Maildash vs Quicksend

We recently reviewed Maildash (we liked it) and updated our review of Quicksend (we went from hating it to liking it).

Not surprisingly, we received a question yesterday asking us which we would recommend (since you really don’t need more than one such app).

So, which WOULD we recommend?  It would definitely have to be…

BOTH.

Depending on your needs, you will want to choose one over the other.

Quicksend

Of the two, Quicksend is the most basic. That means that both set-up and use of it are simple.

Set Up
Selecting your “favorite” contacts is as simple as tapping the “settings” button at the bottom and then selecting “Customize Contact Spinner”. It should be noted, though, that there is no "search" feature. That means you need to scroll through contacts to add or delete them. This is not an issue if you have a limited number of entried but if you have numerous contacts it can be an issue. It is a major oversight that should be improved in a future update!

  
Customizing your Messages is the same process only you select “Customize Messages Spinner”. 
You can also choose whether or not to include the “Signature” setting (which currently, only includes the text “Sent with QuickSend”) and a tab to include the, currently experimental, SMS support.

Use
Using Quicksend could not be easier. Once you are set up you scroll to the contact and then scroll to the message and hit “Send It“. It is a one-handed process that takes no more than a second or two.

At $1.99 Quicksend is also the cheaper of the two.

Maildash

Maildash is more feature-rich but it also is a bit more complicated to set up and use.

 

As is the case with Quicksend, Maildash allows you to choose a subset of contacts. You, tap the small blue ”+“ in the upper right, select a contact. THEN, however, you need to go to the main screen, tap the blue star in the upper left of the screen and ”verify“ the contact by tapping ”Add new favorite email:…“. No, it isn’t complicated but it is more steps than Quicksend.

Moreover, as is the case with Quicksend, Maildash allows you to customize the messages you send. This too, however, is a more complicated process since there are
–”Templets“ that can be edited,
–”snippets” that easily add phrases to templets without typing,
–and “substitutions” that allow you to insert phrases that get replaced by the recipient’s name or other data when the message is sent.

The result is a more complicated set up time before Maildash is ready to use. It isn’t complicated but it is more complex. BUT, and this is a huge “but“, it also means that when messages are sent using Maildash they can be as personalized as you want without the next to manually personalize them. Moreover, since you can easily change a few words here and there in the temples and/or snippets, it is less apparent that you are using a pre-formatted response. That makes Maildash a better choice is personal or long-term use matters.

At $2.99 Maildash isn’t expensive but it is a dollar more than Quicksend.

So which wins?
If you want quick, simple and cheap go with Quicksend.
If you want quick, a little less simple but much more powerful, and cheap but a bit less-so, go with Maildash.

On my iPhone and Touch I am using… Maildash.