Mail app versus competitors

[Mer0me]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Nextcloud official Mail app is now pretty good, but lacks some major features (imap search, nextcloud users as contacts...). Alternatives exist, but have their own limitations.
There is some sort of frustration because Nextcloud is about to be a game changer in the groupware world, it could certainly be an MS Exchange / Office alternative.

Describe the solution you'd like

Ideally, we should have (at least) one mail client offering all major features needed in a professional environment.

Describe alternatives you've considered

Here is a comparison of 3 mail/groupware solutions usable with a Nextcloud backend :

Features	Nextcloud Mail 2.0.3	SnappyMail 2.19.1	Thunderbird
Nextcloud users as contact	No (!)	Yes	Yes
Nextcloud Contacts	Yes	Yes	Yes
Contacts Avatars	Yes	No	No
Circles	No	No	No
Send from Nextcloud Files App (in the context menu)	No	No	No
Send from Netxcloud Files storage	Yes	Yes	No (unless sync client)
Send link from Nextcloud Files storage	Yes	No	No
Save attachments to Nextcloud Files storage	Yes	Yes	No (unless sync client)
Save individual .EML to Nextcloud Files storage	No (unless sync client)	Yes	No (unless sync client)
Save multiple .EML to Nextcloud Files storage	No	No	No (unless sync client)
Nextcloud theme integration	*****	***	/
Unified search on Subject	Yes	Yes	No
Unified search on Sender	No (only with full email address and from: keyword)	Yes	No
Advanced Search	No (work in progress)	Yes (**)	Yes (*****)
Messages display filter	No	No	Yes
Messages sorting	No	Yes	Yes
.ICS to Nextcloud calendar	Yes	No	Yes
UI speed and responsiveness	**	****	*****
Rich text editing	***	****	*****
Rich text signature	Yes	Yes	Yes
1 signature by identity	No	Yes	Yes
Complex copy/paste from MSWord	No	No	Yes
Local/cloud folders	No	No	Yes (off cloud)
.EML opening from Files App	No	No	Yes
SIEVE Filter /Out of Office	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multiple compose windows	No	No	Yes
Message context menu	No	No	Yes
Junk mail detection	No	No	Yes
Display modes	*	***	*****

Additional context

I hope this contribution can help the community to choose the right solution for their needs and the developers to focus on the most waited improvements

[Extarys]

You can maybe also add:

• Clicking on attachment for viewing

In Mail you must download the attachments before viewing it when reading emails. You cannot open an attachment when you compose to double-check you attached the right file. In Thunderbird, you can do both.

[the-djmaze]

@Extarys then there are multiple features.

• View email attachments
• preview before attach to new message
• preview after attach to new message

And there are so much more features in each.
I also mentioned to Mer0me the differences in handling PGP/MIME and S/MIME because Mailvelope can't do a lot.

Would be nice if everyone could extend the list.

[Extarys]

@the-djmaze hehe you're right. Yesterday I watched a video of Mail 2.0 for Nextcloud 25, and it seems you can now click an attachment to view it when reading emails 💯 I'm waiting for the next iteration of 25 before upgrading though so the contributors have more time to clean a few bugs without me being frustrated 😆

Side note: For EML, I had a family member who is used to Outlook at her previous job and sorts emails by folder directly on her computer, which is smart in a way as it free up space in her mailbox and still can access them years later. Right now I suggested to her to duplicate folders (ie: one folder in her computer for her files related to that person and one folder in Mail and drag-and-drop the emails in the corresponding folder) - Still trying if there is a way for me to configure something to directly download the eml file for her :/

[miaulalala]

For the junk mail detection - we do offer a config option in the backend but you'd have to use your own Spam / Ham endpoint, and you'd also have to configure your junk filter in IMAP.

But the way Thunderbird does Junk filtering is also quite interesting: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-and-junk-spam-messages

[the-djmaze]

Still trying if there is a way for me to configure something to directly download the eml file for her :/

Thunderbird and SnappyMail can. She can even drag/drop the saved EML into a mailbox of them.
I have no clue if Nextcloud Mail can do that too.