Users of Android should count themselves lucky to have open-source alternatives to commonly used apps, be it a keyboard app, or even an SMS app. On the other hand, users of a certain walled-garden smartphone ecosystem don't have such freedom of choice.
In any case, using an email app is a necessity if you want quick and easy access to your email account; this also includes the self-hosted services out there. Sadly, many popular email apps are closed-source, which won't fit in well if you are someone who prefers open-source apps.
In this article, we will be taking a look at an open-source app that supports a wide variety of email services such as Gmail, Outlook/Hotmail/Live, AOL, Yandex, and a few others.
FairEmail: A Loaded Email App
Developed by the same company behind NetGuard, FairEmail is a free, open-source email app for Android offered under the GPL-3.0 License. It is backed by a decent community of contributors who constantly work on improving and maintaining the app.
To further sweeten the deal, FairEmail ships with strong encryption/decryption support and has a straightforward interface without any distractions.
As for its features, FairEmail has many; here are some notable ones:
No limits on adding email addresses to the app.
Features a quick setup wizard for easy account setup.
Uses open standards like IMAP, SMTP, OpenPGP, S/MIME, etc.
I tried it on my Android smartphone, and the experience was good. The quick setup wizard made it easy to add a Gmail account, I just had to log in using my credentials on Google, and grant FairEmail some permissions so that it could work properly.
Though, eventually, I felt a bit overwhelmed with all the things FairEmail had to offer, but that's just my perspective; you might like it as is.
Do note that some features are only available on the “Pro” plan, which has things like advanced notification handling, better expanded management tools, biometric/PIN authentication, and more.
In the end, the decision lies with you. I recommend you give FairEmail a try before deciding on it. If what it offers appeals to you, then you can also opt for the “Pro” plan to support development or contribute to the code by visiting its GitHub repo.
Install FairEmail
You can get the latest FairEmail release from F-Droid and the Play Store. If you prefer installing an APK, you should head to the GitHub releases page of FairEmail.
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Design/Interface is outdated? This, of course, is an individual opinion and you are entitled to it. BUT, are you in the majority? There's a reason that apps like Open-Shell [Classic Shell Reborn] are so popular. It's because "the brains trust" think a change is necessary, when, in fact, it is not.
AND, if eventually it is, it should be made optional - not the "new" default.
@ankush Would you have time for a subjective comparison of these two e-mail clients? Mozilla Thunderbird also sounds solid :) I, as well as many other users, am curious about caldaw integration (the ability to add/edit/delete events)
As far as I’m aware, K-9 Mail is supposed to be the Mozilla Thunderbird for Android. And, it is under active development for improvements. So, it’s not the best time to compare them. So, I’d suggest you to try them both and see how it fares for your use-case.
I use Fairmail Pro over 2 years. Its a clean and straight forward lightweight and fast email App that is highly configurable and has many features. One nice feature is for example the unsubscibe button in some newsletters. also the combined inbox. I use it with gmx, directbox nd posteo.
Hands down the best email app out there. The setup wizard is ready to use and gets you going quickly and has tons of features. Marcel, the main dev cares deeply about this project. He's also the lead behind NetGuard, a very powerful firewall app that lets you control Internet access to individual apps to protect your privacy.
Design looks outdated and doesn't support Microsoft emails.. Microsoft recently dropped IMAP/POP3/STMP support because they got rid of app passwords for security reasons. Even thunderbird has the same issue
I played around with Fairemail for around six weeks, seeing if it was a viable alternative to Gmail and my ISP webmail. I found it flexible and competent enough that I took the plunge and went with the Pro version.
The interface looks like it's from the 2000's, which may not be to everyone's liking. Me? I'm old and I do, especially as I can change the theme to Solarized and ease my now less than perfect vision. Fairemail can do a lot of the same things as Gmail (including snoozing mails) but it doesn't slurp your personal data. The Lead Developer knows a buttload about email protocols and will offer helpful advice if you have a genuine problem and the team are very privacy focused.
I've been using the Pro version now for around two months and I'm pretty satisfied with it as my main driver. If having an older "looking" interface doesn't bother you and you'd rather have a capable client, then why not give it a try?
Ankush Das
This, of course, is an individual opinion and you are entitled to it.
BUT, are you in the majority?
There's a reason that apps like Open-Shell [Classic Shell Reborn] are so popular.
It's because "the brains trust" think a change is necessary, when, in fact, it is not.
AND, if eventually it is, it should be made optional - not the "new" default.
Would you have time for a subjective comparison of these two e-mail clients? Mozilla Thunderbird also sounds solid :) I, as well as many other users, am curious about caldaw integration (the ability to add/edit/delete events)
The interface looks like it's from the 2000's, which may not be to everyone's liking. Me? I'm old and I do, especially as I can change the theme to Solarized and ease my now less than perfect vision. Fairemail can do a lot of the same things as Gmail (including snoozing mails) but it doesn't slurp your personal data. The Lead Developer knows a buttload about email protocols and will offer helpful advice if you have a genuine problem and the team are very privacy focused.
I've been using the Pro version now for around two months and I'm pretty satisfied with it as my main driver. If having an older "looking" interface doesn't bother you and you'd rather have a capable client, then why not give it a try?