AwayFind (for iPhone)

Pros Creates a new inbox with only emails you want to see. Alerts you of incoming emails based on domain, specific address, and within a time frame if you set one. Inexpensive.

Cons In testing, sent mail was delivered from default iPhone Mail email address, not AwayFind address. Little explanation of "Topics I'm following" feature. Piddly alert-tone selection. Bottom Line The AwayFind iPhone app can help you regain some work-life balance dignity by ensuring you will be alerted to important messages and not letting you get distracted by others. It's a brilliant and reasonably priced service, though one major snag in the iPhone app can wreak havoc on your email.

By Jill Duffy Do you go on vacation and spend half the time checking business email, worried you might miss an important message? Or have you ever longed to delete your mobile email apps because the influx of work-related messages is sucking all the fun out of your life seven days a week, but you "can't" because the business could literally go under if you miss a crucial message? Subscription service AwayFind (freemium; subscriptions from $4.99 a month) takes care of all those "what-if" scenarios by sending alerts to your iPhone any time an important contact or message tries to reach you, while letting you silence all your other email.

The AwayFind iPhone app (free to download) puts just such notifications onto your phone in whatever badge or alert fashion you choose. It also creates an inbox of sorts that holds only these important messages. Used in conjunction with the full Web version, the iPhone app can help busy professionals—and anyone else at the brink of collapsing under email—get back an ounce of their sanity. But rather disastrously, while testing the app, I hit a major snag that very nearly wreaked havoc on my email accounts, explained in detail later in this review. The problem I encountered could be avoided if you see it coming, but I certainly didn't.

AwayFind does replicate some of the same functions that the VIP Inbox on iPhone and iPad covers, but it does a lot more, too. It isn't as unilaterally applicable as SaneBox ($6 per month), which essentially weeds out unsolicited emails from your inbox. But for its more specific purpose, AwayFind does an outstanding job of keeping you up-to-date on only what's important in your email for a fair price, but I was disheartened to have hit an insurmountable problem with the app—and never see any fine print (or better, very large warning signs) indicating the problem might occur.

What Does the AwayFind iPhone App Do?
If you download the free AwayFind app for iPhone, you'll first have to sign into an email account to give AwayFind access to your messages. Gmail/Google apps accounts, Exchange accounts, and major free Webmail accounts (such as Yahoo! Mail and so forth) are supported. Custom domains can be, too, if you sign up for a Pro or Unlimited subscription (see Pricing on the next page).

AwayFind recommends you turn off all other email notifications on your iPhone. Likewise, it will remind you that you need to enable its alerts for the app to do its job.

After reading a welcome note that contains additional details about the app, you can dive right into the four alert settings and start customizing them.

The first alert is called "Waiting for *NOW*." Here, you'll type in specific email addresses and domain names of people or organizations, and then enable a time frame (up to 23 hours and 59 minutes), which tells AwayFind to alert you if any of those contacts send you an email during the active time. One neat aspect of this feature is you can go into it and adjust it—turn it off, set the time for longer, etc.—at any time, even while the clock is ticking.

The next alert is for important people. Any email address you enter here becomes a VIP of sorts. AwayFind will always alert you of incoming messages from these people.

The third alert is "Topics I'm following," and there's little explanation in the app about what this alert does. Thankfully, the full website offers this: "Add a word or exact phrase to watch for in incoming emails (subject only)." In other words, it's a keyword alert for subject lines. A more descriptive title in the iPhone app would have been useful.

The fourth and final alert in the AwayFind iPhone app is for "People I'm Meeting Today," a feature that only works if you also connect AwayFind to your calendar. When you enable this setting, AwayFind targets all the email addresses of people with whom you have appointments scheduled and alerts you if they email you on that day.

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AwayFind

Pros Email assistant that sends you alerts when important message arrive, based on criteria you set. Good selection of criteria. Alerts deliverable by phone, text message, instant messaging service. Creates a new inbox with only emails you want to see. Inexpensive.

Cons Twitter alerts never worked in testing. Some problems with mobile apps. Slightly inelegant interface design. Bottom Line AwayFind acts as a gate between your email inbox and you, that lets through only message you want to see and alerts you of their presence by phone, text message, IM, or through its the AwayFind mobile app. It's a worthwhile and reasonably priced service.

By Jill Duffy Billed as an "email assistant" service, AwayFind (freemium; subscriptions from $4.99 a month) is like a gatekeeper between you and your never-ending and highly distracting email inbox. Busy business professionals looking to unplug for the weekend or actually enjoy a little R&R on their next holiday would do well to look into the relatively inexpensive service, which alerts you of important messages based on criteria you set. Think of it as a secret email service that you can use when you want to temporarily cut yourself off from your main inbox.

AwayFind works by letting you enable notifications, which can come in the form of phone calls, text messages, instant messages, or alerts on a smartphone through the AwayFind app.  With an AwayFind account, you get a Web-based inbox where important messages land—and only important mail goes there, so you aren't distracted by dozens or even hundreds of less pressing messages. Generally speaking, it isn't as unilaterally applicable as SaneBox ($6 per month), which essentially weeds out unsolicited emails from your real inbox, whether it's Gmail or Outlook running locally or some other program. AwayFind creates a new inbox in the cloud with copies of messages you deem important, whereas SaneBox works its magic right in your primary email app. But for AwayFind's more specific purpose—helping you keep on top of important emails while you're out of office—it does a great job for a fair price.

What Does AwayFind Do?
To sign up for an AwayFind account, you have to give AwayFind access to at least one email address. You can add more addresses if you pay for a more expensive account (see the Pricing section), but one is supported at the Personal plan level.

You then work through AwayFind's settings to enable alerts. One series of alerts lets you add a list of specific email addresses, meaning if any of these people email you, AwayFind will let you know right away. Another lets you add an entire domain (such as @pcmag.com), meaning you'll get an alert if anyone from the PCMag company sends you an email. Another one lets you set keywords from the subject line, body of the email, and so forth.

You can add time and day limits to alerts, too, in case you only want alerts on weekends or never between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. The options are thorough, and the tools for turning them on and off are super simple to use.

There's a tab on the Web account page for Email Accounts & Notification Methods, and at the bottom is a link to "add a different method." Clicking the link creates a drop-down menu where you'll find options for iPhone, Android, SMS, voice phone call, Twitter (which requires following the AwayFind account so it can send you direct messages), Google Talk, AIM, Yahoo messenger, and email, should you want to add another email account for alerts only. All methods of notification require authenticating by entering a code that's sent to the account in question.

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