Do you use an email client for desktop in 2021? if so, why?

[Taleweaver]

I've got thunderbird on this desktop, yes. Not counting my work mailboxes, I've got four mail addresses. I don't check them on daily basis, but still often enough to make them absolutely useful.

Besides: both hotmail and gmail (I use both)...I won't say their interfaces suck, but they're inferior to the minimalist interface that a mailing program uses.

I do not use because it conflicts with my privacy principles

Erm...do you mean you don't use e-mail at all, or just no desktop application?

 

[Esdeath]

I have Microsoft office through my university, so I use outlook. Kinda nice to always have an eye on my private and university mails and see pop ups instead of checking them in the browser on two different sites

 

[MontgomeryScott]

I just updated software on my Linux mint when i saw thunderbird, and i thought i have this?

i mean i have the an app on my phone. when i need use it i just open the website for it but that is about it.

made me think do people still use email clients for desktop in 2021. if so is they any advantages or any other reasons to use one?

edit:-

for personal use related.

Most definitely. I use Thunderbird on my desktop (since imo its the best Email client on Linux still). On iPadOS and iOS I use Apple's default app, after previously using AirMail for sometime.

I try to use dedicated software (read: not electron) whenever possible as doing stuff in a browser is clunky, unsecure, and (in the case of Google and Microsoft) comes with tons of trackers built in.

 

[TriGuy]

I just updated software on my Linux mint when i saw thunderbird, and i thought i have this?

i mean i have the an app on my phone. when i need use it i just open the website for it but that is about it.

made me think do people still use email clients for desktop in 2021. if so is they any advantages or any other reasons to use one?

edit:-

for personal use related.

Call me basic, but I use the "Mail" app on my Mac. I switch Linux and FreeBSD systems too often to even bother setting up email. I do all my e-mail readin in one or two places mainly. My phone, and my desktop Mail cliet. I used to use Thunderbird out of principle - kept me from loading a Google site every once in a while. It's handy cuz you don't need to open up different tabs if you use multiple services. I have Gmail, iCloud, and Outlook accounts. Why bother with browser tabs when they can all be in one place and with a handy dandy "All Inboxes" tab, too?

 

[zxr750j]

I use gmail but I also have a personal domain with email, google pop3's it so no client necessary.

 

[LoggerMan]

I use webmail for desktop. All email goes to email apps on my phone too so I can still read and draft emails without internet, but I'm never without internet. I basically leave a tab in Safari on desktop with webmail all the time, so I'm kinda using web browser as a 24/7 email client.

 

[Blauhasenpopo]

I use Thunderbird on Linux Mint on Laptop and Web.de App on Mobile Phone

 

[Alexander1970]

Thunderbird.Is good Programm.

 

[Dr_Faustus]

Not at all, and I really feel they are outdated now that you have things like gmail being able to do this with other emails within itself. Also clients like Outlook are a pain in the arse to deal with when they break.

 

[Takokeshi]

I use one because it removes the need to trust the javascript on the webmail client, and thus it is inherently more secure.

 

[Marc_LFD]

On PC, I just use Brave and open my email simple as that. However, an email client has the advantage of not requiring a browser so there's that.

I've got Thunderbird downloaded, but have not installed it.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Sort of an update:

I decided to install Thunderbird and it's actually very useful and totally user-friendly, plus, clicking on the right button of the mouse works as it should than a browser.

 

[Flame]

Sort of an update:

I decided to install Thunderbird and it's actually very useful and totally user-friendly, plus, clicking on the right button of the mouse works as it should than a browser.

you have completed the nerd quest. you are a full nerd now.




personally i just dont see why i should use client still.

 

[FAST6191]

personally i just dont see why i should use client still.

In an ideal world you would not.
However someone always thinks they know better when coding a website/dedicated application and thus we end up still having legacy clients for things.

 

[ChrisMCNBVA]

I use yahoo outlook and gmail through chrome on pc and the apps on my phone but not many times do I get emails on gmail

 

[Takokeshi]

personally i just dont see why i should use client still.

Your browser is the most vulnerable piece of software on your computer, and while there are a lot of security measures in place to mitigate this, if a malicious actor manages to pull off a successful mitm (tricking the user into installing their own certificate is one way that this can be done; certain places may even require you to do so in order to access their network), they could inject malicious javascript into your webmail client, among other things, and compromise the whole thing. They could steal your login credentials, and if you were using encrypted email and the decryption was happening client-side in javascript, they can get your private key that way.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a malicious third-party, either. Let's say you're using gmail and a browser add-on for pgp, you have to trust that Google's webmail client isn't just recording your private key so they can continue snooping on your email on their servers.

With a standalone email client, this is not a concern. The client connects directly to the provider' via IMAP/SMTP, and unless your PC is compromised it's much harder for the provider or a malicious third party to steal credentials (if a malicious third-party gets remote access and/or remote code execution on your PC though, it's game over regardless of webmail or desktop client.)

Perhaps more realistically though, there can always be ways in which a malicious web page or browser add-on can snoop on the contents of another page you have open (especially if you are using Firefox with its improper site isolation, and doubly so if you are using Xorg on Linux.) A desktop client adds an extra layer of separation between untrusted websites and your email, though this doesn't matter as much if Xorg on Linux, again.

For the average person this probably doesn't matter I suppose, but it's something to consider.

https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/security-privacy-advice.html#email

 

[Marc_LFD]

I can't get Hotmail and ProtonMail to work on ThunderBird and I looked up possible solutions. :-/

 

[Takokeshi]

I can't get Hotmail and ProtonMail to work on ThunderBird and I looked up possible solutions. :-/

I'm not sure about Microsoft's stuff, but Proton needs a paid subscription for the bridge app.

Could this help? https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-and-hotmail

If you have 2FA on your hotmail, you need to generate an app password in your microsoft account and use that password in thunderbird instead.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...fication-d6dc8c6d-4bf7-4851-ad95-6d07799387e9

(It's also possible you might be able to use oauth2 for logging in, like with gmail. Thunderbird supports it for gmail but I'm not sure if it works with microsoft's stuff.)