Cool Tips to Get You Started With Airmail for iPhone

Now, you have several options to choose from if ever you finally could call it quits with Apple's Mail app for iOS --there's Gmail from Google, and Inbox to Microsoft's Outlook for iOS. Enter Airmail -- an iPhone version of an already popular Mac mail client.

With dozens of customization options, one-tap inbox filters, and the ability to "snooze" messages, Airmail makes a great alternative to Mail, as long as you're willing to pay $5 for it. If you are curious enough to find out what other things this new mail client for Mac can do, learn more about them below.

Customize the Sidebar

When you launch Airmail, one of the things you will notice is its slide-open drawer on the left side of the screen, complete with navigation links to your various account inboxes, starred messages, sent mail, message labels, and more.

While the drawer of quick links to your accounts and messages is already a plus, even better is your ability to customize it. Simply tap on the edit button to move, add, or hide anything in the sidebar.

You can also tap and hold a message label in the sidebar to rename it, customize its color, or add it as "favorite."

Customize Some New Swipe Actions

Once you're finished with the drawer, you can proceed in customizing the actions when you swipe a message in one of your inboxes. There are more than a dozen swipe actions available under the Settings menu -- from archiving and trashing a message to giving it a new label, snoozing it (more on "snooze" in a moment) or filing it into a "to do" list.

Just tap the three-line "hamburger" button to open the sidebar, tap Settings near the bottom of the screen, tap Swipes, then start customizing both your left and right swipe shortcuts. Keep in mind that you get to choose two "actions" per swipe: One that deactivates once you swipe a message about halfway across the screen, and a second that snaps on after you've swiped about two-thirds or more across.

Choose a New Default Browser

Typically in iOS, tapping on a web link in a message or any other app will either open an in-app browser or Safari. In Airmail, though, you can decide which browser -- anything from Safari or Chrome to Firefox or iCab -- gets your business when you tap a link.

To do this, open the left side Airmail drawer, then tap Settings, and then go to Default Browser. From here, you can go on and take your pick.

"Snooze" Messages

If you want to avoid annoying messages, but you'll have the chance to read and respond to later, there's a smart way on how to deal with them. Instead of letting the message sit in your inbox marked as unread, you can "snooze" it.

When you do (just add the snooze feature as a left or right swipe action, or access it by going to the three-dot menu at the corner of the screen), the message will disappear from your inbox for however long you see fit -- anything from just a few hours to the next day, weekend, next week, or any date of your choosing.

You can also tap on Settings, then Snoozes to customize the message(s) as to when they will reappear on your inbox. For instance, you can set the snooze to "Later Today" on the message, which means it will reappear on your inbox between an hour to 24 hours later.

Add Airmail as a Button Under the Action Menu

When you're surfing the web in Safari and found a webpage you'd like to share, one way is to tap the Mail button to send the link via email, which will send the message using the default iOS Mail app.

If you want to share links (or photos, or something else) using Airmail instead, try this:

• Tap the Action button (the icon with a square with an arrow up in the middle, usually located at the bottom toolbar of Safari and other iOS apps), flick the top row of apps all the way to the end, then tap More.
• Scroll through the list of options until you see Airmail -- and when you do, enable it, then tap, hold, and drag the little three-line handle to move it ahead or behind other buttons in the list.

Now, you'll see the Airmail option the next time you tap the Action button; tap it and you're all ready to share it via email.