Small but powerful app
The app itself is very small (less than 25MB at time of review) which is really nice! Will say tho that in the end it’s just an email interface but I like it wayy more than Gmails (close to 1 GB of space)…
Still fails miserably at basic tasks
I had high hopes, but this app still is so prone to mistakes that its usefulness is significantly reduced. Just one example: the last time I tried adding an event to my calendar, it kept messing up the time zone despite me telling it explicitly which time zone to use. For some reason it seemed obsessed with converting everything to and from Eastern Time even though I'm in CST. I ended up having to manually edit the event and switch it to the right time. These types of issues are constant with this app. It's like having a bad employee that you're almost better off firing and doing without.
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Unreliable
Good idea but totally unreliable with a poorly architected backend. The back end keeps crashing on me with an error and no one can help. Now the Mac desktop app kept freezing my computer and bricking out. Tried everything and now I’m left with a mess because it doesn’t sync over.
Serious problem
Shortwave is an excellent email client overall - clean interface, thoughtful AI features, and a strong focus on productivity without unnecessary complexity.
However, the current bundling logic creates serious usability issues in real workflows. Based on observed behavior, bundling appears to rely heavily on internal thread identifiers rather than subject changes. As a result, emails may continue to be grouped into a single bundle even when the subject line is modified.
In practice, this becomes problematic for recurring reports or automated messages where the subject changes only slightly (for example, a date update). Over time, this can result in bundles containing 100+ emails. Opening such bundles may take several minutes to load and can sometimes cause the application to freeze or crash.
While bundling is clearly intended to help process similar emails efficiently, the current implementation appears too aggressive and lacks sufficient controls for separating logically distinct conversations.
It would significantly improve usability if bundling logic placed greater weight on subject changes, or if users were given more granular control over how bundles are formed or split. Performance safeguards for very large bundles would also improve reliability.
Overall, Shortwave is a very promising AI-first email client, but refining the bundling behavior would greatly improve the user experience.
However, the current bundling logic creates serious usability issues in real workflows. Based on observed behavior, bundling appears to rely heavily on internal thread identifiers rather than subject changes. As a result, emails may continue to be grouped into a single bundle even when the subject line is modified.
In practice, this becomes problematic for recurring reports or automated messages where the subject changes only slightly (for example, a date update). Over time, this can result in bundles containing 100+ emails. Opening such bundles may take several minutes to load and can sometimes cause the application to freeze or crash.
While bundling is clearly intended to help process similar emails efficiently, the current implementation appears too aggressive and lacks sufficient controls for separating logically distinct conversations.
It would significantly improve usability if bundling logic placed greater weight on subject changes, or if users were given more granular control over how bundles are formed or split. Performance safeguards for very large bundles would also improve reliability.
Overall, Shortwave is a very promising AI-first email client, but refining the bundling behavior would greatly improve the user experience.
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Scam
Had the same email for 15 years. Within 5 days of using this app, my email was logged into by other people who proceeded to steal all of my info and email my financial service companies attempting to transfer assets.
Doesn't work
this app has such great potential, but it repeatedly fails at it's core functionality. What is supposed to add convenience to your life. Actually repeatedly creates inconveniences. Don't waste your time.
Being Replaced By Tasklet?
Over the last couple of months, Shortwave has had recurring issues, and I’m frustrated by the lack of transparency. Quotas keep being reduced or changed without clear communication—even when using the same AI models. On top of that, the app hasn’t meaningfully changed in a while beyond quota adjustments, while focus appears to be shifting to Tasklet. Is Shortwave still actively on the roadmap, or are we in maintenance mode?
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Almost
Personally not bothered about all of the AI and, at the moment, they’re doing a good job of balancing it so it doesn’t totally takeover. Pretty good replacement for Google Inbox BUT at least on an iPhone 12 mini it’s impossible to reorder tasks- once I can order my day on my commute I’m moving over full time
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very solid email client
Probably the best email app on the market
Excellent!!!!!
I am AuDHD with OCPD and this app is a game-changer! I usually and still use ChatGPT but now with Shortwave, I don't need to have the 12 hrs from start to finish which includes 6 hours of arguing with it to get your own work you’ve spent hours meticulously doing, then to not even get the final draft or project because of “Safety mode” it proceeds to shutdown because by this point your🤬😤😡. Don’t even get me started with the other BS.
P.S. Feels good to vent! Therapy does help, I guess.😊
P.S. Feels good to vent! Therapy does help, I guess.😊
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Nice idea, but not useful in practice
Was excited to see a new Inbox-like product. Unfortunately, the label/folder crossover system is clunky in practice and I found myself quickly getting frustrated when labels are applied incorrectly to incoming emails and even correctly-labeled emails are in the wrong folder. The AI is also unhelpful on mobile, as you can’t use the multi-select feature that’s available on desktop. There’s also not much evidence of responsive learning here, as the system doesn’t seem to improve regardless of how much you tweak the labeling or try to work with the chatbot. All in all a nice experiment, but it seems like the team is going too hard on AI rather than prioritizing building an actual email service.
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No formatting options on iOS
Organization of emails is great but the app is absolutely useless because there’s no way to format text on iOS, even adding a link to an email is not possible.
Love Shortwave, hate the iPad app
Shortwave is amazing. It has the best AI assistant, particularly for things like scheduling meetings on my calendar. But the iPad app is just terrible. No keyboard shortcuts, lots of bugs and errors with windowed mode in iPadOS 26. Everything is just in one pane, rather than like the desktop/web app. Seems to operate like a scaled up iPhone app rather than an actual iPad app.
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Surprising good!
Overall quite impressed as the app is a great compliment to the desktop/web based platform. Only lacking item is auto advance to next email. Very pleased!
Solid email app lacking Watch app
I've been looking for a replacement for Google Inbox for years, and this is the closest I've found. There are issues however - no Apple Watch app, it limits search massively unless you pay, and you can't just buy this outright, it's yet another subscription service to slowly bless you too death with.
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Missing Key Features
Would be great, but missing key features that most basic email clients have. Specifically in formatting: can’t bold or italicize text. Can’t create formatted lists. Can’t turn text into links: the only way to hyperlink is to drop the entire link into the body of the email.
Has the potential to be great, but you’ve got to also master the basics.
Has the potential to be great, but you’ve got to also master the basics.
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Pretty decent
Really cool app. My only complaint is they need to offer more email providers other than Gmail.
Good but...
The app is very good, but it doesn't let me see emails older than three months. I asked tech support, and they told me I had to pay to get help... That's really bad. Although it's very good, I have to use another app to see my entire email.
Don't be fooled, this isn't free..
I don't know how they managed to show up as a "free" app without IAPS here in the app store. But it's very misleading.
This is a very limited Gmail client, where you only have access to the last 90 days of emails.
If you need to see an email older than 90 days, you have to do it on Gmail, as you won't find it here.
While I understand the free plan should have limitations, this shouldn't be one of them.
The fact that they limit the most basic & most important feature in an email client, makes the free plan useless / pointless.
They did this just to say they have a free plan but it isn't really. If you want access to any email older than 90 days, it will cost you $14 a month
This is a very limited Gmail client, where you only have access to the last 90 days of emails.
If you need to see an email older than 90 days, you have to do it on Gmail, as you won't find it here.
While I understand the free plan should have limitations, this shouldn't be one of them.
The fact that they limit the most basic & most important feature in an email client, makes the free plan useless / pointless.
They did this just to say they have a free plan but it isn't really. If you want access to any email older than 90 days, it will cost you $14 a month
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Changed my life
This app has changed my life. I’m a business owner struggling to juggle a lot of moving parts. Things kept slipping through the cracks. It was really embarrassing! Shortwave changed my workflow completely and I’m not forgetting little things any more. Both me and my clients are happier and I’m not overwhelmed anymore!
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