Avec

Avec nails one thing: making email feel less like work. The stack-based interface — where you see one important email at a time and swipe to clear — is genuinely addictive and cuts down decision fatigue. Voice compose works impressively well: it captures your tone and produces drafts that need minimal editing. The AI search is also neat — you can ask natural questions like 'when was my 1099 from Smith Engineers?' and get an answer without digging through folders. That said, Avec is still early. It's iOS-only (no iPadOS or macOS?), no web app, and Gmail-only — so it's useless if you use Outlook, iCloud, or a work Exchange server. Notifications are 'smart' but can still pile up if you're on many lists. Compared to Superhuman, which costs $30/mo and supports multiple accounts, Avec is free but much more limited. Compared to Spark Mail, which offers iOS, macOS, and Android with more features, Avec is simpler but lacks cross-platform sync. Where it bites: you can't set custom folders or rules, so power users may feel constrained. For its target user — someone overwhelmed by Gmail on their phone — it's a refreshingly simple fix. But if you need advanced filtering, desktop access, or multi-account support, look elsewhere.