But Gmail got me everything I needed until few days ago when I had a need to schedule email to be sent a bit later at the time I knew I won't have any Internet access.
Actual reasons why anyone would need to send delayed message(s) or better to say schedule their dispatch might be various, but this is the point where most (if not all as I'm aware of) web based email services fail to meet user's expectations no matter how rich featured they are. I don't know the real reason(s) as I doubt implementing such feature would be problematic to any provider of free web based service as this feature is available since the first days of email protocol and services. But to avoid further discussions below I'll present you with the solutions I've found to be able to enable sending delayed messages with Gmail and some even other free web email services and applications. They're not rated in any particular way, I rather presented them here as they came out of my head which actually might be interpreted as my subconscious preference to them.
GMAIL DELAY SEND
Gmail Delay Send actually represents user created script which you need to manually install through using Google Documents service available within your Google account. Even you have to manually install it the process itself is quite simple and well documented so you shouldn't encounter any problems with it. Service itself is designed to work by writing a message and saving it as draft with certain string identifier in Subject line. This part is customizable so you can set it to best match your preferences. You can set option to receive reports upon successful delayed sending as well as failed sending attempts. If you need to modify or delete a scheduled message, you can easily do it by going into Drafts and modify whatever you need. The only thing which can't be done by using Gmail Delay Send is scheduling recurring messages (sending of repeated emails). I've came across a note there is a way to accomplish this but you'll need a bit of JavaScript knowledge to make it happen. This service can also be easily uninstalled if you don't like it.
GMAIL DELAY SEND FEATURES:
- (+) works with any web browser (with Gmail only!)
- (+) can be configured to fit users needs (options)
- (+) it is being actively developed (at the moment)
- (+) it is only working straight from your Gmail account (interface)
- (+/-) requires manual installation
- (-) can't be used for scheduling recurring messages
- (+) no information is sent over to 3rd parties (just in case you like to watch over your shoulder from time to time ;-)
VERDICT: This is a very good solution if you only need a basic set of features regarding scheduling email messages sending. This service has my recommendation.
BOOMERANG FOR GMAIL
Another good service for scheduling email messages is Boomerang. It comes in three different flavours - Basic/Free, Personal nad Professional, each offering different set of features. When you sign up you'll start with 30 days free Professional plan trial so you can decide if it's worth paying for or not. Once this period expires you can continue using this service in Basic/Free version which will allow you to send up to 10 scheduled email messages within month and won't be able to use scheduling recurring email messages. It is very hard for me to say if this is a good or bad option, but since all new users start with featured plan, I can only suggest you to try Boomerang and decide if it's good for you or not.
Scheduling email messages with Boomerang is quite simpler that one with Gmail Delay Send and viewing/managing scheduled messages is possible through Boomerang's control panel which is a very nice feature.
BOOMERANG FOR GMAIL FEATURES:
- (+) works with Firefox and Chrome web browsers
- (+) available for Outlook and mobile
- (+) can be used for scheduling recurring messages (only in Professional plan)
- (+) can be configured to fit users needs
- (+) works straight from your Gmail account (interface)
- (+) has a clear control panel to view and manage scheduled messaging
- (+) it is being actively developed (at the moment)
- (+) automatic installation
- (+) available as free and paid service
- (+) information is sent over to 3rd parties via HTTPS - check here for more informations - seems to be fully safe option "Ïn our queries, we only store the headers of the message (subject, sender, time) so that we can uniquely ID the message you want to schedule. We don't store any message text."
- (-) free service offers only 10 free message scheduling actions per month
VERDICT: If you need scheduling recurring messages this service might be a very good choice for you. By my opinion this is by far the best and feature richest schedule email message sending service. Definitely has my recommendation.
LETTERMELATER.COM
LetterMeLater.com is a bit different kind of scheduling email message service. Unlike the previous two described services this one cannot be integrated with Gmail user account (interface) rather it is acting like a pseudo (lookalike or imitating) web email service. This means scheduling email messages is functioning on a principle of sending desired message to your user assigned email at LetterMeLater.com and adding certain predefined email headers to each email message (defined here). These are removed upon receiving email by LetterMeLater.com. Basically you're sending the whole email message to LetterMeLater.com servers for processing and as I look at it they might as well do anything with it (I don't claim here they actually do it). And along with the message text you'll also be transferring recipients email address(es) to their server(s) as well. Even this service is completely free to use and is offering scheduling recurring messages for free too, due to its working principle I'm not keen about using it, but you might want to try it.
LETTERMELATER.COM FEATURES:
- (+) works with any web browser
- (+) available for any email client and mobile
- (+) can be used for scheduling recurring messages for free
- (+) no installation required
- (+) 100% free service
- (-) doesn't work straight from your Gmail account (interface)
- (-) hasn't a clear control panel to view and manage scheduled messaging
- (-) the whole message text is sent over to LetterMeLatter.com
- (--) recipient(s) email addresses are sent to LetterMeLatter.com - very disturbing text to be found in their privacy policy stating "...While attempts are made to secure personal information from public viewing, lettermelater is not responsible for the failure of any such attempts. All information you submit to lettermelater may be accessible to lettermelater owners, employees, partners, or other associates may be viewed or modified by them, or others associated with the operation of lettermelater, for any reason at their sole discretion, including but not limited to: (a) debugging or maintaining the services lettermelater provides and (b) ensuring compliance with the Terms and Conditions."
TIMECAVE
Timecave is a service quite similar to LetterMeLatter.com but with not so many features. Another difference from LetterMeLater.com is you actually must compose emails you want to schedule for sending directly form Timecave server which actually leaves user with very little options. From what I've seen Rich Text Format and HTML aren't supported at all or better to say only plain text messages are supported. You can access your scheduled messages from a very basic control center. Since its operating principle is very similar to LetterMeLater.com's one I once again share concern about both sender's and recipient's email address(es) as well as message's privacy. For a very small fee this service will enable you to send recurring emails too.
VERDICT: Very simple service with cheap scheduling recurring messages option but still very questionable regarding sender's, recipient's email address(es) and message content, since there is no privacy policy available. My recommendation to you is to avoid this service.
FINAL THOUGHTS
At the end I cannot say if there is a perfect scheduling email messages service, but more important is the fact there are free and paid solutions available to effectively bypass this deficiency from free web mail service providers such as Gmail but other email applications as well. On the other hand if you're looking for a trusted and secure scheduling email message service which will be available straight from your Gmail account choices are narrowed to Gmail Delay Send or Boomerang. If you want to have scheduling email message service accessible from your Gmail account and able to manage scheduling recurring messages you'll have no other choice that to stick with Boomerang. Generally Boomerang is the feature richest service for scheduling regular and recurring email messages.
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