Popular secure email provider Proton has finally released its standalone desktop app, surpassing some of its major tech competitors.
Proton's new app is available in beta at the time of writing and gives both Windows and MacOS users full access to the Proton Mail and Proton Calendar services.
The new application also comes with more than 50 improvements to help you increase productivity while ensuring a secure and private experience. Offline access to emails will also be available soon.
Proton Mail desktop app
“While many people use desktop email in a browser, desktop apps can still provide certain benefits, such as better offline support. For this reason, we decided to launch a desktop app, something that even Gmail doesn't offer,” said Andy Yen, Founder and CEO of Proton.
Yen explains that users can still configure standard third-party email desktop apps through Proton Mail Bridge. Still, the new app is an easier way to use privacy-focused products. One step closer to Proton's quest to banish big tech products, like Google Gmail or Microsoft Outlook, from your digital life.
However, a shiny new application deserves some new features. Among the 50+ improvements there is one automatic email forwarding option—Proton would be the first and only email provider to offer this. a snooze button allows you to temporarily set aside some emails from your inbox so you can stay focused, and attachment examples should make it easier to search for documents in messages.
Proton Calendar has also undergone some improvements. You can now search your end-to-end encrypted calendar on the web and view public holidays to keep track of national holidays at your leisure.
The provider also promises an even better level of security thanks to a new encrypted email forwarding feature. Bart Butler, CTO of Proton, described this as “a first” for encrypted email service.
He said: “Messages sent between Proton Mail accounts are always end-to-end encrypted by default. But enforcing end-to-end encryption for messages forwarded to other Proton users was a huge technical challenge. We had to figure out how to re-encrypt messages for different recipients without the server having access to the content. Our cryptographic engineers made this possible.”
The beta version of the new Proton Mail desktop app is now available on Windows and MacOS devices for all Visionary users. You can sign up until January 4 for the equivalent of about $30 per month. It will be available to all users sometime in early 2024. The auto-forward feature is still exclusive to paying subscribers, but all other updates are included with both free and paid plans.
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