Programs like Superhuman and Mimestream have tried to reset people to their desktop inbox. Now a new program is called with aims to get you to your inbox using Tinder-style swipe cards and voice-based responses for mobile devices.
Originally available on iOS, the app uses Tinder-style cards, where by default, a left swipe adds an email to a stack you can address later, and a right swipe adds it to a ready (or archive) stack.
There’s also a button at the bottom of the email “stack” of cards that lets you hold it down to reply to emails with your voice. When you release the button after speaking, the transcription will appear as a draft. You can review the transcription for errors, make the necessary corrections, and then send the email.
While apps such as Wispr Flow, Willow and Monolouge are available, they are limited by Apple’s APIs and users must install them as separate keyboard apps to work, Avec said. Meanwhile, Avec has the full context of your email, so it can understand names and make better edits based on the tone of the email. Because of this context, the email program can also understand your personal email style, the company said.
When managing your inbox, Aved allows you to flag unimportant emails by scrolling down a specific email. Email will learn from what’s been put in the junk pile, and instead of forcing you to sort through those emails one by one, it can show you them as a group.
While the card-based interface is a unique feature of Avec, it also offers a plain old list-based view.
Established by the program Jonathan Unikowksi, previously worked at Replit in a product engineering role. Unikowksi said he thought about creating tools he would use every day. He explored ideas such as building a browser, but ended up with email.
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“That’s what hasn’t changed in twenty-five years,” Unikowksi told TechCrunch on a call. He said Gmail was the last big change in email, and it had a long-lasting impact on email management. “It’s a big part of everybody’s life, no matter how much they hate it. And it was very clear to me that with really good design, and of course with the right use of these new AI tools, we could do better.”
Avec is not alone in having this thought process. Other than Superhuman, programs like Short wave and spike have tried different approaches to introducing email. Basecamp’s for the past ten years hey tried to “reinvent” email by becoming a new provider, but as a paid service it did not reach the same size as Gmail.
When I asked Unikowksi about choosing mobile over desktop as the first place to launch an email client, he said that limitations on the platform can force creativity, and that phone is typically where people view their email.
“I really believe in this idea that it limits creativity, and that’s why you can get away with so little in an iOS app. On phones, you have a very small screen (compared to a desktop). You don’t have a physical keyboard. So if you want to convince someone to install a new app, it has to be really good. And for it to be really good, he said, it’s really good for you.”
The app is currently available in the US and is free to use for Gmail users. Support for Outlook is ongoing. Unikowksi said the company plans to introduce paid tiers at some point, but is still mulling over what features to include in that premium offering.
The company has raised $8.4 million to date from investors including Lightspeed and Haystack, with participation from Replit CEO Amjad Massad, Replit AI chief Michele Catasta, Behance co-founder Scott Belsky, and Lenny Rachitsky.
