can use to create temporary addresses to limit spam and appear anonymous.

If you’ve written the app off in the past, it might be time to give Apple Mail another shot . Mail now features handy scheduling, snoozing, and undo send functions and a feature that resurfaces sent emails so that you can follow-up on them if you haven’t received a reply.

Apple is also keen on privacy, with the “Protect Mail Activity” feature enabled by default. This loads content remotely in a bid to defeat tracking pixels and anonymize your inbox. The app interface is functional and clean, includes dark mode support that mirrors your system preferences, and features useful customization including swipe settings.

2 Gmail : For Google Power Users

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Gmail for iPhone is the obvious choice for Gmail users, and it has one big advantage over other apps that merely support Google’s email service. Only the Gmail app gets instant push notifications when you receive a new message, so if timely notifications are most important to you as a Gmail user then look no further.

There’s also robust support for much of the Gmail feature set. This includes labels, Priority Inbox, and sorting categories like “Social” and “Promotions” for easier filtering. You can mute threads, mark messages as important, and send an unsubscribe request when lists are detected.

One particularly thoughtful feature is the ability to limit data usage and not automatically download attachments, which is great if you’re on a tight data budget. You can also customize swipes, snooze messages, and set an “AutoReply” right within the app. Unfortunately, there’s no support for creating filter rules as there is on the desktop version of Gmail, nor are there themes and add-ons.

Gmail also integrates Google Meet in a separate tab, making it easy to start a meeting with contacts or generate a link. You can also join other meetings with a code. Google Meet works with the iPhone’s Picture-in-Picture mode too, which means you can leave the app without ditching the call and still see participants in a small draggable window.

3 Microsoft Outlook : For Microsoft Power Users

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Microsoft Outlook for iPhone is the Outlook you know and love, and it’s completely free to use. The app currently works with Microsoft accounts (including Exchange, Hotmail, and MSN), Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and iCloud Mail. If you’re used to Outlook on Windows, macOS, or the web then you’ll probably appreciate the same approach to email and schedule management on your iPhone.

Perhaps the standout feature is Microsoft’s “Focused Inbox” which works with select accounts, including Gmail and Outlook addresses. Mail is divided between “Focused” and “Other” so that you can get to the messages that Outlook deems the most important first (you can also train the feature to better recognize important messages).

There’s also support for Outlook’s “Add-ins” to connect additional services, particularly those aimed at enterprise users. Further expansion is possible with file storage services like Dropbox, Box, and Google Drive. Another signature Outlook feature, “Play My Emails” lets you listen to your inbox though the feature is currently limited to Microsoft accounts.

Since this is Outlook, you’ll find a Calendar on a separate tab. You can create events, add people, and show your availability using this interface. Another tab is dedicated to your “Feed” which populates with recent contacts, files you’ve received, and email threads you’re active in.

The app is fairly customizable, allowing you to change what swipes do, protect your accounts with Face ID, and change the UI appearance with color and image themes.

4 Proton Mail : For the Best Privacy and Security

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Proton Mail is an app designed specifically for use with the Proton Mail email service, so it won’t work with Gmail, iCloud, or anything else. Proton Mail is a secure email service , and it satisfies most of the core criteria you’d expect from a message carrier that self-identifies as such.

Email data is encrypted in such a way that even Proton Mail cannot access its contents. Servers are located inside Switzerland, which is outside of US and EU jurisdiction and not party to information-sharing practices. ProtonMail is built on open-source foundations and is regularly audited by independent firms to maintain integrity.

The app itself is free, and so are basic accounts (though you might want to upgrade for more storage and features). There’s a real focus on privacy here, with Proton Mail promising to try and block trackers, use end-to-end encryption between senders, and not show adverts based on your usage of the service.

Proton Mail includes some nice extras that you’d expect from some of the more mainstream mail apps too. One-click unsubscribe can remove you from mailing lists, just like Gmail. You can snooze messages, undo send, and schedule messages to go out at a later time. These aren’t the primary reasons most users pick Proton Mail, but they can help you feel like you’re not missing out.

5 Twobird : To Make Your Inbox a To-Do List

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Twobird is an email client for Gmail and Microsoft accounts that turns your inbox into a to-do list. The app filters your mailbox by “Inbox” and “Low Priority” in a bid to surface the most important messages. Unread messages are effectively outstanding to-dos, and by default are removed from your inbox once they’re read (whether or not you “action” them or not).

You can tweak this behavior in the app, but ultimately this is what Twobird is all about: turning your inbox into a to-do list, hiding things you’ve seen, and making sure you don’t miss the things you’ve yet to read. This might seem like a somewhat erratic way to use email, but different strokes for different folks.

In addition to your “to-do list” the app also includes Notes which appear alongside your outstanding items, and a Calendar so you can see items you’ve triaged for a later date. There’s a fully customizable reminders system that lets you snooze items for later so that they appear and a more convenient time.

It’s not just about reading email and planning your week, though, you can send messages, create Calendar events, and access all of your usual mailboxes (plus there’s a decent search feature too). On top of this is a useful “Unsubscribe” feature that scans your inbox and looks for mailing lists you can opt out of with a tap.

Twobird is free to use. The developers plan to introduce premium plans in the future but have stated that they aim to keep basic functionality free.

These are our favorite email apps for the iPhone, and they all happen to be free, or at least offer a generous free plan. Another area where the right app can make all the difference is note-taking, and we’re confident you can’t get much better than Apple Notes on the iPhone. That said, there are some good alternative iPhone note-taking apps you might want to explore too.

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