Proton Mail: The Secure Email App That Could Replace Gmail

Proton Mail and Calendar are getting their most ambitious updates yet this summer. The Switzerland-based security giant is adding a slew of new features and rebuilding both apps from scratch on iOS and Android to add Gmail-style utility while keeping user data out of Big Tech’s reach.

New quality of life features in Proton Mail

Proton Mail’s mobile apps for Android and iOS are being completely rebuilt with major quality-of-life improvements pulled directly from Gmail, a Proton press release revealed. The most important additions include a new Category View, which makes it easier to sort emails by type. You can also control which categories can send you notifications.

Attachment View collects every attachment you ever receive—whether it’s a receipt or an important document—in one easy-to-access place. Finally, you can also save files directly to Proton Drive without ever leaving the Proton Mail app.

Additionally, Proton says it's working on an offline mode, new features to help you manage your news feed, and significant speed improvements to its apps, including faster search functionality.

Another area that will impact business users is Proton's addition of email retention controls and support for custom domains, which will ultimately make Proton Mail a closer replacement for Gmail in both form and function.

While Gmail already offers similar features, one area where Proton Mail will continue to outperform what Google offers is user privacy. Proton’s entire philosophy is based on putting user privacy first while providing the best features and functionality.

And overall, the company has done a good job of executing that philosophy so far. But the updates don’t stop at Proton Mail.

• Get Proton Mail for iOS | Android (free, in-app purchases available)

Proton Calendar is also getting improvements

The Proton Calendar app is also getting serious attention, with the company launching a redesigned experience for Android and iPhone, along with an official iPad app with proper functionality and support.

When the update rolls out, you’ll be able to edit shared calendars and access quick views in improved home screen widgets. Proton also plans to add offline access, task tracking, and more search tools to Proton Calendar.

The addition of these features makes it easier to choose Proton Calendar over Google Calendar, especially if you plan on bringing the rest of your online presence into the Proton ecosystem. You can even ditch Google Docs for Proton Docs if you want a more private, distraction-free word processor.

• Get Proton Calendar for iOS | Android (free, in-app purchases available)

These updates will bring Proton's tools closer to the convenience of mainstream apps like Gmail and Google Calendar without forcing users to buy into the data-collection economy.

If you've been looking to cut Google out of your life, these updates give you more reason to say goodbye to Google 's data-hungry apps .