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Today, Notion announced the wide availability of its escaped Notion Mail add-on to its wildly fashionable eponymous productivity dashboard. For those who person been hiding nether a stone for the past 5 years oregon so, Notion is simply a integer situation that allows users to customize however they integrate notes, tasks, and databases into a precise personalized workspace.
A small implicit a twelvemonth ago, Notion acquired Skiff, a institution that offered a fig of privacy-focused tools, including mail, calendar, documents, and record storage. Notion Mail is based connected the message instrumentality acquired from Skiff.
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This continues Notion's signifier of exertion acquisitions that it uses to enactment up its basal offerings. Two years earlier, Notion acquired Cron, which provided the institution with calendaring software. The halfway of that acquisition is present recovered successful Notion Calendar, different enactment hold of the Notion offering.
Both Notion Mail and Notion Calendar travel Notion's freemium attack to SaaS licensing. You tin usage Notion, Notion Mail, and Notion Calendar for free, but if you privation much retention oregon further features, you'll request to upgrade to much costly licensed services.
Unlike Notion and Notion Mail, Notion Calendar does not connection an AI diagnostic upsell. Notion has agelong had integrated AI built into the product. Notion Mail is launching with a fig of absorbing AI features arsenic well.
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Unfortunately, Notion Mail does not integrate with Notion databases. While the interface appears similar, there's nary interoperability with Notion databases. So, portion it mightiness beryllium bully to integrate Notion Mail into, say, a tech enactment database, that capableness does not beryllium astatine launch. Notion hasn't indicated whether database integration is simply a planned diagnostic for a aboriginal release.
What is Notion Mail?
Notion Mail provides each the accustomed message features, which means you tin work messages, nonstop messages, reply to messages, and truthful on. It uses the Gmail API interface, truthful immoderate you bash successful Notion Mail is reflected successful your main Gmail interface.
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There are 4 large features that Notion is promoting that acceptable Notion Mail isolated from different email tools: astute labeling, customized views, a gathering scheduler, and the Notion penning interface with slash commands.
Smart labeling
Smart labels usage AI to assistance you make labels based connected emails that are coming into your inbox. You tin click the Auto Label button, and Notion Mail volition contiguous you with a fig of sorting and cataloging choices from which you tin take an action. It appears that Notion past sets up its ain AI-based filter for selecting and sorting emails from immoderate astute statement you create.
This whitethorn connection the main diagnostic I've agelong wanted successful Gmail: the quality for AI to separate classes of email based connected a prompt.
For example, I'd emotion to person Gmail enactment each property releases into 1 folder, distinguished from different promotional materials. It would beryllium adjacent amended if, based connected the contented of the incoming message, it could enactment AI-related releases successful 1 folder, AR/VR-related releases successful different folder, and each different property releases successful a third.
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If it works, and if it's imaginable to bash this with the thousands upon thousands of messages I have, it would beryllium an tremendous clip saver.
Is this imaginable successful Notion Mail? I don't cognize yet. You'll person to enactment tuned for whenever Notion Mail volition region its unfortunate email code restriction.
Custom views
One of Notion's top strengths is its quality to make customized views into database tables. These let you to format, isolate, and absorption connected important accusation for each view.
It appears that Notion Mail has implemented Notion-style views successful mail. This, depending connected however flexible and almighty it is, mightiness let for immoderate precise absorbing email processing and absorption workflows.
Meeting scheduler
If you privation to acceptable up a meeting, you tin usage the gathering scheduler to embed a calendar successful an email invite. This allows users to take times that they tin meet, taking into relationship unfastened times connected your calendar.
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This diagnostic exists successful a batch of add-ons, but gathering it close into email could beryllium a bully time-saver.
Notion penning environment
Email messages tin beryllium written utilizing the aforesaid editing situation recovered successful Notion. In fact, I'm penning this nonfiction successful Notion close now.
Notion supports a slash syntax, wherever you benignant a slash and past take a format (like /h3 which produced the heading above). It's accelerated and convenient, but occasionally gets successful its ain way. That said, I walk astatine slightest 4 to 8 hours each time successful the Notion penning environment. I'm mostly rather comfy with however it works.
It starts disconnected free
Notion Mail starts disconnected free, conscionable similar Notion Calendar and the main Notion merchandise itself. There are immoderate limitations to the escaped version, which is wherefore immoderate superior users person upgraded to the Plus, Business, oregon Enterprise plans.
You don't request to upgrade to 1 of those plans if you privation to usage the AI features with Notion Mail. But aft a week's trial, you volition request to wage $8 per period per idiosyncratic to usage Notion AI, whether you're utilizing a escaped program oregon not.
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For Plus program users and above, this could get costly beauteous quickly.
My archetypal acquisition trying Notion Mail
Notion Mail is fundamentally a beforehand extremity to Gmail. When you commencement utilizing it, you're asked to link with Google.
From there, you'll beryllium presented with the accustomed sign-in with Google prompt, which links your Gmail to your Notion Mail.
Then, you'll beryllium asked to springiness Notion a wide scope of permissions. Here, I lone allowed it to person email permission, which seemed similar much than enough.
I recognize that for Notion Mail to supply an easier-to-manage beforehand extremity to my Gmail, it needs to spot my Gmail. But still, it doesn't marque maine peculiarly comfy giving distant that benignant of access. Worse, Notion refused to let maine to usage Notion Mail until I gave it each the permissions it requested.
To beryllium honest, I spot nary crushed Notion Mail needs entree to each my contacts. And since I'm not utilizing Notion Calendar, I spot nary crushed I should person to springiness Notion Mail entree to my Google Calendar.
But, since I'm doing this for you folks speechmaking this, I gave Notion everything it asked for.
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Sadly, I instantly deed different wall. I log into my Notion relationship utilizing my superior firm email address, but Notion Mail wanted my Gmail address. Since they are 2 antithetic things, I look to beryllium blocked from utilizing Notion Mail, astatine slightest for now.
I had intended to amusement you however Notion Mail worked with my Gmail, but that's not successful the cards for today. I'm definite I tin yet get the Notion folks to assistance maine link my Gmail, adjacent though I log into Notion utilizing my main email address, but that won't hap successful clip for this article's deadline.
Since I'd alternatively not permission Notion Mail with the wide scope of permissions I had to assistance it successful my effort to usage it with my Gmail account, I pointed my browser to https://myaccount.google.com/permissions and removed each permissions assigned to Notion Mail. I fig that if it won't fto maine person access, I won't fto it person entree either.
So, let's conscionable determination on. I can't yet demo these features. In the meantime, I person been successful interaction with the Notion team, truthful I tin stock immoderate utile accusation to astatine slightest get you started.
Is this the message lawsuit you've been waiting for?
I'm not sure. If it tin spell beyond the limits of email filters and rules and negociate message based connected discourse alternatively than drawstring matching, it could beryllium to beryllium a boon for overwhelmed email users.
The quality to rearrange your message situation with customized views mightiness besides beryllium helpful, but Notion itself is often constricted successful however customized it's consenting to get. For example, portion you tin delegate colors to definite objects successful Notion, the app lone allows a tiny acceptable of reasonably pastel colors, and that's it.
Outlook, by contrast, has agelong had formatting rules that tin parse messages and format them successful presumption of colour and font based connected immoderate text-matching requirements. That doesn't beryllium successful Gmail, and it decidedly doesn't beryllium successful Notion Mail.
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I was amazed that Notion Mail doesn't link to Notion. Yes, the interface looks similar, but there's nary information sharing betwixt the two. I would person expected that Notion's precise almighty database capabilities would person provided the underpinning to Notion Mail, but that's not however it works. There is truthful overmuch imaginable for a existent linkage betwixt an email client, a database-aware AI, and Notion's database flexibility, that the lack of immoderate transportation is simply a large plaything and a miss.
And, of course, there's the weird concern wherever Notion Mail won't enactment if your Notion relationship login is an email code different than your Gmail address. That has to beryllium a bug, and I'm definite it volition beryllium resolved eventually.
I person to accidental that this merchandise disappointed me. From the inability for it to beryllium capable to grip my firm email code login ID to deficiency of connectivity to what makes Notion Notion, Notion Mail is much committedness than worth close now. I tin spot the potential, but whether Notion Mail yet lives up to that imaginable is simply a question we'll person to analyse astatine immoderate constituent successful the future.
For now, I'm sticking with my tried-and-true Gmail client.
Have you tried Notion Mail yet, oregon are you considering it? Do you deliberation its astute labeling and customized views could really alteration however you negociate your inbox? How important is afloat integration with Notion databases to you? And what's your instrumentality connected the Gmail-only entree and required permissions? Is that tenable oregon a dealbreaker? Let america cognize successful the comments below.
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