Privacy-focused email provider Proton has announced a complete overhaul of its Mail and Calendar apps.
The Swiss company's service, whose USP is end-to-end encryption of user emails, has fallen behind the likes of Gmail and Apple Mail in recent years, both of which tout more advanced features.
Proton now hopes to reverse its fortune by improving the current user experience of its suite and offering similar elements to its competitors.
Proton Mail updates
In a game of catch-up, Proton has introduced some fairly substantial updates to its app - most notably email scheduling.
This has become a more in-demand feature since the surge in hybrid working and flexible hours has blurred the boundaries between work and home life, allowing workers to send mail at times appropriate for their colleagues to read.
Also added is email snoozing, designed to allow workers to set up their own focus times, and categorization, which the company hopes will be able to automatically filter out emails like social media notifications.
Behind-the-scenes work has also been rolled out to prevent spy trackers and improve integration with the rest of Proton’s products.
Regarding the Calendar, users can expect to find a to-do list for task management and easier sharing to help alert colleagues of availability.
The user experience seems to have been a high priority this time around, too, with improvements set to come to homescreen widgets, in-app weather information, local holidays, and contacts’ birthdays.
The company hasn’t specified when these updates will become available, but has instead shared them as a work in progress. Expect rollouts to begin in 2023.
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