What you need to know
- Newton, the popular email app, may not be going away after all.
- Following the closure of Essential, Newton announced it would be shutting down on April 30.
- We should get a final announcement by April 20.
Don't call it a comeback — call it a comeback x2. On March 26, the official Newton blog was updated with a new post announcing that the company is trying to hold on for dear life. It's a relatively short post, reading in its entirety as follows:
As you may be aware from our previous updates, Newton services will be shutting down on April 30, 2020. However, we are talking to several interested parties to see if they can keep Newton running for longer. We hope to let you know the outcome of the process by April 20. We'll continue to adhere to the privacy policy during this transition period.
It's unclear who those "interested parties" may be, but in any case, it's obvious that Newton is doing what it can to stay afloat.
On February 12, 2020, it was announced that Essential would be shutting down. With Essential having purchased Newton Mail in December 2018, that also meant the end of the line for Newton.
Newton Mail has been through a tremendous amount of ups and downs. The email client used to be one of the most popular around (at least in our little niche of tech journos), but in August 2018, it was announced that development for the app would cease. Things were looking up when Essential acquired the company, but minimal app updates and the general drama surrounding Essential meant things were never quite back to normal.
While part of me is excited to see Newton continue on, another part just wants to see it get the dirt nap it desperately needs. I still firmly believe that Newton is one of the best email clients I've ever used, but it's obvious that most people aren't willing to spend $100/year for something they can do for free.
