Comparison

GW Mailbox vs SMARTLINK™ Observation

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

GW Mailbox

This app provides a streamlined interface for accessing GroupWise email, calendar, and contacts on iOS devices. It offers enhanced notifications and enterprise features beyond standard web access, allowing for efficient management of your professional communications and schedule.

Highlights
  • Combined email, calendar, and contacts
  • Enhanced email notifications
  • View, reply, forward, and move emails
  • Compose new messages and appointments
  • Search GroupWise address books
  • View calendar events and accept/decline
  • Search within folders
Features
Read full description

GW Mailbox is a GroupWise email and calendar app for the iPhone and iPad. With this app you get a much better interface than Novell delivers by default through GroupWise WebAccess. This app gives you some of the enterprise features that you wouldn't get with simple POP/IMAP - like access to your Frequent Contacts and GroupWise address book. This app is designed to work with a Novell GroupWise email server. Novell GroupWise is an email server like Lotus Notes or Microsoft Exchange. If you do not have access to a Novell GroupWise email account, this app will not work for you. Your IT department should be able to provide you with the URL to your company's GroupWise WebAccess server. Key Features: • Combined email, calendar and contacts access all in one app • Uses iOS background processing to provide faster, more secure notifications View emails • View items in your GroupWise mailbox and other folders, including shared folders • View, delete, reply and forward messages • Move items between folders • Attached documents are viewable through the GroupWise document converter, or they can be downloaded to view with other apps on your device Compose • Compose new email, appointments, tasks and notes • Add attachments to new emails • Search your GroupWise address books to select contacts when composing an email View calendar events • View your GroupWise calendar with one tap in either day, week or month view • View an item's properties to see if an appointment has been accepted, an email has been viewed, etc. • Accept or decline appointments, tasks and notes View contacts • Easily search all of your GroupWise address books including Frequent Contacts and your GroupWise System Address Book • View a contact's details including phone number, email address and physical address • One tap to use your iPhone to call a contact • Email a contact using GW Mailbox or the iOS Mail app • Create an appointment for a contact New, advanced email notifications • Better security • Control how often mailbox is checked • Banner notifications Search in your folders • Search in any of your GroupWise folders Notice: GW Mailbox uses GroupWise WebAccess to get your email data. If your GroupWise administrator has not made GroupWise WebAccess available to you, GW Mailbox will not work for you. We support Novell Access Manager. But if your company uses a different proxy server, then GW Mailbox will not work. GW Mailbox requires an active internet connection. Support: iOS: This app requires iOS 9 or later. Devices: GW Mailbox works with your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, and requires an internet connection to work. GroupWise: GW Mailbox has been tested to work with GroupWise 18, GroupWise 2014 R2, GroupWise 2014, GroupWise 2012, GroupWise 8, GroupWise 7 and GroupWise 6.5. Note: GW Mailbox requires a subscription Terms and Conditions: http://ghostpattern.com/Ghost_Pattern/Terms_And_Conditions.html Please feel free to send us an email with any questions or comments that you may have. If you think you see a bug in the app, please send us an email! support@ghostpattern.com

About

SMARTLINK™ Observation

This system enables electronic collection and collation of hand hygiene and personal protective equipment metrics. Observers can customize data collection for their facility, including locations, job roles, and hand hygiene protocols. It provides immediate feedback and performance results.

Highlights
  • Electronic data collection
  • Hand hygiene metrics
  • PPE observation
  • Customizable facility settings
  • Immediate feedback
  • Performance results
Features
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Standardized Data Collection with Immediate Feedback and Performance Results The PURELL SMARTLINK™ Observation System is a mobile application and accompanying web-based software that facilitates the electronic collection and collation of hand hygiene and personal protective equipment metrics. Observers use the Observation app to collect the HH and PPE observations. Customizable for your facility: • Names of locations monitored • Names of job roles observed • Choose from In/Out, 5 Moments and 4 Moments hand hygiene protocols • Configurable notes section For more information on the PURELL SMARTLINK™ Observation System, call 800-321-9647 or email smartlink@gojo.com.

Screenshots

GW Mailbox4 screens
SMARTLINK™ Observation3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: SMARTLINK™ Observation at 5.0 against GW Mailbox's 4.4. SMARTLINK™ Observation also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). GW Mailbox's advantage is ratings volume (2.2K vs 3) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. GW Mailbox sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. SMARTLINK™ Observation asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SMARTLINK™ Observation holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: GW Mailbox has 2.2K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GW Mailbox ships an update every 3 weeks, SMARTLINK™ Observation every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
GW Mailbox versus SMARTLINK™ Observation: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGW MailboxSMARTLINK™ Observation
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (2.2K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2.2K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGhost Pattern SoftwareGOJO Industries, Inc.

Customer experience

GW Mailbox

All ratings2,165 ratings
Positive84.8%
Neutral7.3%
Negative7.9%
Written reviews160 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral13.1%
Negative46.9%

SMARTLINK™ Observation

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

GW Mailbox

Subscriptions2
  • GW Mailbox Month Subscription$1.491 Month
  • GW Mailbox Year Subscription$13.491 Year
None

SMARTLINK™ Observation

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is GW Mailbox free?
GW Mailbox is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SMARTLINK™ Observation free?
SMARTLINK™ Observation is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, GW Mailbox or SMARTLINK™ Observation?
SMARTLINK™ Observation is rated higher. GW Mailbox averages 4.4 out of 5 from 2.2K ratings, while SMARTLINK™ Observation averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do GW Mailbox or SMARTLINK™ Observation have ads?
Neither GW Mailbox nor SMARTLINK™ Observation shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GW Mailbox or SMARTLINK™ Observation?
GW Mailbox ships an update every 3 weeks, and SMARTLINK™ Observation every 3 months. Most recently, GW Mailbox was updated on October 16, 2026 and SMARTLINK™ Observation on October 5, 2026.

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