Shortwave email client, developed by former Google engineers, is introducing innovative AI-powered features including instant email summaries, a writing assistant, expanded AI assistant functionality for iOS and Android, and multi-select AI actions.
Last year, the startup introduced AI-powered summaries, which required the user to tap a button in order to generate the summary. Now, with the instant summary feature, the email client automatically displays a one-sentence summary of an email or thread.
If the user taps on the sentence, it generates a slightly longer summary and allows the user to ask the assistant questions about the thread, a great tool for quickly sorting through multiple emails.
The company is using open-source models and its own GPUs to make the momentarily generated summaries cost-effective. Additionally, GPT-4 Turbo is used to generate the longer summaries.
The AI assistant feature, initially launched in September 2023, will now be available on Shortwave’s iOS and Android apps, assisting with writing drafts, web searches, and answering questions about active threads.
Another new feature is AI multi-select, allowing users to select multiple email threads and ask the assistant questions about them, enhancing search efficiency.
Shortwave is also introducing its own AI-powered autocomplete, allowing users to accept sentence suggestions with the tab key, learning the user’s writing style over time.
These new features are being gradually rolled out to users this week. Instant summaries, AI multi-select, and mobile assistant are available for all users, whereas AI autocomplete is exclusive to Pro and Business plan users.
Shortwave’s pricing structure has been modified, with plans including a $7 per month personal plan, a $24 per month Pro plan, and a $24 per month business plan for teams.
Shortwave aims to cater to the increasing demand for AI-assisted email writing and searching, underscoring its emphasis on business and enterprise plans.
Shortwave is among several email clients integrating AI functionality, joining the likes of Microsoft and Google in offering AI-powered features for Outlook and Gmail. Additionally, other email apps such as Superhuman and Boomerang have also introduced AI-driven features to aid users with email composition.
