Review: @my.com First No Password Mobile Email

Here is our quick review of MyMail email mobile app [Android, iOS], as we promised.

In case you missed the train to grab that desired email address with your favorite nickname or full name without any alterations on Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo, check out MyMail mobile app - there are tons of name slots that haven't been taken, yet.

The app was initially created as an email client that lets you manage all your existing email accounts (Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail and others) from one convenient interface. You install the app, log in to the email accounts you'd like to manage from your smartphone or tablet and voilà, everything is right there when you need it. As neat as it was, it got downloaded about 19,000 times and rated a solid 4.3 on Google Play, but it never became a king of the day until now.

About a week ago, MyMail added a new feature that turned tables - now you can have your own @my.com email address with 150GB of free storage for your emails. These are Reason #1 and Reason #2 for grabbing the app.

What comes next?

Reason #3. Privacy. The email servers are located in Netherlands, and the MyMail company is the brand of Mail.Ru, as we reported a few days ago. Why is this even an advantage? Some surveillance paranoid folks are too worried about NSA snooping on their Gmail and Yahoo emails, so having an alternative account with a Russian company that stores servers in Netherlands may seem not such a bad idea after all.

Reason #4. An interesting approach to security - the email has NO passwords. According to the company CEO, Dmitry Grishin, passwords cause plenty of problems, such as forgetting, changing, storing securely. Hackers and the Big Brother can obtain those securely or insecurely stored passwords or simply break them by brute force. MyMail takes on an unapologetic approach by eliminating the passwords step and replacing it by verification codes sent to your mobile. Yes, you need to submit your phone number to register and log in to your @my.com email account. If you use it on your smartphone, the code gets automatically recognized; if you are using the app on your tablet, you will need to use your phone and input the 4-digit code manually.

Reason #5. Traffic is encrypted, which is great in itself. Combine that with the fact that @my.com doesn't use POP, IMAP or SMPT internally, but it does manage email accounts that use them, and you get a new approach to fight hackers. Also, @my.com uses HTTPS for stronger security. I am not saying this approach is the panacea against hacks, though; we will have to give it some time and see what security researchers tell us.

Reason #6. The UI is attractive and intuitive and consists of three main screens that can be accessed by swiping left or right: the left screen displays inbox and email folders, settings; the middle screen shows the Inbox; the right screen displays selected email in detail. You have all the buttons you need, and they are all self-descriptive.

Reason #7. Features. MyMail lets you focus on important emails by displaying/or disabling senders' avatars and letting you tag the emails. Additionally, the app has a handy attachment previewer, which allows you to see the contents of attachment before you download it. Push notifications can be disabled for incoming messages from specific senders, as well as muted for all emails for a 'quiet time.' A handy search tool finds contacts and texts on all of your device, so you don't need to copy-paste an email address - the app can access your device's contact list and contact list of all associated accounts, so whenever you compose a new email, you can use the search function for quick results. You can forward messages without downloading them, which is a treat for those on data plans.

The Catch

There is no web interface, or anything that can be used on a desktop computer. The developers intentionally position @my.com as a mobile email client for the new generations who seldom use desktop computers. I have to question that decision, since all generations addicted to tech, both new and old, use laptops and desktop computers.

The No Password feature doesn't seem like a disadvantage, but when we think theft-wise, whoever obtains your device, will undoubtedly gain access to your email.

The above-mentioned 150GB of free storage can be used to store emails only - no images, or other files.

Even though you can have all your emails from different accounts in one app, you might reconsider throwing it all at MyMail if you have a lot of email accounts with heavily loaded Inboxes. MyMail would display Gmail or Outlook emails without user-defined folders, so you get a somewhat lumped Inbox.

For now, the app feels a bit raw due to lack of features we are used to, such as a calendar. Also, if you are using both Gmail and MyMail with the same Gmail account synchronized, you will receive a double wealth of notifications.

Final Words

Suit yourself, but all things considered, I am grabbing one or two neat account names while they are available. With the 150GB of storage, no passwords, and the ability to keep all your email accounts in one interface, MyMail seems a promising app with a lot of potential. Yes, there are a few pitfalls, such as the lack of web application, but my guess is we might get an update with more features some time soon, since Mail.ru is becoming more active on our market. Besides @my.com, the company also offers a few mobile games, and a mobile video chat app myChat.