Mailman’s new Gmail assistant aims to tame your inbox

A new startup, Mailman, has launched an email assistant that helps Gmail users to get better control over their inbox. Unlike many email startups, which require users to switch to a new platform or even adopt a new email address, Mailman works along with your existing Gmail account to do things like block annoying emails, […]

A new startup, Mailman, has launched an email assistant that helps Gmail users to get better control over their inbox.

Unlike many email startups, which require users to switch to a new platform or even adopt a new email address, Mailman works along with your existing Gmail account to do things like block annoying emails, batch email delivery, configure VIPs who can bypass filters, and even silence your inbox for a period of time.

The service is the latest in a long line of email startups that have arrived over the years, promising an upgraded email experience – the most recent being Basecamp’s Hey, a new app offering a hosted email service with an expanded set of tools to declutter your inbox.

But many people don’t want to switch to a new email platform or client app, and they don’t generally want to adopt a new email address. They just want their tame their existing inbox. That’s where Mailman comes in.

The service works by authenticating with your Google account, where you give it permission to manage mailbox labels as well as basic email settings (like moving mail to a snoozed folder). You also give Mailman the ability to view and modify but not delete email.

That latter permission is worth noting and considering carefully. Anyone with sensitive information in their inbox may not want to grant a third-party access to manage their email inbox. But arguably, any truly sensitive material shouldn’t be moving over email to begin with, as any security expert would tell you.