Shortwave is the modern version of Google Inbox that we’ve been looking for
Email clients are a dime-a-dozen, but ever since Google Inbox met its demise, many of us have been looking for a proper solution to no avail. That all could change now and you can thank a few former Google employees for it.
Shortwave is a new Gmail client for your computer, Android, and iOS, bringing back some of the most-loved features from Inbox while giving your email a new paint job. The app doesn’t try to “overdo” anything, making it quick and easy to just manage your emails as they come in, regardless of which device you are using.
Triaging your email consists of the three following options:
- Pin: For emails where the ball is in your court and you need to remember to take an action.
- Snooze: For emails that require follow-up or aren’t ready to be responded to yet.
- Done: For emails that require no action and can be safely swept out of your inbox.
But Shortwave also brings back the extremely useful Bundles feature that Inbox had to offer. Now, whenever multiple emails arrive and are related, they will be bundled together so you can triage them all at once or go through them while keeping them together. Categories are also available, adding another level of organization that is already available within the official Gmail client.
There are so many different features of Shortwave that it could make your head spin. The app features rich text and markdown support, while also allowing you to send GIFs and emojis in your replies. You can even go so far as to send reactions with other Shortwave users, which leads in to the social aspect of the app.
Shortwave offers “Instant delivery” which brings typing indicators and “real-time messages” that can turn that pesky email chain into a real conversation, all without needing to switch to a different app. Channels can be created with your team members, along with keeping track of “thread history”, making real-time collaboration easier than ever.
By this point, you might be wondering if you can try out and use Shortwave today, and the answer is a resounding yes! Shortwave is available on iOS, Android, and your computer. The only catch is that in lieu of a true desktop client, Shortwave instead works as a web app that can be downloaded from almost any Chromium-based browser. The only catch here is that it’s not currently supported with either Brave or Firefox as the default browser.
We’re still getting our feet wet with the Shortwave app, but will definitely be back to share some thoughts on it after we’ve spent some time with it.