by Email hasn’t changed much over the years, but a new generation of mobile and desktop apps is out to challenge the status quo with unique new ways to wrestle incoming missives — or just put them on ice until a later date.
Mail Pilot for iOS debuted in early 2013 as a third-party attempt to build a better mobile email client. The developer has since turned its attention to the Mac platform, with the same modus operandi: Incoming missives are treated as tasks that can be checked off, swatted aside, or resurrected in the future. For someone who frequently treats his inbox as a to-do list already, this sounds like a match made in heaven.
In daily use, however, Mail Pilot for Mac lacks the polish of OS X Mail. For starters, there’s no draft mode — the developers promise to add the ability to save unsent emails in a future update. The app also stumbles when using folders to organize emails, requiring several clicks to file messages that Mail can copy or move via contextual menu.
Mail Pilot also isn’t built for users plagued with junk mail — there are no options to mark or file away unwanted emails, let alone spam filters to combat them. Incoming emails are all given equal treatment: There’s no way to color-code or otherwise create rules, although Mail Pilot does ping users via Notification Center and the dock when new mail arrives.
For casual users, Mail Pilot for Mac does offer a compelling alternative to email management. For example, we did rather enjoy the satisfaction of checking off an email as complete, and rather than leave messages sitting in the inbox where they nag you daily, less important tasks can be set aside for later, with or without a built-in reminder — although this feature isn’t yet integrated with OS X’s own Reminders.
