Howard

Howard is a mail client that notifies you about incoming messages on your personal account. You will receive subtle visual and audio notification whenever someone sends you a message, and you will have the chance to check it on the spot.

The program installs as a small icon placed on the system's upper bar, changing its color from blue to red at each incoming e-mail. At this moment, the Mac edition of the tool supports only Outlook.com and Gmail.com. Other web-mail services stated on the developers' official site seem to be available strictly for the Windows version. Therefore, Mac users who have accounts with other mail providers other than the two I already mentioned will not be able to benefit from Howard's services.

Supposing you are an Outlook or a Gmail registered user, you need to log in to the corresponding account in order to be notified of incoming messages. As I anticipated in the introductory paragraph, both visual and audio alerts will inform you whenever a new e-mail is received. What is great about this tool is that you have the ability to select a favorite sound alert – namely, you may select one of the sound profiles provided by the program or you are free to choose your favorite track. Furthermore, you have the ability to determine a regular time interval for checking the receipt of new e-mails, or you may perform a manual check any moment you want. To view the messages you've just received, you need to install another mail client or you may just use the Mac's Mail App, which works just fine.

The program runs well, as it performs the task for which it was created – therefore, you receive the notifications at the time intervals you've set, so that you can be aware of incoming messages at your convenience. However, I consider that there is room for improvement with the Mac version of Howard. It offers support for only two mail providers and for just one account for each mail server. In other words, if you have multiple accounts on Outlook or on Gmail, you won’t be able to check them all at once.