New iPhone Mail app not quite there yet

Everyone pretty much knows the weaknesses of the iPhone mail application. So it was with some excitement that we were able to try ibisMail [App Store link] from some sharp developers in Japan. Alas, while packed with features, it also is limited by its own design, and the shackles Apple puts on applications to keep them from using the full power of the iPhone OS.

IbisMail is US $0.99, and works in English and Japanese on both the iPhone and iPod touch with software 2.2 or greater.

First, the good stuff. ibisMail allows you to read and write in landscape mode, something many people have really wanted for a long time. It gives you a nice keyboard with lots of room, and I do like reading and creating mail in that way. It also supports folders and rules. You can watch for certain characteristics of incoming mail, and send that mail to a particular folder, or even the trash. IbisMail also enables the creation of simple templates for mail replies and mail that is forwarded. Complete details and rather good help files are here.

IbisMail supports POP3, IMAP4, SMTP, and authentications including APOP, POP before SMTP, CRAM-MDS and Digest MDS, as well as SSL connections. IbisMail can view Word, Excel, Power Point, JPEG, GIF, PNG and PDF attachments. So far so good.

On the negative side, I had a devil of a time getting accounts set up. My POP account could receive, but never send, even though I was careful to duplicate all the settings that I have. I've never had such a hassle with any other mail program. Maybe it was me, or they way the stars were aligning, or something about my ISP, but I just couldn't get it to work. I tried to set up my MobileMe account, and had similar problems. The original settings would not work, and when I went back to edit them, they were gone, even though I had saved them. This happened several times. Some people are getting it set up fine, so I'm scratching my head on this issue.

IbisMail also seems to make hash of HTML email that has embedded pictures. They simply don't display. The app also lacks a unified mailbox, just like Apple's mail app on the iPhone, so if you have multiple accounts you get a lot of finger exercise going back and forth through all the accounts to see what mail you have.

Another drawback is that ibisMail can't run in the background (thanks Apple) so you have to open the app to see what mail you actually have.

The developers are very open to improving the ibisMail, and I'm sure they will do what Apple will allow them to do. Frankly, I'm surprised this app was even approved by Apple, given their penchant for nuking any app that treads too closely to the iPhone's built-in functionality.

All in all, I'd rate ibisMail as a good try, but not a compelling upgrade. With some more attention to detail, and some give from Apple, ibisMail could be a very useful addition to your collection of apps.

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