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Proton Mail Mac app now in beta, but early access is expensive

A Proton Mail Mac app is now available as a beta, but most users are going to have to wait until early next year to try it – unless you want to hand over $40 per month for a Visionary tier subscription.

At the same time, the secure email company is making some new features available to all users, including auto-forwarding rules – which can decrypt messages for non-Proton users …

Proton Mail Mac app

Proton Mail is a user-friendly way of using PGP encryption to turn emails into end-to-end encrypted communication. It only works when both/all parties are using the app.

It’s currently only available as a mobile app and on the web, but the company is now offering desktop apps for both Windows and Mac.

Proton Mail’s new desktop app gives users the robust encryption of Proton Mail and Proton Calendar, with the convenience of a dedicated desktop app. Available on Windows and macOS, this release means that Proton Mail now has a dedicated app for all major platforms, further underscoring Proton’s commitment to making privacy and security as accessible as possible.

Andy Yen, CEO of Proton, said: “While many people use email on desktop in a browser, desktop apps can still provide certain advantages such as better offline support. For this reason, we have decided to launch a desktop app, something that even Gmail does not provide. Together with our support for third party desktop email apps via Proton Mail Bridge, users now have a complete set of options for how they want to access their encrypted emails on desktop.”

Currently, access to the beta is only available to those on the top tier, known as Proton Visionary. This was originally limited to early adopters – hence the title – but is available to anyone for a stiff subscription of $40/month or $360/year. You can only sign up between now and January 3.

New features, for all platforms

Proton has also announced a range of new features, which are available across mobile, web, and desktop. The headline feature is auto-forwarding rules.

Email auto-forwarding makes Proton the first and only email provider to offer the ability to automatically forward emails while maintaining end-to-end encryption, when used between Proton Mail accounts.

Now, users can set up auto-forwarding rules to enable them to be as productive as possible when collaborating with colleagues, and new support for unencrypted auto-forwarding rules also means that businesses can automate workflows and integrate Proton Mail with applications such as CRMs or customer support software.

Other new features are:

  • Snoozing emails, to deal with them later
  • Attachment previews viewable directly from your inbox
  • Calendar search on the web
  • View public holidays

The Proton Mac app will be available to all subscribers early next year, but the exact date isn’t yet known.

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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