Reservation System Announced for Upcoming 'Mailbox' Email App - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Reservation System Announced for Upcoming 'Mailbox' Email App

by

Orchestra, Inc. has announced a reservation system for Mailbox, its task-orientated email app which we reported on earlier and which has received many pre-launch accolades from tech sites.

welcome to mailbox
Mailbox, which will initially be compatible only with Gmail, aims to keep your inbox clean by allowing you to use swipe gestures to quickly move each email out of your inbox by deleting it, archiving it, assigning it a category or - perhaps most interestingly - setting it to pop back into your inbox later.

mailbox2
When you sign up to reserve your copy of the free app, Orchestra sends you a text message with your reservation number, together with a code. Once the app is available for download, you'll need to enter your code to complete the download.

Business Insider observes that Orchestra has an interesting link to Apple: one of the company's software engineers is Adam Cue, son of Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue, who is responsible for iCloud services - including email. Business Insider suggests that the relationship is likely to put Mailbox on Apple's radar as a potential acquisition, but it is unclear whether Apple has any actual interest in Orchestra's ideas for email management.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

rampancy Avatar
177 months ago
And how long will it be before this app goes the same way as Sparrow?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
177 months ago
This is the most overhyped app I've ever seen. I do not think it looks very innovative or useful, all of your e-mail gets routed through their server, and it only works with gmail. Yet, every time Mailbox's developers sneeze the tech bloggers are all over it, tweeting rapturous praise.

And this "reservation system" seems very suspicious. Give them your phone number? I don't think so! This is a piece of software. Spin up more servers if you have too much demand. If they can't quickly respond to user load, their architecture was badly designed. The tech press should be slamming them for this, but again it's all fairy dust and rainbows.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bigjnyc Avatar
177 months ago
There's no way I am giving these guys my phone number. what kind of a horse and pony show is this for an app? why not just launch it normally in the app store like any other app?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
177 months ago
Can't wait for this app to launch. I got in a while ago, I lucked out with #1999. Hopefully I'll get in on launch date.

I'd assume that the IMAP servers would be customizable. But I could be wrong.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
177 months ago
"u reserve a copy" since when is an app limited on the appstore and "on high demand" lol

sounds like data fishing to me
They don't ask for email, they ask for a telephone number and mine is prepaid so is there anything to loose??


-------

Does not work for where I am,got no SMS from them even though they say it's international.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Compile 'em all Avatar
177 months ago
Not sure if it will replace Mail app for me but I'm quite curious. Signed up yesterday #

----------

"u reserve a copy" since when is an app limited on the appstore and "on high demand" lol



sounds like data fishing to me

It is about being able to scale. With a reservation system they can scale properly since they can know exactly how many are using it.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Four iPhone 18 Pro Colors Mock Feature

iPhone 18 Pro: Pre-Orders and Release Date

Thursday August 20, 2026 8:00 am PDT by
Apple has yet to reveal when the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Ultra will be announced and released, but the dates usually follow a familiar pattern. As usual, the iPhone event is expected to take place in the first half of September. Labor Day falls on September 7 this year. The last time the holiday was on that day was in 2020, but the iPhone event that year was delayed until October due to...
macOS 27 next to MacBook Pro Running macOS 27

macOS Golden Gate Marks the End of an Era

Thursday August 20, 2026 2:19 pm PDT by
macOS 27 Golden Gate is not compatible with any Macs with Intel processors, marking the end of an era. The update, which is currently in beta ahead of a release later this year, is limited to Apple silicon Macs with an M1 chip or newer. Last year, Apple said that macOS 26 Tahoe would be the final macOS release compatible with Intel-based Macs, so this was an expected development. Intel...
Aston Martin CarPlay Ultra Screen

Apple Says CarPlay Ultra is Coming to These Vehicle Brands

Wednesday August 19, 2026 12:53 pm PDT by
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. More than a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change in the foreseeable future. In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. ...