I Ditched Gmail’s App for This Email App: Here’s Why

As a long-time Gmail user, I recently took the leap and switched to the Spark Mail app on my Android phone. I wanted to see if I could simplify my email experience without sacrificing functionality. Spoiler alert: it exceeded my expectations on many fronts.

Spark’s interface won me over

Spark’s modern interface immediately caught my eye. The clean navigation panel on the left keeps basic email folders like inbox, sent and trash easily accessible.

Frequently used menu folders are moved away to minimize clutter. This thoughtful organization sets Spark apart from the Gmail app, which can sometimes feel cluttered and cluttered.

You can also add more folders like recently viewed, snoozed, shared drafts, and reminders using the Edit List option. This customization allows you to tailor the app to your specific needs and preferences.

Additionally, any meeting notes you create in the Spark for desktop app can be easily accessed from the app’s sidebar on your phone.

Individual and unified inboxes offer identical functionality for organizing emails. For each inbox, you can choose between three views: Classic, Smart and Smart 2.0.

These views provide various levels of email organization and categorization, allowing you to manage your inbox in a way that best fits your workflow.

Spark’s gesture-based actions are another reason I chose it over the Gmail app. Swiping an email to the right marks it as read or unread while swiping left lets you pin or delete it.

These gestures can be customized in the settings, where Gmail gestures are more limited and less customizable.

Smart Inbox Automatically prioritize emails

In Spark, important emails, like those from clients or colleagues, are front and center. Less crucial emails are neatly organized for later review. This is because Spark’s intelligent inbox automatically sorts incoming messages into categories.

The Classic view presents all emails in a unified inbox, sorted chronologically. Meanwhile, Smart view intelligently categorizes emails into Personal, Notifications, Newsletters, Pins, and Views, making it easy to identify and prioritize important messages.

Smart 2.0 takes this a step further, allowing you to customize the inbox by adding or removing categories based on preferences. While Gmail offers categories like Primary, Social, and Promotions, Spark’s smart inbox options feel more intuitive and adaptable to my needs.

When using Smart 2.0, the app has a Gatekeeper feature at the top of the inbox that screens emails from new senders and gives you the option to block emails immediately, saving you time and energy that would otherwise be wasted to clear your inbox later.

Spark also offers useful features like Group by Sender, which consolidates emails from the same sender into a single thread. And, if a conversation becomes irrelevant or distracting, you can mute it quickly – a feature I rely on to keep you focused.

To use the Priority features, you’ll have to switch to a paid plan, which starts at $4.99 per month if billed annually.

I can easily share email conversations as web pages

Spark’s ability to share entire email conversations as web pages is a feature I never knew I needed. Instead of the cumbersome process of sending emails back and forth, Spark creates a single link that displays the latest version of the conversation.

This means that any emails sent or received after sharing the link are automatically included. Keep everyone in the loop without the constant hassle of relaying messages.

It’s a small but practical feature that makes collaboration easier, saves time and reduces inbox clutter.

The app also allows you to connect third-party services, such as your favorite task manager, directly to your email. With a few taps, you can create activities from emails and include a link back to the original message.

This integration eliminates the need to switch from applications, copy information and manually create tasks. By connecting your email and task manager, Spark helps you stay organized and on top of your to-do list with no extra effort.

Not only that, Spark Cloud provides 5 GB of cloud storage so you can send attachments larger than the 25 MB limit imposed by most email providers such as Gmail. This is particularly useful when dealing with large files that exceed the attachment size restrictions.

Spark is Focus Centric

Spark’s unified inbox consolidates emails from multiple accounts into a single inbox, so I no longer need to waste time switching between accounts. Therefore, I can manage my messages more efficiently and stay on top of important conversations.

The Smart Inbox feature takes this a step further by intelligently sorting emails based on importance prevent e-mail from lowering productivity.

Spark’s smart notifications also play a key role in keeping you focused. To be alerted only to important emails, avoiding the constant distractions of irrelevant messages.

The search bar may not have visible filters, but they are incorporated into the search functionality itself.

For example, if you type “PDF” in the search bar, Spark will instantly show only emails with PDF attachments. Simply typing “attachments” will show all emails with attachments. This eliminates the need for manual filtering.

Save time and effort with Spark’s AI+ features

Spark’s AI+ features are another reason I upgraded to the premium individual membership. With the Compose with + AI feature, I can generate emails that match my writing style and tone.

By saving a few sample emails or letting Spark scan the emails I send, the app automatically adapts to my preferred style. I can also manually select from friendly, neutral or formal tones and set the desired text length from short to long.

The +AI Summary feature is another time saver. With just one tap, I can generate a summary of an email in my inbox. I have the option to choose between brief, detailed or action point-based summaries, depending on my needs.

+ Spark’s AI makes replying to emails easy. I usually create email templates as a starting point for common answers. If you enter a template, the app automatically adapts it to match the content of the incoming email.

This is useful as I can respond to messages quickly without spending time on manual adjustments.

Spark is a good alternative to the Gmail app for anyone looking for a unified approach to email management. It features a consolidated inbox, smart sorting, focused notifications, and advanced phone search functionality.

Spark’s design and features make it a great choice for efficiently managing your inbox, as well Download Spark and try today. You can also take things a step further by looking further features to optimize email productivity in Spark.