Edison's new email service lets you block senders before they hit your inbox

Edison Software, the company behind the popular Edison email app (that recently suffered from a serious security bug) has unveiled a new privacy-focused email service called OnMail. Arriving in a public beta, it includes features that allow you to cut off senders before they even get to your inbox and stop obnoxious email behavior targeting.

The two headline features are “accept sender” and anti-tracking technology. The first (shown above) displays a list of potential senders and allows you to accept or block them before the messages even hit your inbox. (It also includes unsubscribe and block sender features for any undesirable emails that do get through.)

Meanwhile, the anti-tracking tech will “automatically block all read receipts from ad targeters attempting to monitor your email behavior,” according to Edison. Other features include large attachments starting at 100MB and ranging up to 5GB in size, or “200 times more” than what other services offer. You also get a free domain for a custom email address, split inbox, search and an AI-based assistant that can categorize emails and automatically nudge you to reply.

While OnMail aims to be a privacy oriented email system, Edison’s current iOS app recently deprived some users of their privacy in a spectacular fashion. It suffered from a bug that allowed users to access the inboxes of complete strangers and read their emails without credentials. Edison said the “technical problem” affected a small number of users and quickly reverted the app to an earlier version.

OnMail will be simple and “exceptionally fast,” according to Edison, while coming in a free personal version or three business subscription plans ranging from $5 to $20 per month. The beta is now open and you can try it out here.