Proton Mail gets its desktop app – Finally, Proton Mail offers a native desktop app that is now available in beta for select Windows and MacOS customers.
Naturally, desktop users have had access to the encrypted email service since its launch some ten years ago. Initially, this was done via the internet, and later, a “bridge” allowed users to access Proton Mail accounts using desktop programs like Thunderbird, Apple Mail, and Outlook.
However, parent firm Proton is doing away with the browser and bridge middleware to deliver end-to-end email encryption straight from its clients, all thanks to a separate desktop app launched.
Proton Mail gets its desktop app
The desktop application offers offline access and can be used straight from the Mac OS dock or Windows Start menu. Proton Calendar, an encrypted calendar app that Proton released in 2019, is also included in the package.
Proton also introduced a few new features that will be accessible to Proton Mail customers on the web and desktop in addition to the new app. Among these is email auto-forwarding, which allows Proton Mail premium customers to establish rules for messages to be automatically forwarded between accounts while preserving end-to-end encryption (E2EE).
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Proton CTO Bart Butler said in a statement, “Messages sent between Proton Mail accounts are always end-to-end encrypted by default, but to maintain end-to-end encryption for messages forwarded to other Proton users presented a huge technical challenge,” “We needed to figure out how to re-encrypt messages for different recipients without the server being able to access the content. Our cryptographic engineers have made this possible in a first for encrypted email.”
Additional new features include attachment previews, which give users a preview of email files without requiring them to open the attachment in full, and “snooze,” which lets users schedule reminders to deal with critical emails later.
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Other new features include “snooze,” which allows users to set reminders to deal with important emails at a later time, and attachment previews, which serves a glimpse into email attachments from their inbox without having to open it fully.
Privacy push
When Proton was founded in 2014, its services were limited to encrypted email. However, since then, the Swiss firm has grown to include VPNs, a password manager, a calendar, and Proton Drive, a cloud storage solution with a desktop version.
Proton has primarily focused on offering encrypted alternatives to well-known stalwarts like Gmail in its pitch, but its new software goes above and beyond by bringing native compatibility to the desktop.
“While many people use email on desktop in a browser, desktop apps can still provide certain advantages such as better offline support,” Proton CEO Andy Yen said in a statement. “For this reason, we have decided to launch a desktop app, something that even Gmail does not provide.”
The new Proton Mail desktop app is limited to users on the Proton Visionary plan during its initial testing phase. This plan was formerly exclusive to heritage subscribers who signed up early in the company’s existence. However, from now until January 3, 2024, the corporation is reserving space for Visionary designs.
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Early in 2024, Proton Mail for desktops will be made available to all users. Similar to its other applications, the business has stated that the new email clients would be made available for public download “in due course.”