mimstream
When I was looking for the best Mac email clients for Gmail/Google Apps users in September, I was surprised to find that there was an app built specifically for this purpose. You didn’t have to tweak it, change its settings, or install a bunch of extensions to make it work and feel right; mimstream was deeply tied to Gmail and was pretty much a Mac app.
Mimestream has spent over three years in its free beta period, releasing over 220 updates to 167,000 users and adding over 100 features. Now that version 1.0 is out – and the company has grown from a single developer to a team of five – price per product.
Mimestream costs $30/year if you buy during this launch period, and then $50/year after that (if you were a beta user, check your inbox for a bigger discount code). There is also a 14-day trial period without a credit card. Individual users can install it on up to five devices, and there’s also Family Sharing for all iCloud accounts.
mimstream
My favorite new feature in Mimestream is profile splitting. If you use Google/Gmail accounts for both work and personal email, you can separate them into work, home, or other profile containers you define, each with their own colors and icons. Before this, I only used Mimestream for my work accounts, but now I can keep my personal email accessible but not intrusive.
I can also prevent work email from generating notifications outside of business hours. The new profiles work with the Mac focus filter, so only certain accounts within a profile can send notifications when you’re in focus mode. Even if you’re not very good at Mac management, you can set basic notification on/off schedules within the app for each profile.
The server-side capabilities of Gmail have also increased in this release. You can create email filters and auto-responders that sync with your online accounts. Google contact colors are also synced, and it’s easier to tag a message and star it while in the message window.
Mimestream uses the Gmail API rather than a standard IMAP connection for deeper integration with your settings in the Google web app. As before, the company doesn’t have your data on its servers, and your access tokens and cache are stored on your local Mac. Keychain.
Mimestream has one big new feature, which is unintentional. Web version Gmail now scatters ads around your inbox not just at the top. Mainstream – no. I recently started seeing them, and although they are labeled, they are still tiring to see and click on in the past. Considering how far Mimestream has come and what else the development team might have, was busyI have very little reason to watch ads these days.
