Below is an easy pictorial overview of the user experience with the Mailbox app and a Gmail inbox. In a nutshell – this app is successful because you can deal with email in one swipe – that is: move it from your “mailbox” (your attention span) with one of 4 actions: Snooze, Archive, Delete, Categorize.
There are 4 main Swipe actions:
- Fast to the Right – Archive it
- Slow to the Right – Delete it
- Fast to the Left – Snooze it
- Slow the Left – Categorize it (into a list)
Tip: everything you do in the Mailbox app is reflected in the Gmail client. Personally I don’t like this because it messes with my native experience, but others who buy into the zero-inbox philosophy will love it.
It Subscribes to the “Zero-Inbox” Philosophy – first run offers to “Archive Everything” to get you started.
(in the Gmail world, archiving just removed the “inbox” label from your message and it is available as a separate ‘folder’/label = All Mail)
The 4 Major Swipe Actions are Represented as Icons on the Top Bar – the drawer icon is your All View:
(brown = lists; yellow = snooze; blue = drawer (inbox); green = archive; orange = delete)
Categories (Lists) – to file messages
Snooze Options:
Easily Categorize any Message:
Main menu give an overview of the Snoozed (i.e. Later), Categorized (i.e. Lists), and Archived mail:
The Categories (Lists) match Labels in the native Gmail client (the app probably created these)
