![]() 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. Subscribers get access to an exclusive podcast, members-only stories, and a special community.Mimestream: A native Mac app with proper Gmail support If you appreciate articles like this one, support us by becoming a Six Colors subscriber. But after two years with Mimestream, I couldn’t put down my credit card fast enough. (Mimestream has a page explaining their pricing decision.) Apple Mail is free. (There’s a 40% discount offer for year one available for the next few weeks.)Īs with any productivity app, you’ll need to decide if the price matches your needs. The app is available as a $5 monthly subscription or a $50 annual subscription. The biggest change in going to version 1.0 is that, after two years of using an in-progress email app for free, it’s time for Mimestream to become a real app-with real money changing hands. This is probably the most mature version 1.0 release I’ve ever seen. I’ve been relying on Mimestream as my Mac email app for two years, and it hasn’t ever let me down. Google’s Vacation Responder system is now available directly in the app’s interface.ĭon’t let the version 1.0 label scare you. Profiles can be toggled on and off using Apple’s Focus Filters feature. With version 1.0, Jhaveri and the rest of his team have imported a few features that haven’t appeared before during the app’s lengthy beta, including better multi-account support via a “profiles” system that lets you place multiple accounts into different buckets. (And yes, you can close off the message preview if you prefer to open messages in their own windows.) It’s got a multi-column design with mailboxes on the left, a message list in the center, and message content on the right. The app will look completely familiar to anyone who has used Apple Mail. ![]() Labels, Inbox categories, server-side filters… it’s got them all. Searching Gmail in Apple Mail frustrates me with its inconsistent and slow behavior, but Mimestream just works. Most importantly, it uses Gmail’s API to efficiently search my entire Gmail repository. Since it was built from the ground up to understand Google’s approach to email, it doesn’t suffer from the weird workarounds required to map an IMAP protocol metaphor onto Gmail’s particular quirks. If you’re a Gmail user, Mimestream will be a revelation. But as someone whose top priority was a better Gmail app on macOS, Mimestream was a perfect fit for me on day one-or, technically, two years before day one. I do think the app should definitely expand its remit, because it’s very good. I asked Jhaveri what he meant when he said the company will be “turning its attention a bit broader” in the future, and he told me that while the company needed to focus in order to launch a compelling new app, “our mission is to just be the best general-purpose prosumer email client on the market.” That will take time, and the next step is probably an iOS version.Īs for support for IMAP email services, it’s also on Mimestream’s to-do list, but right now the app shines because it is a Gmail client through and through, so adding support for the very different IMAP metaphor will need to be done with a lot of care. If you don’t use Gmail as your mail service or need to use the same app across Mac and iOS, Mimestream isn’t for you- yet. ![]() After a few years in open beta development, on Monday Mimestream 1.0 was officially released. After an appropriate period of mourning (which included using Apple Mail regularly for the first time in years), I was desperate for an email app that worked the way I wanted it to.Īnd the solution presented itself! Neil Jhaveri, who previously worked on the engineering team for Apple Mail itself, founded a company to build a new email app: Mimestream. ![]() A couple of years ago, my favorite Mac email app-the Gmail web wrapper app Mailplane-was discontinued. ![]()
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