Shortwave - AI Email 4+

Last year I spent a while searching for an email platform that utilized AI, but was also efficient and intuitive. I’m someone who receives a high volume of emails each day, and I needed away to triage it all to prevent overwhelm. I demoed quite a few different softwares before finding Shortwave.

The very first thing that drew me in was the “Shortwave Method,” or Shortwave’s proprietary method of managing emails. I realized then that I wasn’t just looking for a software, but an entirely different mentality when thinking about email management. Shortwave doesn’t just provide a technical system, they provide a belief system. Their belief is that a 0-email inbox can be achieved regularly, and that communication should be easy and fun. This app makes me check my inbox like it’s social media; I find myself wanting to be in it because I’m so comfortable with the product as a whole. I’ve subscribed and unsubscribed to a lot of things, but so far I’ve never questioned a Shortwave expense. There’s water, electricity, and Shortwave 🫡 I will happily continue paying for it as long as long as they stick to/expand on their vision.

Like many people searching for a better email solution—something that doesn't lack essential features or lethargically sit on long-standing issues—I’ve tried numerous mail apps over the years. Email is a challenging problem due to its outdated protocol, which imposes strict limitations. Shortwave seems to have figured it out, at least better than most others that I’ve seen. Instead of adding pointless features that bloat the app, it focuses on incremental improvements, where each change makes sense individually and is not just random idea from the last bored developer while he was taking a dump. Since I started using Shortwave, managing my email has been much less painful. It has a clean, responsive interface, and efficiently offloads tasks to Gmail in the background, maintaining a clear separation of responsibilities for a seamless integration. When I've encountered bugs and contacted support, they've responded immediately and resolved the issues promptly. What else could you want from an email app?

I’ve been a fan of innovate email apps going back to mailbox and inbox. This team comes from inbox and does much of the same thing absolutely right. Bundles are just a superior way to reduce email clutter. The threading keeps conversations organized even when there’s forwards and splits of the chain. It’s super easy to switch between my work and personal mail. And it’s cross platform with a web version.

I use the free version and while there are limitations, I hardly run into them. And I frankly like that they have subscription plans and have monetized so I can be optimistic that the app won’t go away (and hopefully not ruined by an acquisition either). The AI feature I have tried the most is creating drafts and I think that’s useful in some cases. I’m glad they’re charging for it.

Again - highly recommend the free version. Even that is superior to gmail or the base Apple mail app.