Two alternative apps for email on the go

While Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and other email providers offer their own official mobile apps, a few alternative solutions have cropped up as well, claiming to provide a more mobile-friendly interface and to make better use of touchscreen capabilities. Mailbox and Hop, the two most notable of these apps, are currently available only for iOS.

While Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and other email providers offer their own official mobile apps, a few alternative solutions have cropped up as well, claiming to provide a more mobile-friendly interface and to make better use of touchscreen capabilities. Mailbox and Hop, the two most notable of these apps, are currently available only for iOS.

Introduced last February, Mailbox made waves in the mobile app world by claiming that it would revolutionize the way we think about mobile email. Users can archive or delete messages with just one swipe of a finger, organize their archives through an intuitive and user-friendly system, or even defer reading messages after receiving them, by between a few hours or a few months. For the time being, Mailbox is only available on the App Store (iOS) and only works with Gmail accounts.

Check out Mailbox: mailboxapp.com

Hop, formerly known as Ping, completely transforms the traditional inbox interface, presenting email chains in a format resembling IM conversations. Compatible with Gmail, AOL, Yahoo! Mail and iCloud email accounts, Hop is nonetheless only available on iOS devices. And while the application is available for download, there is a reservation system, much like the one used by Mailbox in its early days. Users can register to reserve their place in line.

Check out Hop: gethop.com