downloads

[nadir husain]

given the high quality of this app i am surprised there are still only 1 million downloads on play store.  does any one have any ideas why the number is not higher as in more than 5 million.  given the crap google has put out ( inbox)  it boggles the mind. 

[Kostya Vasilyev]

My take (and thanks for the kudos):

1 - No advertising / marketing

2 - The UI doesn't make you go "whoa! just look at that!"

3 - Not innovative, so no "identity" ("personality" if you wish).

By (3) I mean:

"app X is the app that lets you organize mail so you Always Know (r)"

"app Y is the one that invented Zero Mailbox (tm)"

"app Z changes email into Personalized Conversations" (or some such)

I mean this in a good way, maybe envious a little of the other apps' developers...

Just like in life, it's important for software to have a "personality", so potential users go "ah, so this app is special, it does X" and existing users hopefully go "I just love how this app does Y and Z". And this app doesn't have one.

[StR]

I suspect there could be a few more factors:
(a) Apps from some big players (Google) are pre-installed on some devices (and in some cases cannot be uninstalled). Many users tend to use what's already installed, not bothering to look for alternatives.
(b) People tend to look at big names (such as Google) first. - That sort of fits in Kostya's #1.

[Kostya Vasilyev]

Seems Google and Microsoft are really getting into a war with each other over email:

http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/17/google-launches-gmailify-a-way-to-use-gmails-best-features-with-non-gmail-accounts/

https://blogs.office.com/2016/02/17/outlook-com-out-of-preview-and-better-than-ever/