I tried a number of email clients that did not play well when I tried to enter or edit my imap mail accounts and server details. I host my own email server and can not believe how hard it is to enter or edit mail server details or ssl port numbers. Some won’t let you edit at all and have to delete the account and start again (Sp*rk) The default mail client (M*il) could not cope with two or more mail accounts using the same mail server, and was insufferably useless to try and troubleshoot by just hanging…I tried others and had similar issues, or were stupidly expensive.Anyway, what a relief to find Airmail works well and has a great feature set. Reasonably priced too. And allows family sharing.

As much as I disliked the subscription model imposed on users, I decided to give it a try for a couple of years on the iPhone, iPad and Mac. While there was no single defect that drove me away, the increasing number of small defects that appeared over that period has driven me away. Examples are: Regularly forgetting account authentication details requiring them to be re-entered. The undo function not working consistently. Undoing the deletion of an email brings back the wrong email, or several wrong ones. When clicking on a link then returning to the app, the email position had "reset" to the top of the email. Rules work inconsistently. Searching doesn’t find all the emails matching the criteria. Formatting of received emails is often wrong. Emails do not conform to the size of the preview window. And many, many other small defects that, taken together, means the app is must too annoying to use, and demonstrates poor QA from a testing viewpoint.

Airmail has a multitude of features that provides diversity for a wide range of requirements. I can use it for the simplest of email tasks to the most complex. The ability to add services provides flexibility and control over the material received. The use of labels is not too dissimilar to folders but with the ability to duplicate emails and store them in several places allows for an easier search. While the format is clean and relatively simple, it provides many layers of complexity that allows for structure within the many emails I receive daily.The recent need for support was also refreshing. The online chat with Steve was productive and efficient. This is not amateur hour, this is a professional outfit that demands a fee and is well deserved. There are many free mail clients out there but you pay for what you get. I am more than happy to pay the annual fee. Well done, the support from Steve and the app itself lends itself to significant interaction and durability. I actually enjoy doing my email with Airmail!