Tired of Gmail? Well, Shortwave is now on Android

Back in 2014, Google brought forth an amazing email application that was well-loved… then the company got rid of it. It was called Inbox, and it offered a unique email experience. Well, if you miss it, you’ll be glad to know that Shortwave, its spiritual successor, is now available as an Android app, according to Android Police.

Google Inbox had a completely different approach to the email experience. Rather than presenting your emails in a chronological feed, the platform would actually bundle your emails into different folders. This lets you organize your emails however you wanted and avoid clutter. But, it was a Google product, so it, naturally, came with an expiration date. It was discontinued about five years later.

The Shortwave Android app is now available

With Shortwave, it’s the classic story of “Company employee leaves company and makes a product that the company used to make.” Shortwave is an email client that offers close to the same functionality as Inbox, and it was created by an ex-Google employee. It was in beta testing for quite some time before finally getting a stable release. As with most apps, it was available on iOS before hitting Android, but you can now get it on the Play Store.

Shortwave takes the same approach as Inbox did. It takes emails from the same source and automatically bundles them into groups. For example, if you’re an avid Redditor, and you like to receive emails from the platform, well you’ll be able to view all of the emails from Reddit all in one place rather than seeing them pepper your inbox. They’ll all be kept in one clean-looking bundle.

If there are email conversations or bundles that are important, then you’ll want to see them the moment you open the app. Shortwave lets you pin conversations and bundles to the top of the UI. So, you’ll be able to easily access them at a glance. Also, you can name the bundles.

Shortwave is free to use, but if you want to access emails in your conversations that are more than 90 days old, then you’ll need to pay the $9/month subscription. Also, with the subscription, you’ll have faster customer support with responses within one business day.