There are always alternatives to Apple’s native stock iOS app. Sometimes these alternatives are better and provide us with a whole new world of functionality. Sometimes, they’re more than a hassle and are downright hard to use! One main alternative app that has experienced both of these reactions from customers is the Google mail app; which can be used instead of iOS’s stock mail app to retrieve your Google mail.

There have been several different versions of this Google Mail App, but so far none of them have really set the bar for what it means to be an easier, better way to do things as compared to Apple’s Mail App. There is one that comes close though. “Sent” is one man’s way of bringing Google Mail to the iPhone without all of the bugs and shortcomings that Google’s own Mail App brought us. It’s the first alternative app that we’re actually thinking about keeping!

It’s fast, user friendly and looks great on our iPhones. What’s more, it looks and feels like the Google web view, without the downfall of being an HTML 5 app. There is one noticeable problem however that we’d like to see fixed if we’re going to use this app over the stock one… push notifications. Right now, Sent doesn’t support them. So, if you’re like us and forget to check your GMail account every hour, you might get some emails late…

When put up against the iOS stock app, it’s actually a close running for easiest to use. True we’re accustomed to the iPhone app, but Sent makes it easy to transition. For us, the deal breaker is clearly push notifications. But, if you’re someone who can live without them, feel free to shell out the $5 and support a one man development team!