Technically, Google Talk isn’t just a client, and there is no native app for the Mac, aside from support built into the other multiple protocol apps out there. Best messaging apps for Mac If you're looking for a better way to connect all of your chat apps on Mac, like GTalk, Facebook Messenger, and Twitter, you've come to the right place. Or iMessages, you can have most of them in one place with a dedicated chat client. These are the best chat apps for Mac. Messages; Adium. IPad, or Mac. By grouping the messages together, this information (and others' responses) can more easily and readily be accessed. The new Outlook for Mac client also changes the way preview messages appear.
But, again the best solution is when we use one of these best multi IM client and chat from one place. My personal choice: I have both Mac and Windows, on mac I prefer Adium and Digsby is my personal favorite IM tool for Windows. Adium is an open-source chat client for Mac OS X. Adium supports multiple chat and social networking services like AIM, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, MySpace, and Facebook, among.
Email is, in many ways, the hub of modern life. Finding the best email app for your needs is key to a having a more manageable and productive digital experience, whether you're communicating with friends or restoring forgotten passwords. With Google's recent announcement that it will pull the plug on Inbox by Gmail in March 2019, and both Newton and Astro meeting their makers even sooner, you may be in the market for a replacement.
The best email apps help you manage the most important aspects of your digital life without making them more complicated. Some let you turn your inbox into a to-do list. Others are deeply customizable, giving you greater control. What makes the best email apps different from one another, and which one is right for you?
What Makes a Great Email App?
For this list of the best email apps, we only considered email clients, leaving out email services and email assistant apps. An email client is a piece of software you install on your computer or mobile device to access email, even if that email is hosted by another service. An example is the Mail app that comes pre-installed on iOS devices. By way of the Mail app, you can access a Gmail account and a Yahoo Mail account. Gmail and Yahoo Mail in this case would be email services, which we did not consider for this list of the best email apps. Client apps almost always let you access multiple email accounts, giving you the option to see all your messages in one consolidate view.
We also homed in on email apps for personal use, which nixed from consideration a few apps that tend to be more prominent in the business world, such as Microsoft Outlook (desktop app) and IBM Notes. They both have their place among email aficionados but tend to be more well suited for organizations than individuals.
As mentioned, we did not consider email assistant apps, or services that work within your existing email to make it better in some targeted way. An example is SaneBox, a service that works inside your existing email service to automatically sorts incoming messages (among other things). Another example is Boomerang, which adds new features and tools to Gmail and Outlook that help improve your writing and help you remember when to follow-up on messages. Both these apps are highly capable, but they aren't clients and so they weren't considered for this list.
There can be some confusion about email clients and services, however, because some apps cover both ground. Gmail, for instance, is not just an email service but also has a mobile email client app by the same name. The Gmail mobile app lets you read and reply to messages from not only your Gmail account, but also your Yahoo Mail address, Microsoft Office 365 account, and others.
In addition to being email clients, the apps in this list meet other criteria, such as being in a state of full release. In other words, no beta products allowed. (Don't worry. We have an eye on some of the more interesting email apps in the works, such as Pigeon and Superhuman. But we can't accurately assess them until they're fully released.) Ease of use played a major role in our decision-making, as did stability. We also looked for apps that had at least one standout feature or reason for choosing it, which is listed in the 'best for' line in each app's description below. Finally, if you're in search of an app with a specific feature in mind, see the comparison table at the end of this article.
When it comes to email apps, there's no reason you can't choose several to use for different purposes. You might have one app you adore installed on your personal computer, something else for work email, and yet another on your phone. Which ones you choose will depend on how you like to interact with your email and what you do with it. Whatever the case, the best email apps have you covered.
The 15 Best Email Apps
Airmail (iOS, macOS)
Edison Mail (Android, iOS)
eM Client (Windows)
Front (Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, web)
Gmail for Mobile (Android, iOS)
Mail and Calendar by Microsoft (Windows)
Mail by Apple (iOS, macOS)
Mailbird (Windows)
MailMate (macOS)
Outlook Mobile (Android, iOS)
Polymail (iOS, macOS, web)
Postbox (macOS, Windows)
Spark (iOS, macOS)
Spike (Android, iOS)
Thunderbird (Linux, macOS, Windows)
Airmail (iOS, macOS)
Best email app for customizing your inbox
Airmail started out as a simple email app, but over time, it grew with features, and today it's one of the most powerful email client apps available. Customizable notifications make sure you only get alerts when you receive emails from your most important contacts. Swipe gestures are also customizable. Airmail can help you write faster, with built-in templates for your most-used responses. And, it works with your favorite productivity apps, including Fantastical, Evernote, OmniFocus, Dropbox, and others.
Price: $4.99, $9.99
Edison Mail (Android, iOS)
Best email app for categorizing messages automatically
Edison Mail is a mobile email client app designed to give you assistance with sorting and organizing your email. It can automatically sort incoming messages into appropriate groups, such as messages that contain tracking numbers for shipping, those pertaining to subscriptions, and receipts. An undo-send button gives the app universal appeal, and option to turn off read receipts make Edison even more valuable to people to like to be in control of their email. Don't confuse this app with the Edison Assistant (formerly called EasilyDo or Smart Assistant by EasilyDo), as the latter is does more to help you organize your life beyond email alone.
Price: free
eM Client (Windows)
Best email app for merging email, calendar, contacts, tasks
If you're looking for a powerhouse of an email app for Windows, eM Client is a great option. It not only combines email, calendar, contacts, and tasks in one place, but also supports touch interfaces. Best mail client for mac os. While the price for a Pro account may sound a little steep, eM Client offers some functionality that's rarely found in other email apps, such as language translation. That's reason enough to choose eM Client if you frequently send and receive messages in multiple languages and aren't fluent in all of them.
Price: free; $49.95 for Pro
Front
Best email app for team collaboration
Front app lets teams manage a single inbox collaboratively. With Front, you connect shared inboxes, such as catchall addresses like [email protected], and then anyone with access can answer or assign messages for other people on the team to answer. Front also lets you connect social media accounts, which teams may also tend to collaboratively.
Price: from $15/month per person, minimum 2 people
Gmail Mobile (Android, iOS)
Best email app for searching and organizing messages
While Gmail is the gold standard among webmail services, its mobile app is surprisingly light on features. But that's not the deciding factor on whether to choose the Gmail app for your phone. The real selling point of this app is how fast and capable it is at searching even the most bloated inboxes. When you use it with a Gmail account (or two; it supports multiple Gmail addresses), you get the same great options for automatically sorting mail into tabs that the service creates for you: Primary, Social, and Updates. With limitless ways to sort mail with filters and labels and exceptional spam filtering, Gmail makes it a breeze to see your most important messages quickly.
Price: free
Mail and Calendar by Microsoft (Windows; mobile equivalent is Outlook Mobile)
Best email app for keeping email simple
Mail and Calendar by Microsoft is a Windows desktop app that keeps email simple. Formerly called Outlook Express, this app covers the basics of email without adding excessive features. It offers threaded email conversations, notifications, and flags to mark your most important messages, along with Outlook-style calendar integration. It's also touch-enabled. If you're a Windows users who prefers to not be distracted by added features, it's a good option.
Price: free
Mail by Apple (iOS, macOS)
Best email app for annotating images, signing documents
The Mail app that comes preinstalled on iOS devices and most Macs may seem like a basic email client, but its simplicity belies the powerful tools under the hood. With its Markup tools, you can add annotations to images and sign documents right from your inbox. You can also use Apple's Mail Drop feature (the same one that works with iCloud) to send extremely large attachments without it eating into your allotted email storage space.
Price: included with Mac and iOS devices
Mailbird (Windows)
Best email app for increasing productivity with integrations
Mailbird is a Windows email app with a contemporary design. You can personalize your inbox with custom layouts and sidebar themes. It also includes integration options with popular productivity apps, such as Asana, Todoist, Slack, and others. While rich with features, such as the ability to snooze messages until later and automated scrolling for speed readers, some advanced capabilities are restricted to higher tiers of service. For example, an undo send option is only available to Mailbird Business subscribers.
Price: free limited version, $12/year for Pro, $59 for lifetime Pro, $20/month per person for Business
MailMate (macOS)
Best email app for composing in markdown
Well suited for those who love plain text and keyboard shortcuts, MailMate lets you jump through your inbox without lifting your fingers from the keyboard. It also supports Markdown formatting and unique views, such as the ability to surface all messages that are similar to the message you're currently viewing. MailMate is perhaps the best Mac email app for power users who value plain text over features such as snooze and undo send.
Price: $49.99
Outlook Mobile (Android, iOS)
Best email app for viewing a focused inbox
While the Outlook desktop app is as powerful as it is bloated with features, the Outlook Mobile app offers quite a different experience. When you use it with a Microsoft email account, you can take advantage of its Focused Inbox view, which automatically finds emails that are likely to be important to you and filters out other distracting messages, keeping them in a tab called Other. The Outlook mobile app also has customizable swipe gestures for deleting, archiving, marking as read, flagging, moving, and snoozing messages (the snooze function is actually called 'schedule,' but it would be snooze in any other app).
Price: free
Polymail (iOS, macOS, web)
Best email app for collaborating with a sales team
Polymail's strong suit is that you can use it collaboratively, especially among sales teams. Create email templates, for example, and you can share them with everyone on a team. For groups that use Salesforce, you can connect the two apps and get information you need from Salesforce while writing messages. Teams can also track email stats together to see how much time everyone spends in their inboxes, or how likely each person is to get a reply. Another great feature is Polymail's ability to watch and report back when recipients open your messages, and who among them downloads attachments you send. You'll also notice in the chart below that Polymail is packed with features, everything from the ability to snooze a message until later to an undo send button.
Price: free; paid plans from $13/month
Postbox (macOS, Windows)
Best Mac Client For Multiple Messaging Services
Best email app for organizing multiple inboxes
Since its inception as a spin-off of Mozilla's Thunderbird, Postbox has grown into a powerful app, rich with options for keeping your mail organized. A tabbed interface lets you keep multiple messages open at once. Tags and folders help you categorize and sort mail. Another stellar capability is how Postbox can display a contact info sidebar, letting you dig into the detail about the sender. There's a lot to explore in this powerful and well designed app.
Price: $40
Spark (iOS, macOS)
Best email app for cutting down time spent in email
Every email doesn't need a lengthy reply. Sometimes a thumbs-up or crying face is all you need. With Spark, that's all you have to send, and in the end, that saves you time. After you read an email, tap Quick Reply to send an instant emoji response and archive the message in one step. Spark also saves you time in how it handles calendar invitations. Instead of a standard invite email, Spark shows you a preview of the event in your calendar with Accept and Reject options. This app has a wealth of other features, too, such as undo send, snooze, reminders, and more.
Price: free
Spike (Android, iOS)
Best email app for making email more like messaging
If you prefer text messaging or team chat to email, Spike (formerly Hop) is worth a try. This email client for Android and iOS devices turns message threads into chat-like conversations, so your emails look less like a verbose expanse of text and more like what you see in iMessage or WhatsApp, with GIFs, voice memos, one-tap image sharing, and everything else you'd expect in a chat app. And similar to team chat apps, Spike lets you create channels for organizing conversations around a certain topic. Spike works best when you use it to message with other people who are also using it, too.
Price: free
Thunderbird (Linux, macOS, Windows)
Best email app for working in tabs
From the makers of Firefox comes an email application that copies one of the best features of web browsers: tabs. Thunderbird isn't the only email client to use a tabbed interface, but it is one of the best. When you quit the app, Thunderbird saves your open tabs and reloads them the next time you launch it. An extensive collection of add-ons let you expand what Thunderbird can do.
Price: free
Originally published 2 June 2015 by Paula DuPont; updated in 2017 and 2018 with new apps and current information. Zapier senior writer and editor Matthew Guay contributed to this article.
Among the fastest growing social networks today, you’ll find plenty of chat apps. In fact, it could be argued that instant messaging (IM) is the way forward for social networks, which is why Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion and Twitter opened up its Direct Messages.
However, only some of these chat services have a desktop client, while others only give you web-based versions. There is some truth to the death of the desktop client. But third-party developers aren’t giving up yet.
From all-in-one messaging apps to dedicated chat clients that do a better job than the official web versions, here are some amazing chat apps you should be using on your Windows, Mac, or Linux computer.
1. Franz (Windows, Mac, Linux)
All-in-one messaging app for WhatsApp, Slack, Skype, and many more.
Franz is an all-in-one, universal messaging app, which supports 65 services. This includes Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Slack, Telegram, WeChat, Skype, Discord, and several others. Not all of them are chat-oriented either, giving you things you need like Google Calendar or Inbox by Gmail. And the developers say they are busy adding more services.
In essence, Franz is a Chromium-based desktop wrapper for the web versions of all these apps, but it also offers a few additional benefits. https://everinsurance261.weebly.com/download-runescape-java-client-for-mac.html. For starters, you can sign into multiple accounts of Facebook Messenger without having to constantly log in and out.
You also get native notification support compliant with your operating system. There’s a helpful badge on the icon announcing the number of unread messages. And a quick check shows that Franz takes up less battery and CPU usage than running the same tabs in the Google Chrome browser—not surprising, given Chrome’s troubles with battery and power3 Quick Tips to Reduce Chrome's CPU Usage & Battery Drain3 Quick Tips to Reduce Chrome's CPU Usage & Battery DrainIs Chrome using too much CPU and draining your battery? There may be a way for you to reduce its impact.Read More.
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More than anything, Franz is simply convenient. With all your chat powered by one app, you can safely close it when you want some distraction-free work time, knowing you won’t be disturbed.
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The free version of Franz is good enough for most users, but if you want to use a VPN with Franz, then you’ll have to pay for the pro version.
Download: Franz for Windows | Mac | Linux (Free)
2. Manageyum (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Add any chat app you want.
Like Franz, Manageyum puts all your messengers into one window. Like Franz, Manageyum also lets you use multiple accounts simultaneously. But unlike Franz, Manageyum lets you use any alternate messenger service with it.
Yes, the pre-loaded chat and messenger services will work better. Use a service that the app doesn’t support, say, a Slack alternative like Twist? Insert a link to it and Manageyum will turn it into a simple app like a browser tab. After you set it up the first time, Manageyum will remember preferences for that app.
While it’s not a deal-breaker, this is a feature you might miss on Franz, so it’s good to know that there’s an alternative.
Download: Manageyum for Windows | Mac | Linux (Free)
3. Caprine (Mac)
Gorgeous Facebook Messenger app with privacy controls.
Caprine is a beautiful and lightweight app for Mac users who want to chat on Facebook Messenger. It only supports that service and no other, but it adds more to Messenger.
The app’s focus on design makes it seem more synchronous with how the rest of Mac apps feels. It has a responsive design that adjusts to window size, multiple themes, and it will give you easy notifications too.
Caprine also lets you control your privacy on MessengerHere's How You Can Appear Offline on Facebook and MessengerHere's How You Can Appear Offline on Facebook and MessengerSometimes you might want to be invisible on Facebook. We'll explain how to appear offline on Facebook and Messenger.Read More by not showing the recipient when you are typing or whether you have seen their messages.
Apart from Caprine, there are a few other unofficial Messenger apps7 Best Facebook Messenger Apps for Desktop and Mobile7 Best Facebook Messenger Apps for Desktop and MobileLike Facebook Messenger, but want more flexibility? Don't worry, third party developers have your back. Here are the best Facebook Messenger apps you can get, apart from the official one.Read More that you might want to check out.
Download: Caprine for Mac (Free)
4. YakYak (Windows, Mac, Linux)
The Hangouts desktop client that Google should have made.
A lot of us who grew up using Google Talk are amazed at how Google dropped the ball with Hangouts. Google redeemed itself a little with the new Hangouts web appGoogle Finally Made a Hangouts Web App & It's Worth ItGoogle Finally Made a Hangouts Web App & It's Worth ItFor the longest time, Hangouts on desktop was a nightmare. Now, it has got a major update on the web in the form of an all new dedicated web app.Read More, but it’s still not perfect. Leave it to a third party developer to figure that out.
YakYak is a clean and simple version of Google Hangouts that works as a standalone client. It looks and feels a little like WhatsApp WebUse WhatsApp Web on Your PC: The Ultimate GuideUse WhatsApp Web on Your PC: The Ultimate GuideWhatsApp Web is a quick and easy way to use WhatsApp messages on your computer. We show you how to use WhatsApp Web on your PC.Read More, without making you miss any feature. You can take conversations off the record, you can add contacts; everything just works.
YakYak also adds new features, like marking any contact as a favorite so they will be pinned to the top of the contacts list. You can also change color themes, or opt for a night mode.
Overall, it feels like the desktop client for Hangouts that Google should have made, but never did.
Download: YakYak for Windows | Mac | Linux DEB | Linux RPM (Free)
5. Station (Windows, Mac)
A chat client made for the workplace.
When you are ready to work, is your browser window filled with tabs for Gmail, Google Drive, Slack, and more? Then you should check out Station, the browser and chat app made for the workplace.
Each of the “apps” show up in a vertical bar on the left. Click any, and you can see all the tabs for that app. Click any to open it in a focussed, no-tab window. It’s essentially tab management in a browser, but using it for a while makes you realize how cool it is.
Station supports a wide variety of apps, both for productivity and messaging, so you will probably find any service you use. There’s also a handy one-click button to stop all notifications when you need to focus to get more work done.
Station might be overkill as a universal chat app alone. But if you’re looking for something more than just universal chat, try it out.
Download: Station for Windows | Mac (Free)
6. All In One Messenger (Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS)
A Chrome-based all-in-one chat messenger app.
You can open a separate Chrome window with the web app for every messenger you use. Or you can do it with All In One Messenger, a Chrome-based app dedicated to bringing chat apps together.
The only major difference between All In One and a Chrome window is that you get to sign into multiple accounts of a messenger. Other than that, the only thing that changes is the look and feel. That said, All In One looks quite inviting with its big, bold tabs on top.
It’s also the only such client that works as a useful Chrome app, which means you can install it on any computer, even a Chromebook. Of course, you’ll need to have installed Google Chrome beforehand.
Download: All In One Messenger for Chrome (Free)
7. Pidgin
For everything else, there’s Pidgin.
Not every must-have software has to be newly made. Pidgin has been around for years, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome today. While Franz concentrates on the new wave of chat apps, Pidgin handles almost every other IM service you can think of.
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Given its many years and open-source nature, Pidgin supports a wide variety of chat networks, along with third-party plugins to enable many more. For example, there isn’t an official WhatsApp plugin, but you can get WhatsApp on Pidgin using third-party plugins.
Here’s a brief list of protocols that Pidgin supports:
AIM
Bonjour
Gadu-Gadu
Google Talk
Groupwise
ICQ
IRC
MSN
MXit
MySpaceIM
SILC
SIMPLE
Sametime
XMPP
Yahoo!
Zephyr
Free Messaging Service
Pidgin is especially great at handling old-school web IMs like IRC or ICQ, and anything which uses the XMPP protocol.
Note: Pidgin officially has apps for Windows and Linux, but Mac users can get a Pidgin port called Adium and use it in the same way.
Download: Pidgin for Windows | Linux (Free) Download: Adium for Mac (Free)
Protect Your Privacy When You Chat Online
Mac Client For Skype For Business
Hopefully, you use one of these WhatsApp alternatives that protect your privacy. But not all messaging apps are that particular about your privacy. In fact Facebook Messenger is infamous for its privacy violations.
The bottom line is, when you are using any of these chat clients, or the official messaging service itself, you are putting your personal data online. And that comes with its own risks. Before you dive in, read our guide to protecting your online privacy and securityThe Complete Guide to Improving Your Online Security and Defending Your PrivacyThe Complete Guide to Improving Your Online Security and Defending Your PrivacyEveryone wants your data, reputable companies and criminals alike. If you want to build up your defenses and protect yourself online, let us guide you through how to improve your security and safeguard your privacy.Read More.
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