Dealing with email is a pain for most of us, though the specific reason it's painful depends on way we communicate and work via email. Inboxcube is a mobile email client app that makes mobile email better specifically for people who find themselves digging through messages in search of certain kinds of files or attachments. Inboxcube's signature feature is that it offers Cubes, or quick-access views into your email accounts that show all messages with a certain kind of file. For example, there's a PDF cube that finds all messages containing PDF attachments, no matter if they're in Gmail or a Microsoft Exchange account (other services are supported, too). It's especially handy for a free app, but if you're willing to pay, you might get more use out of Hightail (Visit Site at OpenText Hightail) , which specializes in helping users manage files they send and receive.
Price and Supported Email Accounts
Inboxcube is free to use. A company representative told me that the app does not sell information about the user or the services they use in any way, and that in the future the app will likely offer in-app purchases or upgrades.
You can add multiple email accounts to Inboxcube, and it supports Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo! Mail, Aol, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office 365, and IMAP accounts.
Similar Products
Inbox by Gmail (for iPhone)
Boxer Pro (for iPhone)
Hightail (for iPhone)
Cannonball (for iPhone)
Gmail (for iPhone)
Getting Started
Setting up Inboxcube is as simple as setting up any other email client app, although in my testing, it took much longer than most other apps to import my messages and process them. To use Inboxcube, you connect to whatever supported email accounts you want by authenticating access. For the next half hour, the app was totally unusuable. If you're giving Inboxcube a try, I recommend installing and setting it up at night so it can load while you sleep.
Once the app is ready to go, you customize your cubes from the Home screen. The cubes are nothing more than buttons that bring you to a customized filtered view of your messages. There's an Inbox cube, one for Attachments, and others for Documents, Photos, Links, Star (starred or flagged messages), and more. The Home screen has nine slots for cubes, although you can add more and have a second page of options. There are 12 options in all.
Design and Features
The interface is simple. On the left is a collapsible menu that hides all your folders. In every cube view, a search bar appears at the top. When you select a view with files, you'll see preview images of the files to help you find what you need.
Cubes that don't show preview images (Inbox, Star, etc.) use a more classic email look. Each message shows the sender, date, subject line, and a preview of the body of the message. Swiping any message left to right brings up a few options: reply all, forward, and move to a folder. If you swipe right to left, however, you have to be sure to make your swipe short or long to either archive or delete the message, respectively.
Swiping gestures have become more common in email client apps over the last few years. They're fairly standard in Inboxcube, but more customizable in the email client app Boxer ($0.00 at Apple.com) . Boxer gives you four swipes (left and right, and short and long in either direction) and lets you assign the action for each gesture. That's a great but simple feature that lets each user add the functions she uses most often.
Inboxcube's strength is that it lets you quickly find certain types of content sent to you via email. It doesn't have any features I'd consider extra special, though. Inbox by Gmail, on the other hand, finds information from the content of your email messages for certain kinds of messages and summarizes them. If you receive a flight confirmation, for example, Inbox by Gmail shows you a card with the flight details summarized into a view that strips away all the fine print and shows you the information you probably need to know, such as the flight number and departure time. The Outlook iPhone app also has features designed to ease the experience of dealing with email, such as its Focused Inbox view, reserved for messages it guesses are most important to you.
These kinds of special features in email client apps aren't everyone's cup of tea, of course. They're not exactly mine, but I do see their value. If you prefer to have tight hands-on control of your inbox and email accounts, Inboxcube lets you keep it, whereas these other apps yank it away in favor of their specialized views.
The only app that really competes with what Inboxcube does so well is Hightail. Hightail is a complete service, and while there is a free Lite version, regular users will likely need to pay $15 per month for a Pro account. Hightail is very specifically designed to help people send and receive attachments and files. It includes more features, such as the ability to sign documents before sending them. If attachments are the bread and butter of your email work, Hightail is worth a look because it's much more powerful than Inboxcube.
Cube Views
For people who struggle to find what they need in their email accounts, Inboxcube offers a simple solution, but it's not a particularly deep email client app. It does one thing reasonably well, for free, but that's it. For people who like to have control over their email experience and don't want to pay for a service like Hightail, it's worth keeping installed on your iPhone. But if you're looking for an app that will take the email reigns out of your hands and make your email experience easier or better, keep looking. I'd recommend starting with Inbox by Gmail, Boxer, and the Outlook iPhone app.
Apple Fan?
Sign up for our Weekly Apple Brief for the latest news, reviews, tips, and more delivered right to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
Sign up for other newsletters
