Email is the essential form of digital communication, bringing families, companies, and collaborators together across the world. As we communicate and collaborate with more people, managing contacts is a critical part of any personal or professional work.

In this blog, we’ll walk through the new Skiff Contacts features built into every Skiff Product. In addition to customizing contact preferences and settings, your contact list makes it easier to share, invite, or email any of your friends, colleagues, or family members.

Skiff Contacts is built into every Skiff product: Mail, Pages, Drive, and Calendar. From the contacts settings page, you can create new contacts or update any existing contacts, including name, email address, and custom profile pictures for every contact.

Any member of your organization will automatically be added to your contact list, keeping your colleagues immediately within reach.

Sending a calendar invite? Sharing a Skiff Page? Sending a critical end-to-end encrypted email?

Skiff Contacts are automatically synchronized across every Skiff product and application. Your contact list is a single source of all suggested recipients, making sure you always email, share, or invite the right people.

Whenever you email a new address, a contact is automatically created in your contacts settings. Initially, only an email address will be autopopulated, but you can easily customize additional fields, including first name, last name, preferred color, and a unique profile picture for your new contact. Contacts are also automatically created whenever you send a calendar invite to a new email address.

At any point, you can delete, remove, or modify contacts from the contacts 

, which is accessible from any Skiff product (Mail, Drive, Pages, and Calendar).

As Skiff Mail becomes even more powerful with more spam, filtering, and inbox organization features, contacts represent a reliable, trustworthy, and transparent way to keep your inbox private and safe. Contacts help filter out any unwanted email, spam, and senders who may try to phish or impersonate legitimate contacts.

For more information on how Skiff Mail protects your inbox, check out our blog on blocking 

Questions, comments, or feature requests?

If you have any questions or feature requests regarding how contacts work or integrate into Skiff products, you can reach out to us anytime on

Skiff Contacts launch

If you often take your business outside of the office, you need a robust mobile email client to stay on top of your work and conversations. The right app should provide a pleasant user experience while ensuring complete safety and 

 involves extensive research and comparison, so this guide will give you a few helpful shortcuts. We will show you what to look for when browsing email apps and

 review some widely-used options to help you find the most comprehensive one.

Factors to consider when choosing an email client for Android

No email client is universally better than others—the best option for you will depend on:

Your email client should seamlessly fit into your workflow, so think about the staple features you use daily.

For instance, if you communicate with people from different time zones, email scheduling and snoozing can come in handy. If you must juggle several inboxes, you need rich organization and labeling features.

It all comes down to your preferences, so 

make sure your email client can maximize your productivity.

 You should also consider add-on support and third-party integrations, as they can improve the overall experience and help you stay efficient.

A variety of features doesn’t matter much if they’re not intuitively structured to ensure ease of use. Each function should be laid out in a way that lets you perform it on autopilot without much thinking. Even if your email client has some advanced features, the interface should make them accessible to users of all skill levels.

While the user interface isn’t only about the design, it doesn’t hurt to have an eye-pleasing platform. This is especially important if you spend considerable time emailing, in which case a 

well-designed interface can minimize eye fatigue and keep you productive.

Make sure your email client can keep your correspondence safe

The only reason security is not the first factor on this list is that it depends more on your email service provider (ESP) than the client. Still, your app should be compatible with all the relevant security standards to keep your online conversations safe from prying eyes.

This is especially important if you go with a third-party client instead of your ESP’s native option. Some platforms might log user data or even have access to your emails’ contents, so pay close attention to the app’s security measures and privacy policy.

For maximum security, your provider and email client should offer 

 by scrambling email contents so that nobody but the recipient with the decryption key can access them. Your emails are safe from third parties, 

, and everyone but the person you intended them for—including the provider.

Six leading email clients for Android reviewed

In the sea of Android email clients, a few options stand out:

The popularity of these solutions doesn’t mean they’re right for everyone, so we’ll take a closer look at their benefits and shortcomings to help you make an informed choice.

There’s a high chance your Android phone comes with Gmail pre-installed, as the OS was developed by Google. Sticking to it might be the simplest solution, but the client suffers from a few issues damaging your privacy and user experience.

The main advantage of Gmail is that it’s well-optimized for Android devices, which makes sense as the same company owns both platforms. You shouldn’t experience any bugs or usability issues on an average Android phone, so you can get through your work smoothly.

The app’s interface adds to the convenience by being clean and free of bloatware. It’s minimalistic and unobtrusive, and you can organize your mail using folders and labels to keep your inbox neat.

Gmail’s search function is fast and thorough, so you can find threads, specific information, or 

 effortlessly. You can use various filters to narrow down your search and get the information you need quickly.

You can use Gmail’s app with any email service, but using Google as your provider offers the most cohesive experience. The only problem is that the company is 

 so a Gmail account isn’t the best option for sending private emails and 

It also doesn’t offer E2EE but only client-side encryption with the highest-paid Enterprise and Education tiers. Individual users don’t have many options besides using S/MIME, an E2EE standard for which you must buy a certificate separately and configure it in Gmail. 

Google will store the encryption key on its 

, so you still don’t get full confidentiality.

Another drawback is that the free version displays ads in your inbox, cluttering your workspace. The only way around it is to upgrade to a 

, which might not be an option for users on a budget.

Edison Mail is a universal client offering numerous handy features that can boost your productivity and shorten the time you spend emailing. It offers a pleasant user experience supported by AI, but the privacy and security features could use some improvement.

Edison Mail lets you aggregate all your email accounts and manage them more easily. It offers a focused inbox similar to 

, which singles out your most important mail, so it doesn’t go unnoticed.

The app sports some useful organization features, including:

Personalized snoozing that lets you set scheduling rules

What makes Edison Mail stand out is its capable AI assistant

. It scans your emails for the most important information to show you the highlights. For instance, if you get an email with flight details, the app will show you the destination, departure, and other useful info. You’ll find these highlights in dedicated folders, and the feature works for event, shopping, subscription, and similar categories.

As for security, Edison Mail automatically blocks tracking pixels embedded in many emails—especially those coming from newsletters or 

. The paid version also offers phishing protection, 

 and macOS devices due to Android’s restrictions.

Edison Mail promises not to target users with ads, but it still gathers their data.

 While all the information is anonymized, many users aren’t comfortable with this practice. You can opt out of it and delete the stored data, but then you can’t get AI-enabled suggestions and highlights.

Spike takes an innovative approach to emails and offers a unique way to collaborate. Spike’s practices might take some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, the platform can significantly boost your productivity and even add some fun to emailing.

At first glance, Spike looks similar to common third-party email clients. You can sign up with most email accounts, and you’ll enjoy an intuitive interface with basic email organization features. 

The feature setting the app apart from virtually all competitors is the so-called People Mode.

When you enable it, your inbox will transform into a chat-like interface. It turns Spike into a messaging app with various collaboration tools, so it’s an amazing option if you regularly use email to work on projects.

You can create and share to-do lists and notes that other members can edit. If you need to gather your team in one place, you can set up a group chat for streamlined communication.

This conversational interface isn’t for everyone, 

so you can switch back to the traditional inbox if you don’t find it useful or natural.

Spike offers a free plan, but it’s quite limited. 

You only get 1 GB of storage and can use one email address. 

This might not be enough even for an average user, so you’d have to subscribe to a paid plan starting at $5 per month.

The platform uses AES-256 encryption for emails/messages, 

which is a solid standard offering excellent 

. It also supports OAuth for login, which means you don’t have to leave your 

 if you’re signing up with a supported provider.

Like many third-party clients, Spike collects user data but doesn’t monetize it. The data is mainly used to enable full functionality, but this practice might still bother privacy-conscious users.

Aqua Mail is a feature-rich email client with plenty of customization options. It also offers better security and privacy than most third-party solutions, though it prioritizes paid users in this regard.

The best thing about Aqua Mail is customization—the platform has over 300 settings you can use to adapt it to your needs and preferences. You can change everything, from details like fonts to the entire interface theme.

Aqua Mail offers a rich text editor, so you can change the font, size, color, and various other components of your email content. There’s also a custom file picker that lets you change the attachment size to conserve storage.

Another standout feature is Android Wear compatibility.

 The app will send email notifications to your watch, helping you stay updated while you’re away from your phone.

Aqua Mail protects users’ privacy by not storing their email contents, passwords, and other sensitive data.

OAuth2 login is available with four email services:

If you use another provider, you can still rest assured the password won’t be stored on Aqua Mail’s servers. Your emails are also protected with an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption, which safeguards data in transit to prevent interceptions.

For added security, the platform supports S/MIME end-to-end encryption, but it’s only available to paid users. 

The paid plan comes at $32 per year and offers extra features like email aliases and priority notifications, which let you customize the alerts you get from different accounts. It also removes the ads that come with the free version.

 that has amassed a wide user base thanks to its stringent security measures. It’s a good option if you send lots of private information via email, but its usability is somewhat limited unless you’re willing to invest in a paid version.

Proton is based in Switzerland, a country known for strict data protection laws. After the success of its VPN platform, Proton launched an email service offering strong E2EE and various additional safety measures.

You can’t use it with another provider, which makes sense since the platform’s goal is to ensure 

It keeps your data safe using the PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) standard, which is a double-edged sword.

 While it means you get more security than with any Big Tech option, it’s an 

 suffering from considerable vulnerabilities.

so you don’t need to entrust them with any personal information. The only breach of this rule happened in 2021, when the company was ordered to 

 involved in a criminal case. Proton complied, which put a dent in its otherwise stellar reputation.

The mobile app is well-designed and stripped to the core features. You don’t get plenty of customization options, but this isn’t the platform’s focus anyway. 

What might bother some users is storage, as you only get 1 GB with a free account.

Paid plans expand your storage and give you more email addresses, folders and labels, and other handy features. All tiers (free and paid) provide access to Proton’s other platforms (Drive, Calendar, and VPN), which you can use to create a cohesive workflow.

How to choose an Android email client—honest reviews of six popular apps

You’ve just signed up for a new email address on Skiff and are looking for your preferred custom domain. Your first name? Last name? Company name? This blog outlines step-by-step how you can add short aliases on Skiff, first from upgrading to the Pro or Business tier, and then adding a short-alias in app.

We’ll also cover how custom domain short aliases work, which have more flexibility on the number, length, and characters that can be used. We’ll also briefly cover the differences between aliases on Skiff and other email service providers, such as Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft Outlook, and Hotmail.

To begin, Skiff Mail is a privacy-first email service with end-to-end encrypted email, collaborative documents, and encrypted file storage. Whether you’re looking for a professional email address, a personal email address, or an account for your small business, getting the right alias is critical.

Email aliases are a great way to keep your inbox organized and your messages separate from one another. By using an alias, you can have multiple email addresses that all go to the same inbox. This means that you can easily keep track of what is going on with each email address without having to open up multiple inboxes.

Aliases are also helpful when you want to sign up for multiple accounts with the same email provider. This way, you can use the same email address for all of your accounts without having to remember a bunch of different ones. All you have to do is set up your email address once and then use the alias when you sign up for new accounts.

Email aliases are also quite helpful in protecting individual and account privacy. Email aliases are often used to protect the identity of the sender or recipient of an email. In some cases, an email alias may be used to avoid spam, or to hide the identity of the sender from the recipient. In other cases, an email alias may be used to protect the identity of the recipient from the sender. Email aliases can be helpful for privacy in many different ways. For example, if you are worried about someone finding out your email address, you can use an alias. This way, if they find your alias, they will not be able to find your real email address or contact information.

Another way that email aliases can be helpful for privacy is if you are worried about someone seeing who you are emailing. For example, if you are emailing someone about a sensitive topic, you may not want them to see your real email address or full name. In this case, you can use an alias. This way, even if they see your alias, they will not be able to see your real email address, which could contain personal information.

Lastly, email aliases can be helpful for privacy if you are worried about someone knowing when you have emailed them. For example, if you are emailing someone about a sensitive topic, you may not want them to know when you emailed them. In this case, you can use an alias. This way, even if they see your alias, they will not be able to see when you emailed them.

Beyond just convenience, email aliases can be very helpful for privacy. If you are worried about someone finding out your email address, seeing who you are emailing, or knowing when you have emailed them, you can use an alias.

Skiff is designed to be privacy-first from the ground up - keeping your emails end-to-end encrypted and private to you. Using aliases properly is a great way to enhance this privacy, adding more email IDs to your account that preserve any possible personally identifying information.

All aliases work on all Skiff email clients, including iPhone, Android, iOS, MacOS, and more. When choosing a secure email solution, we highly recommend considering aliases as part of your email setup plan.

How can you get a short email alias on Skiff?

Adding a short email address on Skiff is quite simple. After creating your account, navigate to your inbox at 

. Then, open the settings page, and click “Plans.” To add a shorter alias, you will need to subscribe to the Pro or Business plans. These plans also allow you to add a custom email address at your own domain, add custom email signatures, or use your business name to create a shared workspace with multiple email accounts.

You can also use in-app Skiff credit to reduce the cost of upgrading your plan. This includes importing mail, downloading mobile apps, and inviting friends.

After that, simply navigate to the settings 

 and enter your preferred short alias with four or five characters.

If you need any help or support, contact support@skiff.org, DM us on 

. We also have support docs and additional blogs on our 

On free email accounts, you can create up to four email aliases. On paid plans, you can create up to fifteen. For more more information on different pricing plans, visit our 

You can add additional aliases from the aliases settings page. This is accessible from mobile devices (iOS or Android) as well as the web settings 


Yes. You can earn and use Skiff credit for different actions, such as downloading mobile apps. You can view different credit options on the in-app credits 

. Once you have earned credits, apply them to your payment plan, and then choose between Pro and Business plans. From there, you will be able to add short aliases, custom domain names, and more.

Yes - but only on your own custom domain! To set up a custom domain, read our blog on the topic 

. You will need to have subscribed to the paid Pro or Business plans (or use Skiff Credit); from there, you can add multiple custom domains onto one account or shared workspace. You can then add one character aliases via the custom domains 

You can currently add aliases that are four or five characters for the shortest email address with an @skiff.com domain.

Can you use a short alias for a business email address?

Yes, you can! We also recommend adding a custom domain for your business to share, which can be done by following 

How to add a short email alias on Skiff

 with the way the internet works right now. We want to live in a world where our digital lives are as private as our physical lives.

, a new way to reward people who are working to make not only their own but also other’s digital lives more private and secure.

Skiff Credits are simple: We reward you with credits that can be put toward a Skiff Pro plan when you carry out steps like inviting a friend to join you on Skiff or importing documents from Google Docs.

We want all our users to experience the capabilities of the Skiff platform to its fullest, and there’s no better way to do that then with a Skiff Pro plan. Skiff Credits can help you unlock the full range of our most powerful features on Pro.

At the moment, there are two ways you can earn Skiff credits:

Invite friends to sign up and create a Skiff account

Earning credits by inviting friends to sign up for Skiff

Skiff is better with friends. Not only does inviting your friends mean more people to collaborate with, but it will also earn you a hefty sum of Skiff Credits. For every friend that signs up, both you AND them will be rewarded with a whopping $10 in Skiff Credits — that’s enough for both of you to get a full month of Skiff Pro access.

You can earn credits for up to six invites (for a total of $60), meaning that you can easily get a cool half year of Skiff Pro access by bringing privacy to your friends and coworkers.

Earning credits by importing from Google Docs

Switching to a new platform can seem daunting, but Skiff makes it ridiculously easy to port over documents from Google Docs — it’s just one button. No matter how little effort it takes, we still want to reward people who recognize the importance of making their workspace and their data more private.

So we’re giving Skiff Credits to users who import files from Google Docs. Each doc you import will earn you $1 in Skiff Credits, up to a maximum of $15.

To make the switch and claim your credits, just hit the upload button on your Skiff dashboard and you’ll see the option to import files from Google Docs.

You can pop over to the settings page and check how many credits you’ve earned anytime. The credits you see here are the one's that haven't been applied, so don't worry if you don't see your recently applied credits in this balance.

Once you’ve saved up some Skiff Credits, you can apply them to a new (or existing) Pro subscription. Pro subscriptions unlock the full power of Skiff, with additional storage capacity, decentralized file storage, full text search, and more.

Stripe’s customer credit balance system

. When you hit the apply button we’ll pass your credits to Stripe and they will take care of the rest.

 to allow users to seamlessly and securely pay for Skiff Pro with cryptocurrency. Currently, Skiff Credits can’t be applied to a subscription paid for with Ethereum, Bitcoin, or USDC. However, we’ll be rolling this feature out soon.

Nick Rackauckas