![]() One thing that comes up a lot when people complain about Electron apps is that they don't use standard system controls, which causes confusion. Love it or hate it, the web is not some fallback solution for a lot of people, it's the default. ![]() Design happens in Figma, and as far as I can tell, it's about half and half between people who have a bookmark and those who use the desktop app. Project management happens in a mix of Jira, Monday, and a few other apps, but we all use the browser for these. Document management happens in Google Docs, which could be installed as a PWA, but no one does. It often sounds like it is an inconvenience to have to install an app.Īnd it's not just email, almost everything we do has a native app, everyone just uses the browser. Windows or Mac user, it doesn't matter, email happens in Chrome (they do use apps on phones, of course) "Why would you get an app when you can do this one their site?" is a common type of question I get. Literally no one else I've talked to uses a native email app on their work computer. This revelation surprises a lot of people at my work. I use it because I like doing email in an app, not a browser. It's fast, minimal, and supports notifications for new messages. Subscribers get access to an exclusive podcast, members-only stories, and a special community.I use a Mac app called Mimestream at work to manage my email. If you appreciate articles like this one, support us by becoming a Six Colors subscriber. If you’re like me-a Gmail user who wants a real Mac app, and ideally one that’s a better fit to Gmail than Apple Mail-I strongly recommend that you try Mimestream. Jhaveri also says he’s planning an iOS version, and I’d be interested in that, too. I’m glad he’s someone who gets why people would use Gmail and want a Mac app dedicated to it-because I’m that person. Jhaveri says “Email is my passion,” and I wouldn’t stand in the way of anyone who feels passionately about something. The app is written in Swift and feels like a real, native Mac app. (Disclosure: SaneBox is a former sponsor.) It also supports Gmail’s priority Inbox system, though I instead use a series of Gmail tags created by SaneBox. Gmail has some specific quirks-most notably the difference between archiving a message and deleting it-that Mimestream understands innately. Most importantly, it uses Gmail’s API ( not IMAP) to quickly display and archive mail, and to efficiently search my mail repository. (And yes, you can close off the message preview if you prefer to open messages in their own windows.) Mimestream will look familiar to anyone who has used Apple Mail-it’s got a multi-column design with mailboxes on the left, a message list in the center, and message content on the right. (You can sign up at the Mimestream website to request beta access.) I’ve been using it for a couple of months and I fully intend to pay for it when it emerges from beta testing. It’s a dedicated Gmail client app for the Mac that’s more app-like than Mailplane, while keeping the consistency and speed that Gmail offers over Apple Mail. Instead, I found Mimestream, by former Apple Mail engineer Neil Jhaveri. It doesn’t work the way I want my email to work, and it’s inconsistent and slow in just too many ways. I tried to run Gmail in a single-site browser. My frustrations with Apple Mail had driven me to Gmail, and Mailplane was the perfect way to use Gmail on a Mac-in a separate app, with Mac keyboard shortcuts and drag-and-drop support and everything else, while still keeping the speed and efficience of the Gmail web interface. Unfortunately, back in June the makers of Mailplane announced that they were letting the app die due to Google banning embedded browsers from Gmail. I’ve been using Mailplane as my email client for something like a decade. Mimestream is a Mac app reminiscent of Apple Mail, but it uses the Gmail API. Note: This story has not been updated since 2021. ![]() Mimestream: A native Mac app with proper Gmail support
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