Taskbox - Mail Becomes Boxer, Adds New Features To Organize Your Life
June 5, 2013
Just seven months after Taskbox - Mail arrived in the App Store, it is no more. Instead, the popular email client and task manager has been renamed Boxer. Along with the new name, the app also includes some brand new features.
Boxer, like its predecessor, is for users that want to bring some order to the chaos that is email. Instead of letting emails sit in the catchall inbox, the app offers ways to quickly organize them. The app also adds brand new social tools to email, including the ability to “like” messages from friends and associates.
To get started, you’ll need to add an email account, of course. Luckily, Boxer supports all of the major email providers including Exchange (ActiveSync), Google’s Gmail and Google Apps, Yahoo Mail, Apple’s iCloud, AOL Mail, and Microsoft’s Outlook/Hotmail.
As with other clients, Boxer adds new emails to one centralized inbox. You can also navigate directly to the individual accounts from a side navigation screen, which is accessible by clicking on the icon at the top left of the screen.
Boxer includes three main features: swipe actions, Dropbox file sharing integration, and profile images and cards.
Swipe actions
When you swipe to the left on any email, you can delete it, or in the case of Gmail, archive it. Tapping on the selected button again will un-toggle the action.
When swiping left to right, you will find five buttons. The first of these is a Like button.
After tapping this button, a message will be sent immediately to the contact. This message serves as an acknowledgement that the email was received and that you “liked” it.
The Like response takes the form, “Firstname Lastname liked your message with Boxer.”
The Quick button allows you to bring up a list of quick responses that Boxer has added to keep conversations moving. You can also add your own quick responses under the app’s settings.
Example quick responses include:
The Request button brings up a unique tool that adds tracking data to email. Similar to a reply, requests are kept inside Boxer’s Dashboard. If you sent a due date and/or priority to another Boxer user, they’ll see it reflected in their inbox too.
Finally, the Done button is just that. Clicking on it signifies that you are finished with the email. These emails are kept on the Side Navigation screen under Done. Note that this isn’t the same as sending the email to the Delete or Archive folder.
Dropbox
Dropbox integration allows users to attach files from the service directly from within the app. Files can either be sent as attachments, or sent as private links to the file on Dropbox.
Profile images and cards
Each email includes a profile image for the sender. Initially, these images are pulled from Gravatar and your Contacts app. Boxer will also pull images from Facebook and/or LinkedIn if you link to those services.
When you click on the image, you’ll see a profile card that displays key information about that person. This includes links to their social profiles, phone numbers, and recent messages.
From this screen, you can also add the person to your list of favorites, or call them when a phone number is available.
Advanced Boxer features include:
When you swipe to the left on any email, you can delete it, or in the case of Gmail, archive it. Tapping on the selected button again will un-toggle the action.
When swiping left to right, you will find five buttons. The first of these is a Like button.
After tapping this button, a message will be sent immediately to the contact. This message serves as an acknowledgement that the email was received and that you “liked” it.
The Like response takes the form, “Firstname Lastname liked your message with Boxer.”
The Quick button allows you to bring up a list of quick responses that Boxer has added to keep conversations moving. You can also add your own quick responses under the app’s settings.
Example quick responses include:
The To-do button moves the selected message from your inbox to your personal to-do list. From here, you can assign it a due date or set a priority. You can also add an item manually from the to-do list screen.
- I’m running late.
- Thanks
- When do you need this?
The Request button brings up a unique tool that adds tracking data to email. Similar to a reply, requests are kept inside Boxer’s Dashboard. If you sent a due date and/or priority to another Boxer user, they’ll see it reflected in their inbox too.
Finally, the Done button is just that. Clicking on it signifies that you are finished with the email. These emails are kept on the Side Navigation screen under Done. Note that this isn’t the same as sending the email to the Delete or Archive folder.
Dropbox
Dropbox integration allows users to attach files from the service directly from within the app. Files can either be sent as attachments, or sent as private links to the file on Dropbox.
Profile images and cards
Each email includes a profile image for the sender. Initially, these images are pulled from Gravatar and your Contacts app. Boxer will also pull images from Facebook and/or LinkedIn if you link to those services.
When you click on the image, you’ll see a profile card that displays key information about that person. This includes links to their social profiles, phone numbers, and recent messages.
From this screen, you can also add the person to your list of favorites, or call them when a phone number is available.
Advanced Boxer features include:
We're still playing around with Boxer and hope to publish a full review very soon. In the meantime, Boxer is currently free in the App Store. Once it hits 100,000 downloads, the price will go up to $4.99. Current Taskbox - Mail users will see the Boxer update in the App Store. [gallery]
- Boxer supports Passcode locking of your inbox and Remote wipe of your Exchange mail.
- Archive is supported for iCloud, Gmail & Google Apps users.
- Push notifications & Labels are also supported for Gmail & Google Apps users. Users of other service can make folder moves from the message detail screen.
- Power sorting - In Inbox, To-do or Request view you can sort by Date, Priority, Due Date or who was Assigned. You can even drag and drop messages between Priorities and Due Date zones, for faster prioritization.
