Edison, the company behind the popular Edison Mail email app and the new OnMail service, announced the launch of its OnMail iOS app.
Available now on the App Store, the OnMail app brings many of the service’s best features to your iPhone or iPad. However, it’s worth noting that you’ll still need to get an invitation if you want to use the service for free.
Last year, Edison launched OnMail in beta (it’s out of beta now). The big focus for the independent email up-start was giving control over the inbox back to users. The pitch makes a lot of sense — most email platforms available now favour senders over receivers. In other words, anyone can send email to anyone, and it falls on email recipients to manage that incoming flow of emails by blocking and unsubscribing from things they don’t want to see anymore.
OnMail flips that idea on its head by asking users if they want to see email before it shows up in the inbox. Dubbed ‘Accept Sender,’ the feature shows contact information for people who email you at the top of your inbox. It gives OnMail users a chance to review incoming email before allowing it into their inbox. With a click, it’s easy to banish unwanted email before it lands in your inbox.
OnMail offers larger attachment sizes, Split Inbox and more
Other core features include a revamped attachment system that allows for larger attachments. OnMail’s free tier caps attachments at 100MB compared to the 25MB limit of other major email providers like Gmail, while paid tiers increase attachment sizes as high as 5GB.
There’s also ‘Split Inbox,’ which kind of works like Gmail’s inbox tabs on steroids. Users can create different inboxes and set up specific filters to route email into different places. For example, you could create a ‘Family’ inbox just for emails you get from relatives, keeping them out of your main inbox.
Other features include anti-tracking tech, artificial intelligence like ‘Automatic Nudges’ and ‘Smart Replies,’ and a ‘Preview Mode’ that turns promotional email and news into an easier-to-read visual format.
Edison set me up with a free account so I could test out the new OnMail app over the last week, and I have to say, it’s pretty nice. The app looks great, especially if you’re a fan of simpler interfaces. Plus, the app does feel tailored towards treating email like a to-do list. For example, instead of ‘Archiving’ email, you can swipe items away as ‘Done’ to clear out your inbox. I could see myself making the leap to OnMail, except that almost all of my email currently goes through Gmail.
OnMail’s account import system is locked to paid tiers
There is an account import system designed to make switching to OnMail easier (plus, it expands the OnMail feature suite to other email platforms), but it wasn’t available while I was testing the app. The feature can bring Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Hotmail, AOL or MSN accounts (and more to come) right into OnMail as if it were an actual OnMail email. Edison says the account import will launch April 27th alongside the OnMail iOS app, but only for the ‘Personal’ and ‘Professional’ paid plan tiers. It’s a bummer, considering that without an easy way to migrate to OnMail, many people entrenched in their current email system likely won’t want to switch.
That said, if you are in the market for a new email, it could be worth testing out OnMail. The app is solid, and has some smart new features that definitely make it unique among email providers. Aside from the new iOS app, OnMail is available through its web app, and that’s about it for now. Edison plans to bring OnMail apps to Android “very soon after iOS,” Windows and Mac later in the year. As for the Edison Mail app, the company says it won’t be going anywhere. Plus, it supports OnMail accounts, so if you have multiple email accounts and want everything contained in one app, Edison Mail could be a great alternative.
You can learn more about OnMail here.
