A new iPhone feels a bit incomplete without setting up your email account. What makes the iPhone a great smartphone also makes it a great communicator. You’ll be able to get through email quite easily. There’s the default Mail app, ready to help you out. But if you want more help dealing with your email, there are a plethora of email apps on the App Store.

Let’s set up your first email account on the new iPhone. Follow the guide below.

Previously in the series: How To Set Up Your New iPhone the Right Way

Add A Mail Account

No matter if you have a Google, Yahoo, Outlook, Exchange, iCloud or an Aol account, iOS makes it really easy to add these accounts to the settings app. Once you do that, you can start syncing supported services like email, calendars, contacts, notes and more.

Step 1: Open the “Settings” app and select “Mail”.

Step 2: Tap on “Accounts” and select “Add Account”.

Step 3: Then select the service of your choice from the list. In this example, I’m going with Google.

Step 4: You’ll then be asked to enter your email and password. If you’ve got 2-factor authentication turned on, you’ll have a page for that as well.

Step 5: Once your account is linked, you’ll be asked what all services you want to enable. Here, Email will be checked automatically. Optionally, you can choose to enable calendar and contacts sync for the account as well.

Once this is done, just open the Mail app and wait for a while for new emails to show up.

Must read: Top 25 Mail App Tips and Tricks for iPhone and iPad

Set Fetch Frequency

One of the biggest issues with using the Mail app with a Google account is that it doesn’t support push notifications. Meaning you won’t be notified the exact second a new email comes in. And by default, it’s possible that the method is set for manual fetch, meaning you won’t even see any new email until you open the Mail app.

Let’s make this at least a bit better.

From the “Mail” section in Settings, select the Google account in question and then tap on “Fetch New Data”.

If getting emails frequently is important for you, select 15 minutes, which is the most frequent option available. Basically the Mail app will check every 15 minutes for new email. This might have a negative effect on your battery life. You can choose a 1 hour option as well.

Note: If you’re paying for a Google Apps account, you can get push notification in the native mail app. Learn more about it here.

Best Third Party Email Apps

The Mail app is pretty basic. Plus there’s the push notification issue. Third party email clients solve both problems. Adding your Gmail account to these apps is usually as simple as logging in with your details.

Gmail: Gmail’s official app for iOS is pretty good, especially after the latest update. It brings Material Design on the iOS. The app is still mostly web based but it gets the job done. It’s also fast and more importantly, it supports push notifications for Gmail.

Microsoft Outlook: One of the best email apps on iOS is made by Microsoft. The Outlook app works really well with Gmail and of course Outlook accounts. Push notifications are supported but it’s the extra features that make Outlook interesting. The Focused list only shows and sends you notifications for emails that are important. It’s really good at dealing with email clutter. Outlook also comes with an impressive integrated calendar, plus there’s support for file sharing services like Dropbox.

Spark: Spark is pretty similar to Outlook as it’s a smart email client. It will automatically sort email into different categories and will only notify you about the ones you care. Spark also includes useful snoozing and scheduling features first pioneered by the Mailbox app. Spark is available in iPhone, iPad, Mac and the Apple Watch.

AirMail ($4.99): AirMail is the email app for people who like a lot of settings, for every single feature possible. If you like to tweak for email experience just so, AirMail is for you.

Which Email App Do You Use?

What’s your email app of choice? Share with us in the comments below.