Proton Mail - Encrypted Email Reviews

by Aniphone5suser

this app is the only email client I’ve used that doesn’t have an option to thread emails of the same subject and/or from the same sender.

If you’re having a conversation with someone and want to find a precious message, you have to scroll through ALL of your inbox and manually search for the email.

If you receive frequent emails on the same subject, like updates on a specific forum, your inbox will be flooded. Instead of having one email chain, you’ll have dozens of emails of the same subject and from the same sender crowding up your inbox. And it will be difficult to pick out any important emails.

It’s ridiculous that the this app developers haven’t fixed this problem. Even tiny obscure email clients with a single developer have better UI, and they at least respond to complaints. this app is clearly not interested in addressing the problem.

Update May 2021:

I originally wrote this review about a year ago, and I received a response that email grouping was in the works and would be implemented in a future update. Well, a year later, this app still doesn’t have the very basic, essential feature that every other mail service has.

The word “feature” doesn’t even sound right. Is grouping text messages by contact really a “feature” on my iPhone? No, it’s expected. There’s not a phone on the market where you have to scroll through all of your text messages to pick out individual replies to read a conversation with someone.

by Dave143739

Putting such a short time limit on users to upgrade their storage to 1GB by finishing an arbitrary checklist is incredibly disrespectful and demanding. People have things going on and many users will not meet the time limit for valid reasons. For this app to not understand that, shows that it is not the equitable, accepting, inclusive company it claims to be. For example, the Google community would be outraged if Gmail gave all users one month to upgrade and then segregated the father undergoing chemo, the depressed student drowning in school work, and the stressed single mother of three into permanent inferior accounts. The time limit is immoral if it is permanent. It is basically saying “screw your chemo, screw your depression, screw your stress. Give us money for something other accounts get for free because you could not log in for a month.” This policy is honestly disgusting. Companies that treat their users like tools to be used and manipulated do not last. Good companies don’t find ways to divide, segregate, and alienate users into account castes before they’ve even been able to decide if they want to become a paid user. I reached out to customer support but they basically told me it wasn’t their problem and I should have prioritized their useless checklist over something serious that was going on in my life.

by Sefarad18

I paid for the plus account and although I was charged it never worked. The support staff was dismissive and unhelpful. I decided to seek a refund from apple and just use my 5 accounts (allowed on app) on my laptop. Then out of the blue and for no reason whatsoever they suspended all five accounts. Mind you I use these for business and had several messages I was waiting for responses on. Suffice to say ProtonMail and this app are both UNRELIABLE. Do not waste your time on ProtonMail or service.

ProtonMail and mail service is at best helpful for shady characters and NOT for legitimate business operations. Unless you want your business’s brand damaged when your accounts disappear. You’ve been warned. In response to your response I did provide the receipt to this app and you ignored it.

My 5 accounts were to be used with my PAID account (order ID mkqqyysnf2) on Sep 17th. Trying to pretend otherwise on ProtonMail store reviews is disingenuous at best. I reiterate this is NOT a service that is reliable enough to be used for legitimate business purposes.

by Hsgsbrnd

I had this vpn for years and I also had express vpn before this one but it is more expensive but I don’t know why by itself it will turn off without me manually doing it. At least once a week I look to see if my vpn is connected and the majority of the time it’s not and ALSO need to reconfigure it he settings on my iPhone. I never had this problem where the vpn would turn off by itself without letting u even know. Vpn privacy is problem great I seriously wouldn’t know but I what I do know is if your not connected the privacy doesn’t matter. Express vpn never did that for me or make me passcode to reconnect the vpn every other day. It makes no sense to even have it if it doesn’t run all the time without me babysitting it. I mainly use it for public Wi-Fi within 2-4 days it will turn off and make me log in every week. 2-3 years it has always done this. Will not renew membership even tho it was a great deal but if it doesn’t stay on I rather kick rocks and not even have one…
Also it has gotten more frequent turning of on it own.

by RJudeWade

I recommended ProtonMail/service—to many of my friends, based on its public stated credo and no longer can—having done so to THE NICEST PERSON I KNOW—she contacted me saying she—terminated her account with “this app” and opened another—and was IMMEDIATELY sent a message (mansplaining) internet ABUSE and that “this app” may terminate her account (she did this trying to get an address similar to the one she was replacing from another service). This is on the same day that her long standing email was high-jacked and all her contacts and mail deleted and sent scam spam (hundreds of friends and colleagues received emails—myself included). I recommended this app trying to give her a positive approach to a catastrophic occurrence. It’s one thing to only allow one free account-it’s another to not allow an individual to change it (which might be done for a myriad of reason). This ironically occurred on the same day that I was going to subscribe and donate (despite the all too apparent lack of diversity on their team—one token women which explains the heavy handed tone in a first email to a new client). If this is how they communicate with new clients I’m glad I didn’t get in any deeper with them. Like most tech companies they are only great when everything is working, but woe to the person who has an issue and expects to be treated both civilly and as an individual.

by Milzc

I’ve been using Prtnmail for a while, and it has recently been brought to my attention that I haven’t been able to send emails to specific secure emails, namely to my Credit Union Financial Operations (finops) and to the Claims Adjuster of my insurance company. Additionally, I can’t use my this app email address as my primary email address for my bank account, as they don’t allow anonymous email addresses to be used by their customers.

Is/are there ways to get around my issues I’m experiencing? These are important emails, and I wasn’t aware that they didn’t go through until I had contacted the aforementioned companies to follow-up with my emails. Had I not contacted my Credit Union, I would not have known that my email message didn’t get received by the finops department of my Credit Union. On the other hand, I did receive an email alert immediately after attempting to send my message to the Claims Adjuster stating that my message failed to deliver.

Can somebody at this app lend me assistance or explain the reason(s) as to why my messages aren’t going through? How can I resolve this issue? This is a deal-breaker for me, and I’ll need to find a secure email server that I can use for more consistency/reliability. It makes me wonder whether or not other important email messages I had “sent” were actually sent to the recipient(s).

by Steve The Geek

I’ve been on a paid plan for several months and highly recommend this app, the service, in general. It does what it’s supposed to do, and the privacy focus is first rate. However, this iOS app suffers from two defects— one an actual security risk if unnoticed by a user, and one merely annoying.

The serious defect is in the PIN/TouchID feature to lock ProtonMail . I use the PIN option (leaving TouchID disabled) and it usually works well enough, but from time to time I’ll open ProtonMail and it immediately shows my Inbox without a PIN. I contacted this app support about this, and was asked if the problem occurred after an app update. I couldn’t determine that, as I have my phone set to auto-update apps. The only workaround is to logout of ProtonMail entirely. My other apps with PIN lock features have maintained that setting for years, across major app upgrades.

The annoying defect, as others have noted, is the lack of notification synchronization across devices with this app apps logged into the same account. If I read a new email message on one device, the badge on the other device’s app icon still indicates the unread message. This is by no means a deal breaker, but it should be fixed for a polished experience.

by Wlh2

Very pleased with the email and vpn services. Recently bought a visionary plan to try out a year in hopes of migrating all my domains emails under proton. While the web email works perfect and the iOS apps function ok, I have a big qualm with the UI of ProtonMail for iOS.

The left column sidebar has this huge separate area, that does not appear to be moveable or collapsible, that lists link to settings, bug reporting, log out, and more. This utility section separates the main mail inbox, trash, archive, etc., from the user designated folders and labels, thus requiring scrolling past the utility section to see folders. It’s an annoyance, folders should be with folders. You can see what I’m talking about in the 3rd preview pic.

On the web based, this is not the case, and user creates folders & labels are right under main inbox, trash, etc. this is the way it should be, folders in the mailbox section. I really wish this would be fixed to be either the same layout as web based, or maybe user configurable.

Rarely do I need settings or bug reporting, but I use folders and labels multiple times a day for different emails and organizing, and the current app makes this not very cohesive layout.

Maybe nit picky, but I am not sure I’d be able to deal with moving all my emails to the service if ProtonMail keeps this layout. I’d be bummed as proton supports folders and labels for emails, which I love.

by Mppkll

The service is fantastic, in fact I am a subscribing customer and an so glad to have shed my spyware e-mail accounts. The iOS app was never great but it was adequate, the latest version released 4/8/22 is horrible. It has this “Conversation” mode “feature” much like the focused inbox thing in Outlook that groups e-mails together from the same sender/subject. I know that many people might love this but I hate it! ProtonMail also removes the past messages in the tread from the chronological listing in the inbox so only the latest message shows, I REALLY HATE THIS! Often I go looking for something I know I got 2 weeks ago but someone in the thread sent a message later so the message from person A from 2 weeks ago is missing and you have to open the one from Person B a day ago to find the one from Person A, Aggghhhh! Just give us options! Many people like that style but some don’t. Please give us a way to turn this off. I hate this so much that I’m trying to figure out how to reinstall the old version.

by NicknameElizabeth

I like proton mail except for the silly “All Mail” box which seems to store things I thought I deleted. ProtonMail doesn’t allow you to bcc yourself on all messages automatically which is something I started doing a while ago. So I find it annoying. So when I try to clear out my inbox and clear out all mail, I delete my sent messages that I hadn’t filed and lose all record unless I filed a response to the message I sent. I can learn new habits I suppose, but I wish ProtonMail allowed me to say I always want to bcc or cc myself.

PS: the developer responded to my silly “all mail” comment. They like the box. But here is the issue. I use thunderbird. I go in and delete all junk and trash. However those messages stay in the all mail box. To get rid of them altogether, I have to delete the messages in the all mail box. But when I do that, it deletes all my sent messages. So deletion works one way from trash and junk but two ways from sent mail.

by Swinebone091516

All in all, I love this app. I appreciate their mission to promote encryption and secure services through email and how they value privacy over all else. I’ve been a user for a professional email account for over 2 years and it’s rare that I’ve had any problems with the iOS app or the web app. When I do have problems, it’s usually relatively easy to report them and get them fixed in an update.

One thing that I would appreciate, however, is some more perks and creature comforts associated with the iOS app. For example, the ability to schedule emails would be great. Equally, I’d love it if notifications synced between devices. I understand that this app’s main focus is security and privacy (which I wholeheartedly appreciate) but it’d be great if they could compete a bit more with services like Gmail or Outlook.

by JeffTPharmD

TLDR version: great app/service for the price. App could use some creature comforts from an app like Spark or Airmail.

It does what it advertises and does so at a fair price, especially if paired with their VPN product. In my opinion it works best when paired with something like gmail for the items where security isn’t as critical. That way you’re not missing out on the convenience of google for certain items (family calendars or contact sync to iDevices for example), at least until Proton is able to provide solutions for those use cases.

Only suggestions to make this mail app better would be to have a one touch option for archiving a message on the screen when I read a message. Currently one must either call press to open the menu bar further then again the archive, or press the folder button at the top then choose the folder and press apply. The second functionality improvement would be use of share sheet or at least ability to export a message as a pdf. Every now and then it’s nice to be able to forward an email to someone as a text and export to pdf makes that happen easily.

The other suggestions are cosmetic only, and that is more color schemes, at least a light and dark would be nice and the option to use other app icons. The lock is nice but they also have the various proton logos that would work well too.

by VC Fan

It seems that Face ID is not working to login to ProtonMail . I’ve tried multiple times by first logging in manually and then enabling Face ID.

But every time I logout and then try to log back in, Face ID is not initiated. I login manually again and see that Face ID is disabled. I enable it again, but it goes back to being disabled every time I close ProtonMail .

Is the Face ID function only for access when ProtonMail is logged in, or is it designed to allow fore using Face ID to login when initially opening ProtonMail ?

Reply to developer: I saw your reply and do not agree because after three days of trying, ProtonMail will now allow me to login with Face ID. I don’t know what changed in ProtonMail , but I just kept doing the same thing. I have now installed the this app App on my wife’s phone and Face ID is working properly too. Increased my rating from 3 to 4 stars.

Update #2: thanks for replying back to feedback so quickly! No, I did not need to choose or select any keychain or password icon. When ProtonMail is completely closed (swiping up from the bottom, on both an iphone X and XS Max, to close the this app app), then pressing the PM icon only once to open ProtonMail : FaceID now comes up immediately and after correct recognition, the PM app is unlocked and accessible. It was not like this when I first installed ProtonMail , but now it works this way.

by Wetfrog

I love proton services and all that they do, especially in these days. I use other proton services and use proton mail online which is very nice. Regarding ProtonMail, it’s just OK. Not like the online service but OK. I would give proton five stars but for this particular app I’m knocking a star, I would actually knock more stars off but I realize that this mail app is in it’s just beginning form. My big issue is that I am visually impaired and it’s extremely difficult to see what’s on the screen because the Mail app uses tiny fonts. Plus it does not follow my iPads fonts settings. It’s stuck on its own tiny tiny fonts. So it makes it very difficult for people with visual issues to see. I just do not get why designers programmers default to such tiny fonts. They must be designing these apps on their phones. Plus ProtonMail seriously needs a dark mode. Hopefully all these will eventually be done and then I can rave about yet another proton app.

by 2 Pac Patron

ProtonMail works pretty well but I’ve run into two issues:

1) No offline access -not sure if this is a security thing or to keep storage use low, but I can’t seem to access any email if I’m not connected to the internet, even if it’s just a text-based message or I’d opened it a few minutes before.

2) Password Protection/Touch ID glitch: You can secure access to ProtonMail by requiring a custom PIN or TouchID entry to open it. I set it to accept both, however ProtonMail keeps spamming the touchID prompt, effectively making it impossible to enter the PIN. When you dismiss the TouchID option, it immediately pops back up. Can’t confirm if later model iphones have the FaceID option for ProtonMail and if this glitch exists for that method as well. Developers: please address these issues!

by HeySRI

this app is an excellent service for both the privacy conscious and the masses. The reason so many email providers are free is because it the provider is in a privileged position to scan all of your emails. this app sets itself apart from the rest, and doesn’t read your email, or store it in a format that they can access.

I would highly recommend a paid plan, even if you don’t need any paid features. Pay for your usage with your money, not your data.

However, the absence of one feature makes the this app experience painful (-1 star): No notification dismissal syncing. If I read an email on my iPad, it will still show the notification on my phone until I open ProtonMail . Almost every other mail/chat app has notification dismissal syncing, but when I asked this app about implementing this feature, they said it was not possible. If they found a way to add this feature (and it’s possible considering other services can do it), then this service would be a true 5 stars.

by Jclark345

I appreciate having secure email that values my privacy. As such I upgraded to the paid version and installed the bridge so I could sync it with outlook on my desktop (this feature is not yet available for mobile but we are told it’s under development). The purpose of this review is to request some simple features that would improve efficiency. I would like the ability to click on a folder marked Unread as a way to filter these emails and find them more quickly. Also I have seen screenshots at review sites that showed an email preview but haven’t been able to configure a preview of email while viewing the list of all emails. It’s a much faster way of skimming through all the emails we get deluged with daily. Was this feature lost inadvertently during a prior update?

by Such A Fan Of Protonmail

I am a basic user of email. I had been with Yahoo Mail for as many years as it’s been around. The incessant boring into my brain of advertisements ruined the interface for me and cost me any trust at all in the security of my emails. Proton mail fixed everything that I found depressing about Yahoo! Mail.

it’s simple and easy to use; it’s free; the clarity and cleaner layout for me are phenomenal, and I “sleep better“ because of the security provisions.

I actually look forward to going in this app just because I’m not gonna be bombed with ads all the time. I’m going to upgrade to the premium version not because I need it but because I want to support the hard-working people who make this app happen. Rock on!

by Chief Bruno

If you value security and privacy use this app. Even the free accounts are private and secure. They do not sell your information or scan your emails for keywords to send ads. I have both a free account and a paid account and they both work great. I have been using this app for a few years now and I love it. ProtonMail features are fine. It has all the necessary features plus security and privacy. Some people are too picky they want an app that covers everything and I don’t think there is an e-mail app that has every feature and still keep you info private and secure. I’ve read some of the reviews, and I have not had any issue with crashes or glitches. Some reviews don’t sound like they are about ProtonMail. Not sure what some people are doing.

by Anthony Richard

Initially, I downloaded this application for sending contracts and sensitive financial data, but I have completely converted over. I’ve used Spark for years, and Airmail as well, so I was used to over-the-top features and loads of automated mailboxes and various pins, flags, etc.

Proton is simplistic and minimalist in aesthetic, and when you first start toying with it, it may seem a bit underwhelming. HOWEVER, once you create some labels and folders, link your business email and all the normal “set-up” that goes along with adopting a new application, its simplicity is its strongest advantage. No more do I feel overwhelmed and under informed by what is in my mailbox. I don’t feel like I need to spend all this time setting up automations and remembering color codes (because Proton uses WORDS+COLORS! Simple thing, yet so helpful).

Overall, it’s just streamlined my workflow, taken away the clutter, and simplified my mailbox life. Something I was in desperate need of! Try it, give it a chance, and I promise you won’t regret it.

by Linkedinuser1244

While the iPhone app is a great idea it does not support font scaling or minimum size fonts which makes it completely unusable by people with low vision. Emails are presented in browser like windows with tiny unreadable font although with ability to zoom with 2 fingers but then you have to move the message around to read it. In 2019 considering all the technical achievements and coding advances such a setup is unacceptable. I d love to use this service but this is a show stopper which is extremely unfortunate and disappointing. I got a standard reply from their customer service they are “working on it” but how hard can it be to implement it after so many years in the business? So, great idea but very disappointing implementation.

by Mick Gator Fan

In version 1.11.6, I just tried to copy & paste a macOS Terminal command in an email and discovered that the "\" character gets dropped! Naturally, the command failed until I put back all the dropped "\" characters. (In case the character is being dropped from this review, it's the mirror image of "/".) I don't know if this is a new bug or has been there before.
this app itself is generally very useful.
ProtonMail still needs a few features to make managing email easier, such as ability to select multiple messages from a filtered list to delete or move to a folder. I would settle for a bulk move of the filtered results to a new folder where I can then do my selections. The ability to filter by date range would be useful, too.

by SS-MM-00

Paid user for over 2 years.

Great construction, great premise but in my opinion it’s unusable in iOS without conversation grouping and a number of other design weaknesses currently make it unappealing against all the services it’s competing with.

Something as simple as scrolling through emails feels unfamiliar. The scrolling experience is different than anything else in iOS. Typography and use of color is weak and makes things hard on the eyes. Email header design looks shrunken. Organization is lacking support for sub folders. No dark mode. The list goes on and the company is slow to improve so far - albeit I understand their focus on security slows them down and I prefer this but the UX needs to be dramatically improved over the next several years in order to remain relevant.

I’ll continue support for the time being with the hopes that will happen but the web beta of v4.0 is not particularly inspiring. At the moment it looks like a new shade of purple against large white spaces again with just some new icons that are placed slightly differently.

I think the design would be much much better off if it adhered to the iOS design language. It’s so far from a normal iOS experience that it doesn't accomplish its most basic goal - appeal to the average iPhone user.

by Kimalah

I like using Proton to encrypt my emails, and it works great for me on Mac. However, in the two months I’ve had ProtonMail on my iPhone (always keeping iOS updated to the most recent), I have had to delete and reinstall three times. ProtonMail stops opening for me. I try to open, it shows it is loading for a couple of seconds, and then crashes.

When I reported the issue, I was told to update my iOS, which I had stated in my submission was done before sending the bug report. The alternative offered was to join the Beta. I am not comfortable with participating in Beta testing. Otherwise, there was nothing else to offer. I am not happy with this response as it seems others use ProtonMail without this issue and give 5 star ratings. I gave 3 stars because when it works, it’s great. But until this issue I am experiencing is fixed, there will be no improvement in my rating.

by GhettoSavageSkylar

I lProtonMail is an excellent service for both the privacy conscious and the masses. The reason so many email providers are free is because it the provider is in a privileged position to scan all of your emails. this app sets itself apart from the rest, and doesn't read your email, or store it in a format that they can access.

However, I have more than one this app account and having to log off one account and log in the other is a hassle.

I request for this app to support having more than one account can be logged in on ProtonMail at the same time and be easily be able to switch between accounts.

by Baron Von Snek

I've been a paid subscriber for a while and ProtonMail works almost perfectly with the following exceptions:

1. No option for threaded view of messages (something that the web app does support and is sorely missed here)

2. Sometimes the inbox doesn't refresh automatically when a new email notification is triggered. I.e., I'll get a notification of a new mail, tap the notification to check it, open ProtonMail , and see no new emails in the inbox. I'll have to manually refresh to see it.

3. After refreshing the inbox to see new mail as in #2, tapping the new message to read it doesn't work for a moment or two. I usually ends up tapping two or three times in my impatience

4. This one is not specific to ProtonMail , but the service. It's not clear how much of my data is stored with zero-access encryption. It seems that the contents of emails are, but that senders/recipients and subject lines aren't. When I use the search feature in the web app, my search query is sent to the API and it returns a list of messages with subjects or senders that match my query. If the API can search that data, then it must not be zero-access encrypted. This was a bit surprising to me. I'd like to see these details spelled out more explicitly.

by Toieo

I don't do many reviews and I actually came to the reviews for help. I'm having an issue and I hope to hear from the devs about it.

I'm really tired of getting auto-logged out. I understand it's for my protection but once logged in, I should be able to use touchID as identity verification.

Here's the reason this matters. I don't know my password. I use an offline password manager and getting the password can be a tedious process especially if I'm out and about. For those of us who take security seriously, password managers are a must and when combined with a secure email, I feel much better.

However, not be able to use my account at will is a real pain. Please, devs, add in a feature to touchID authenticate once I've logged in, I don't mind entering my 2fa once a day or something but touchID needs to substituted for a password once the correct password has been entered at least once.

Other than that gripe, ProtonMail has been great. I agree with another reviewer that swipe to spam was annoying but there's been an update to change that.

by Nethik

I moved my custom domain from GSuite to this app mostly due to privacy and security concerns. this app as a service is solid and reliable. I love it so far. The this app iOS app (as of the time of this review) is a bit sparse in terms of features, but it’s reliable and I haven’t had any issues. this app is a solid option for those looking to take their data protection seriously.

Currently, ProtonMail is lacking some basic features that I’ve come to expect from a typical email app. For example, a calendar (which the team is currently working on), dark mode, and the ability to switch between multiple accounts without having to log in and out. I look forward to when the team finally to rolls out some of these quality of life features.

by Jdennis27

I love this app! I’ve been a paid subscriber for several years and a user of the iOS app since it’s inception, and I am very happy with the quality of service, friendly UI, and focus on privacy and security.

That said, I’d love to see just one or two changes. First of all, the preview notification of emails only shows the Title field. I have no problem with not showing a preview of the body of the email, but I would love to know who the email was from! If the sender would pop up in the notification, it would be perfect. Maybe there’s a way to do this, but I’ve looked and haven’t seen anything.

Secondly, as an admitted Apple fanboy, I would also love to see an Apple Watch app for checking messages quickly or when I’m away from my phone/desktop. Now I’m not super technical but I’m sure there’s some technical thing with privacy and encryption and whatnot and displaying messages on the Apple Watch, but it’s still something that I would like to see if at all possible.

Other than those suggestions, ProtonMail and this app are about as perfect as email can get. I whole-heartedly recommend it to everyone!

by WolfDenThomas

I had done a lot of research on various different companies that had end to end encryption and came across this company about a year ago. At beginning it was a little getting use to how it works but once I did I loved it and still do.

One thing that would be nice; however due to end-to-end encryption (I truly love this company) I’m not sure possible; is to be able to open two email address that I own in ProtonMail . Not necessarily at same time but rather be able to switch between two addresses.

If not possible I would completely understand I would much rather have the satisfaction of knowing that my data is safe which is what I currently have using Proton Mail. Awesome app!! Nicely done guys.

by Jordancrane

Update: the issue I mention below has been remedied in the latest update. Thanks devs!

Overall I’m happy with this app - they’ve got a nice app and provide a secure service. However, I really wish swiping left on a message in the inbox screen would send the message to archive instead of spam. I don’t know about others, but I hardly ever get spam, it seems like an infrequently needed feature to be given such prime UI real estate. Archiving on the other hand I do all the time to keep my inbox uncluttered, and I have to invoke the drop down menu to do it. Anyways, I would still recommend this service, but would like to see that feature changed.

by WhereIsTheUnsubOption

I am an American & my family was here in 1660, long before there was an America. America is a Constitutional Republic, is not, never has been and NEVER WILL BE a democracy. We have democratic representation ONLY.
I have used Proton Mail for years and then got the mobile app. Have not had any issues til today which is what led me here and read the snarky review by an ignorant person who spouts off about America, so excuse the sidetrack!
Today when I click ProtonMail on my iPhone 8, I go to my acct but when I click on the email to read it, ProtonMail closes.
My phone software is up to date as is the PM app so maybe the developer has an idea of what is happening?
Thanks