While the popularity of Outlook overall is on the decline, older versions of the desktop client-which also happen to have better HTML and CSS support-are being phased out in favor of newer versions. Outlook for the desktop has shown signs of decline since early in 2015, and opens are down 27% overall this year.

Version 5.x (Lollipop) grew in popularity while variations on Android 4.x (such as Ice Cream Sandwich and KitKat) declined. Android users also steadily adopted newer versions of the platform over the year. Gmail users may just prefer a better email reading experience. The Gmail app for iOS and Android each have notoriously poor support for responsive design, which can lead to a frustrating experience for users. The fall in Gmail opens and subsequent rise of iPhone and Android opens may suggest users of the Gmail app are switching back to the native email apps on these phones. Gmail users may be frustrated with mobile experience While we can’t break down those Gmail opens to see if the fall is coming from web or mobile, another data point to note is the massive increase in Android opens over the year-a total rise of 31% in 2015. That’s why it’s all the more surprising to see Gmail opens take such a hit. Remember, ever since Gmail began caching images in 2013, you can’t tell the difference between web-based and mobile opens on the Gmail app. IPhone continues to be popular, growing nearly 20% over the course of the year, whereas Gmail took a bit of a dive, dropping 9%. Webmail and desktop opens have also steadily declined throughout 2015, each dropping 13% since January.Ĭomparing the top ten from January to November’s top ten, we’ll see the biggest changes in iPhone, Gmail, Android and Outlook: This matches trends we’ve seen in prior years where consumers are more likely to rely on portable devices going into the holiday season. In the second half of 2015, opens made on mobile devices surged, going from 49% in June to 54% in November-a 10% increase. IPhone, Gmail, and iPad remained the top 3 email clients all year

While some things remained the same-the top three email clients in January were still the top three in November-there was some drama along the way. We tracked nearly 1 billion emails every month throughout 2015, measuring where and how your messages are opened around the world. As another year wraps up, email is still reminding us that nothing in this industry is boring, despite what some naysayers would like to have us think!

Best email clients 2015