If you use the Duobox webmail, you can now install it as an app: its own icon on the home screen or in the dock, its own window, and no app store in the way. And the installed app keeps working when the connection drops.
How to install it
There's nothing to download from a store. You install it from the browser, signed in to the webmail:
- iPhone or iPad: in Safari, tap Share and then Add to Home Screen. The webmail reminds you above the list.
- Android: the webmail offers Install above the list; otherwise it's in Chrome's three-dot menu.
- Computer: in Chrome or Edge, the install icon in the address bar.
The Duobox icon stays, and tapping it opens your mail in its own window, without the browser bar. On iPhone the installed app doesn't share its session with Safari, so the first time it asks you to sign in.
What it keeps on the device
The installed app keeps a copy of your mail on the device:
- The list for the last 30 days, across every folder. That's why it opens instantly and switching folders doesn't wait for the server.
- The content of the mail you've already opened, plus the 20 newest in the Inbox, downloaded ahead of time.
The copy keeps itself current: when something arrives or changes, it asks only for what changed, not the whole list.
A browser tab keeps nothing on disk. Its copy lives in memory and goes away when you close the tab, because a shared computer has no business holding on to your mail. Signing out deletes the installed app's copy.
Offline
When the connection drops, Offline. You're seeing what was already on this device. shows at the top and the app carries on:
- Reading: the list and everything stored opens as usual.
- Sorting: archiving, deleting, marking as read or labeling shows right away and is sent when the connection is back.
- Writing: the mail you send waits in the Outbox, in the sidebar, and goes out on its own when the connection is back.
A mail in the Outbox is never sent twice, even if it's retried: each one carries its own identifier and the server recognizes the one it already sent.
What needs the server does wait: searching, opening a mail older than 30 days you never opened, scheduling a send, or approving a proposal from the agent.
When there's a new version
The app updates itself, without going through any store. When there's a new version, There's a new version. shows at the bottom with Reload: it won't change the screen under you halfway through a mail.