Email is an essential communication tool for both personal and professional needs. With so many email services and apps available, choosing the right one for your iPhone can be tricky. The default Mail app on iOS is decent but lacks some key features offered by third-party apps.
In this comprehensive guide, we break down the 10 best email apps for iPhone based on features, security, privacy, customizability and more.
Key Features to Look for in Email Apps
Here are some key features and capabilities to consider when choosing an email app for your iPhone:
- Support for multiple accounts
- Organization tools like customizable folders, labels, snoozing emails etc.
- Robust search capabilities
- Spam and junk mail filters
- Data encryption and privacy controls
- Custom themes and layout options
- Integration with other apps like calendar, contacts etc.
- Offline access to emails
- Scheduling emails to send later
- Email templates and signatures
- Notifications and badge counters
- Syncing across devices
Let‘s look at some of the best email apps available for iPhone that offer these useful capabilities.
1. Microsoft Outlook
Outlook by Microsoft is a fully-featured email client optimized for iOS. It supports Outlook.com, Office 365, Exchange, Gmail, iCloud and more.
Some standout features of Outlook include:
- Organizes inbox with focused, other and flagged views
- Built-in calendar with ability to join Skype meetings
- Robust search and advanced message filtering
- Customize swipe gestures to archive, delete, flag emails etc.
- Offline support and cross-platform syncing
- Widgets for top contacts and email previews
Outlook also has robust security protections like safe links checks, junk email reporting and more.
The app is free to download and works nicely for both personal and business use.
2. Gmail
Gmail by Google is one of the most popular email services worldwide and the mobile app provides a great experience.
Key Gmail features include:
- Support for multiple Gmail accounts
- Customizable swipe actions
- Powerful search with operators and advanced options
- Automatic sorting into categories like primary, social etc.
- Snooze emails to reappear later
- Send & receive large attachments
- Offline support for reading emails
- Dark mode and multiple theme options
The Gmail app is free, ad-supported and works well if you use Gmail as your primary service. It provides a seamless experience across Android, iOS and the web.
3. Yahoo Mail
Despite being one of the oldest web email services, the Yahoo Mail app provides a solid email experience on iPhone.
Notable features offered by Yahoo Mail:
- Supports Yahoo, Outlook, Gmail and custom IMAP/POP accounts
- Daily digest feature to combine emails into one
- Automatic sorting into categories
- Snooze emails to return later
- Custom swipe left/right actions
- Emoji support in messages
- Ad-free interface
- Fun photo themes
The app is free to use with optional in-app subscriptions. If you still use a Yahoo email address, their official app is a great choice.
4. Spark
Spark aims to be a smart, machine learning-driven email app helping you stay on top of your inbox.
Key capabilities of Spark:
- Smart inbox automatically sorts emails
- Snooze emails to reappear later
- Send newsletters or summaries of notifications
- Integration with apps like Dropbox, LinkedIn
- Team email boxes for shared inboxes
- Email tracking to see when a message is read
- Apple Watch app
- Fun emoji themes
Spark has a free version along with a premium plan costing $4.99/month. It‘s perfect if you need a smart assistant managing your personal and work emails.
5. Newton Mail
Newton Mail focuses on speed, simplicity and organization to help you efficiently manage email.
Key features offered by Newton Mail:
- Fast email syncing and indexing
- Read receipts to see if someone read your email
- Tidy inbox automatically separates newsletters, notifications etc.
- Snooze emails to return to inbox later
- Email sharing and delegation capabilities
- Integrations with Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo etc.
- Cross-platform syncing
- Focus mode to hide distracting elements
Newton Mail has a generous free plan as well as $50/year premium offering more features for power users.
6. Airmail
Airmail positions itself as an all-in-one email manager, calendar and contacts app.
Notable Airmail features:
- Unified inbox for multiple accounts
- Delay sending of emails
- Snooze emails to return later
- Quick note taking atop email messages
- Robust search tools
- Calendar & contacts management
- Fun themes and icon packs
- Annotate emails easily
Airmail offers a free version as well as paid Plus ($1.99/month) and Max ($9.99/year) plans unlocking premium capabilities.
7. Edison Mail
Edison Mail focuses on seamless email organization and management.
Key Edison Mail features:
- Unified custom inbox
- Support for Exchange, Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud
- Read receipts
- Block senders
- Snooze emails
- Smart organization of travel plans, package tracking etc.
- Free ad-supported version
- Dark mode support
The free version of Edison Mail has an ad banner while a paid subscription ($14.99/year) unlocks premium features. It excels at keeping your inbox under control.
8. Canary Mail
Canary Mail positions itself as a secure, ad-free email manager packed with features.
Notable capabilities offered by Canary Mail:
- Unified inbox with support for Gmail, iCloud, IMAP etc.
- Encrypted cloud backup for emails
- Snooze and send later options
- Robust filtering tools
- Email templates
- Dark mode support
- Focus mode to hide distracting elements
- Biometric/Face ID unlock
Canary Mail offers one of the most feature-rich email experiences for iPhone. It does have a premium subscription plan costing $9.99/month.
9. ProtonMail
ProtonMail is an encrypted email service developed by scientists and focused on privacy.
Key features of ProtonMail:
- End-to-end encryption to protect message content
- Open source architecture
- Self-destructing messages
- Addresses and contacts protected by encryption
- Support sending encrypted emails outside Proton ecosystem
- Dark mode supported
- No ads or email tracking
ProtonMail is one of the most secure email apps out there but does require recipient to also use ProtonMail for full encryption. They offer a free tier as well as paid plans starting at $5/month.
10. HEY
HEY is a brand new email service launched in 2020 taking an innovative approach to managing email.
Key features of HEY include:
- The Feed – combines all email accounts into a uniform experience
- Immediate – Important emails from friends and family
- Paper Trail – Activity summaries from services and deliveries
- The Grid – Newsletters, notifications etc.
- Screens away annoying emails
- No ads, email tracking or data mining
HEY costs $99/year but offers one of the cleanest interfaces reducing email clutter.
Choosing the Right Email App
All the email apps covered excel in different areas whether it‘s customization, productivity, privacy or unified experience.
Evaluate your specific needs and usage patterns before deciding on the best option. Here are some key questions to consider:
- What email services do you need to support natively?
- Do you want a free or paid premium app?
- Is email privacy a major concern?
- How many accounts or identities do you need?
- Do you email mostly for personal or work use?
- What customization abilities do you expect?
Think about these factors before choosing an email client for iPhone. Apps like Outlook and Gmail are great productivity-focused choices. Encrypted options like ProtonMail prioritize security. Innovative apps like HEY and Newton provide unified experiences optimized for personal usage.
Test out a few options to see which interface clicks with your habits. Over time as new features roll out, you can also switch services if needed.
The Default iOS Mail App
The pre-installed Mail app on iPhones is perfectly fine for basic email needs for some folks. It works nicely across all core services like iCloud, Exchange, Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo Mail.
However, it lacks more advanced features offered by third-party apps we covered. For instance – visual customization options, robust organization tools, cross-device syncing etc.
For power email users, third-party email apps provide a lot more control and capabilities tailored to individual needs. Unless you have very basic email needs, specialized apps tend to work better.
Key Takeaways
Here are the main highlights from our guide on picking the right email app for your iPhone:
- Specialized email apps provide more features than the default iOS Mail app
- Evaluate your must-have capabilities before deciding on an app
- Outlook, Gmail and Yahoo Mail are popular free choices
- Spark, Newton Mail and Airmail focus on email organization
- Edison Mail, Canary Mail, HEY optimize around unified experiences
- ProtonMail leads for security and privacy needs
Finding an email app aligning with your specific preferences can take some trial and error. However, once you discover the perfect fit – it makes managing communications much more delightful.
We hope our breakdown of the best email apps for iOS helped you identify leading options. Let us know if you have any other favorite iPhone email clients we should consider!
