‘s stock email application has long felt like a last-minute addition to the Android operating system—especially since the company’s own proprietary client, Gmail has long been the superior mail client. But not everyone uses Gmail, unless you download a third-party application, the built-in Android email app is your only choice for connecting , IMA Exchange accounts.

Fortunately, has finally paid some mind to its neglected email client in Android 4.4 KitKat. It’s been dressed in Gmail’s new interface now features the easier-to-navigate menu system that’s become stard across many of ‘s core apps.

Setting up your account

The process for setting up your email account in Android’s stock email app is the same as it’s always been: you type in your email account from the main set up screen, but you may need to select Manual Setup to get anywhere further than that. From there, you can select whether or not you want to set up a , IMA or Exchange account.  ternatively, you can also add the account from within the Settings panel, under Accounts.

Once you’ve entered your credenetials, your mail will begin to sync immediately. You can also set up your Gmail account to push through to this application if you utilize more than one email service would rather keep all messages contained in one application.

A swanky inbox

As in the Gmail app, you’ll see the swanky bold-lettered design applied to the new email app. Bear in mind that this is only compatible with Exchange IMAaccounts you won’t have access to the same thread view that Gmail utilizes. If you do set up the app to receive your Gmail messages, any filters you applied in the browser won’t work here.

The little things have been overhauled, too: now the email menu resides at the top insead of messily at the bottom like it did in Android 4.3, you can tug down to refresh your inbox any time you choose. Both the Gmail Email apps now appear virtually identical.

st slide navigate

The new stock Android email app uses the “hamburger” menu, which slides in when you drag your finger in from the outer left bezel. Here you’ll be able to switch between accounts or select “combined view” to get all of your emails in one window. You can also switch between the folders in each email account, which you won’t be able to do from the combined view.

Better, exped settings

stly, be sure to check out the newly overhauled Settings menu. Now you can choose your syncing intervals directly from this menu rather than digging for it through the Settings panel, as was stard practice in lly Bean. You can also choose your name, set up your signature Quick responses, choose sync frequency whether or not to automatically download attachements to avoid any data overages when you’re not on -Fi.