--- title: I replaced Gmail with an email app that finally makes... description: A first-person review of Shortwave, an email client built around the Only Handle It Once (OHIO) philosophy for reaching inbox zero. It covers features like... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-gmail-with-an-email-app-that-finally-makes-inbox-zero-feel-realistic-1spkstc4t twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I replaced Gmail with an email app that finally makes inbox zero feel realistic | daily.dev og:description: A first-person review of Shortwave, an email client built around the Only Handle It Once (OHIO) philosophy for reaching inbox zero. It covers features like... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-gmail-with-an-email-app-that-finally-makes-inbox-zero-feel-realistic-1spkstc4t og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/1sPKSTC4T.png og:image:alt: I replaced Gmail with an email app that finally makes inbox zero feel realistic og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I replaced Gmail with an email app that finally makes inbox zero feel realistic **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A first-person review of Shortwave, an email client built around the Only Handle It Once (OHIO) philosophy for reaching inbox zero. It covers features like AI-generated one-line todos linked to threads, grouping multiple email threads under a single task, customizable Splits for organizing inbox tabs, Bundles for batch-processing related emails, and Delivery Schedules that hold back low-priority messages like newsletters until a chosen time. The author appreciates the organizational AI features but is less enthusiastic about AI-drafted replies and notes privacy concerns since Shortwave may send data to subprocessors like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Pinecone, though it claims not to train third-party models on user data. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is the OHIO (Only Handle It Once) principle in email management? OHIO stands for Only Handle It Once, an email triage principle where instead of opening a message and leaving it for later, you make a decision about it the moment you see it. Emails are sorted into three buckets: no action needed (mark done, delete, or snooze), quick replies handled immediately in under two minutes, or longer tasks converted into a Star or Todo to revisit after triage. _daily.dev surfaces workflow approaches like this for people trying to tame an overflowing inbox._ ### How does Shortwave turn emails into to-dos differently than Gmail? Shortwave lets you select an email and press T to convert it into a to-do, using AI to generate a one-line task summary linked back to the original thread rather than just copying the subject line, which is what Gmail does. Multiple related email threads, such as separate messages about travel, meetings, and logistics for one event, can also be grouped under a single Todo instead of creating several reminders. _developers weighing email tools for task management can track these comparisons on daily.dev._ ### What data privacy concerns exist with using Shortwave's AI features? Shortwave processes emails to power search, threading, labeling, and its AI Assistant, and states that some customer data may be sent to subprocessors including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Pinecone when necessary. The company says data isn't used to train third-party AI models and that most AI workloads run on open-source models on infrastructure it controls, though this still means a third party gains access to sensitive inbox contents. _anyone evaluating AI-powered email tools against privacy tradeoffs can follow this discussion on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [My inbox is so full](https://daily.dev/posts/my-inbox-is-so-full-cqhyifsvt) · Cassidy's blog · 18 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#devtools](https://daily.dev/tags/devtools), [#productivity](https://daily.dev/tags/productivity) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-gmail-with-an-email-app-that-finally-makes-inbox-zero-feel-realistic-1spkstc4t) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I replaced Gmail with an email app that finally makes inbox zero feel realistic","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-gmail-with-an-email-app-that-finally-makes-inbox-zero-feel-realistic-1spkstc4t","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-gmail-with-an-email-app-that-finally-makes-inbox-zero-feel-realistic-1spkstc4t"},"datePublished":"2026-08-30T18:04:45.166Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T08:34:58.987Z","description":"A first-person review of Shortwave, an email client built around the Only Handle It Once (OHIO) philosophy for reaching inbox zero. It covers features like...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/16a8c0b962401fea20c13d9c34ba8b57?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/16a8c0b962401fea20c13d9c34ba8b57?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-gmail-with-an-email-app-that-finally-makes-inbox-zero-feel-realistic-1spkstc4t","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"devtools,productivity","timeRequired":"PT8M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I replaced Gmail with an email app that finally makes inbox zero feel realistic"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-gmail-with-an-email-app-that-finally-makes-inbox-zero-feel-realistic-1spkstc4t#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the OHIO (Only Handle It Once) principle in email management?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"OHIO stands for Only Handle It Once, an email triage principle where instead of opening a message and leaving it for later, you make a decision about it the moment you see it. Emails are sorted into three buckets: no action needed (mark done, delete, or snooze), quick replies handled immediately in under two minutes, or longer tasks converted into a Star or Todo to revisit after triage. daily.dev surfaces workflow approaches like this for people trying to tame an overflowing inbox."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How does Shortwave turn emails into to-dos differently than Gmail?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Shortwave lets you select an email and press T to convert it into a to-do, using AI to generate a one-line task summary linked back to the original thread rather than just copying the subject line, which is what Gmail does. Multiple related email threads, such as separate messages about travel, meetings, and logistics for one event, can also be grouped under a single Todo instead of creating several reminders. developers weighing email tools for task management can track these comparisons on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What data privacy concerns exist with using Shortwave's AI features?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Shortwave processes emails to power search, threading, labeling, and its AI Assistant, and states that some customer data may be sent to subprocessors including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Pinecone when necessary. The company says data isn't used to train third-party AI models and that most AI workloads run on open-source models on infrastructure it controls, though this still means a third party gains access to sensitive inbox contents. anyone evaluating AI-powered email tools against privacy tradeoffs can follow this discussion on daily.dev."}}]} ```