Dispatch: the mail app I didn't delete
I really like Dispatch, and this is coming from a guy who tries all the new email apps but never writes about any of them. I feel compelled to say something about Dispatch, though. I've been using it daily since Federico Viticci reviewed it.
Most new email apps that I buy get deleted in less than a week, but Dispatch is sticking. Here are a few reasons why. . .
Native processing
I can send links straight to Instapaper for reading later, fire emails directly into the iOS OmniFocus app, and even send messages straight to Evernote. I love being able to act on mail locally (as I would in OS X) without forwarding mail to some hacky email account first.
Gestures that work
People gave a lot of praise to Mailbox, but I never could master the swipe-to-archive-but-not-too-fast-or-else-you'll-delete technique. Not only is Dispatch's swipe-to-archive gesture more intuitive, there's always an undo option for any action you take.
Making mistakes while using any app is inevitable. The undo button that appears atop the app after every action is one of the single best features of the app.
Stars
I can star email with Dispatch. It sounds unremarkable, but starring mail is a hugely fundamental aspect of my email workflow, and it amazes me how many other apps don't support Gmail stars.
Message first, subject second
This is a nuance that only an email snob like me would comment on. But I really appreciate the way that Dispatch conceals the To and Subject lines when composing a new message. It has a similar feel to Drafts, where you naturally prioritize writing content before titling and sending content. This is just how I think things should work, and I appreciate this subtle design feature a whole bunch.
Snippets
The snippets feature in Dispatch is really useful. Being able to preload common chunks of text is a major productivity boost on any device that doesn't have a full-sized keyboard. But like Federico mentioned in his review, I just don't get why Dispatch didn't simply hook into TextExpander. This is really my only complaint about the app so far.
More broadly, I don't get why someone hasn't made a good email app that supports TextExpander. I really don't. It seems like such an obvious void to fill.
I'm excited
I'm excited to see where Dispatch goes from here. It's a beautiful app made by people who clearly think about email the way I do. I hope it only gets better.