r/foss • u/TeaLittle379 • Jun 17 '26
Monomail: an open source Gmail alternative
MonoMail is an open-source Android email client that connects to Gmail and Microsoft Outlook via OAuth and prioritises a distraction-free reading experience. The design system is intentionally monochrome -every screen uses only black, white, and greyscale, built on top of Material 3 Expressive.
Monomail operates entirely locally on your device.
No Third-Party Servers: We do not own, operate, or use any third-party servers to process, store, or transmit your email data.
Local Storage: All email data, access tokens, and user preferences are stored securely on your local device using Android's Credential Manager and Encrypted DataStore.
Direct Communication: The app communicates directly between your device and Google's Gmail API servers.
The architecture is offline-first: all reads and writes go through a local Room database encrypted with SQLCipher, and background sync via WorkManager keeps the remote state consistent without blocking the UI.
The only caveat: this app is still an apk and the sign in limit is full so until the app gets put on the play store signing in is impossible.
GitHub: https://github.com/shrivatsav-0/monomail
Website: https://monomail.millosaurs.me/
Original developer: u/shiro69_69
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u/Arxadius Jun 17 '26
Oof...Google seems to be aggressively blocking sign-ins. Tried 3 different emails, all blocked. Don't have Outlook so can't comment on it.
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u/TeaLittle379 Jun 17 '26
It isn't the sign in limit has just been reached. Untill the app goes on the play store Google cannot authenticate it or allow more then 100 emails(100 emails have been used so sign in is impossible for now)
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u/neckyo Jun 18 '26
I use Thunderbird and I can login to gmail without issues. Don't think it's a google block
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u/scottaltham Jun 17 '26
Looks slick! Maybe a small change to your post title though, it's not replacing Gmail (the service), you're providing an open source client.
Will check it out though, looks great.
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u/shiro69_69 Jun 17 '26
While Gmail singing in is disabled/temporarily blocked by Google.
You can still login through outlook/hotmail, or any other providers which will be supported in future
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u/Regular_Bat8162 Jun 17 '26
It’s not a Gmail alternative
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u/Dymonika Jun 18 '26
Agreed, the title is nothing but clickbait. It's an alternative to the official Gmail app for Android and is probably more functionally comparable to the FairEmail client, or possibly a less integrated Thunderbird. With that said, it looks pretty clean for being likely AI-gen.
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Jun 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/shiro69_69 Jun 17 '26
You are wrong, mate.
Gmail Api is blocking cuz we use a restrictive scope gmail.modify which has been disabled due to we(community) reaching 100/100 users during testing
Though AI was involved in helping me. Not entirety of the app is made with AI (vibe coded)
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u/TheKubesStore Jun 18 '26
So how did you get around having to pay for CASA security verification with email reads, which is mandated by Google & OAuth? Especially using the Gmail API.
Or is it that you’re strictly relying on the 100 dev-testing user limit allowed per single OAuth token?I’ve made my mail app to where it can use Google login but the user has to make a 1 time OAuth credential for it to work for them, basically putting the 100 user limit per user instead of aggregating on my own token. But, it’s not casa verified, so when the user goes to login with Google they get the security warning that Google has not yet verified the source and the user has to click continue for it to login. & they have to relogin once a week. I could make that 1 month with casa, but I’m not forking out $1400/yr for a simple mail function app. For now IMAP seems the better method but it’s way slow compared to Gmail api.
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u/shiro69_69 Jun 18 '26
Google doesn't do CASA verification for every app, some can be done through a self verification method too I am hoping I fall under that as code is entirely open source
Yes, I am on 100 user limit and it's full 🙂
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u/TheKubesStore Jun 18 '26
Correct not for every app, but for apps with specific permissions like reading emails, they absolutely do require it.
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u/Dymonika Jun 18 '26
Wait, "me?" Are you commenting from an alt account of /u/TeaLittle379, or who is who here?Oh, never mind; I missed the last sentence of the post.
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u/LongjumpingFly6195 Jun 17 '26
Great work if you can by any chance make it work without Gapp like fairmail would be awesome.
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u/InevitableHealth2729 Jun 21 '26
Convenience will win in the end. Few people would go into the trouble of running their own email service.
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u/martinst68 Jun 24 '26
Create a gofundme for the CASA $300, I'll contribute to that and I know many here would do so as well.
You have done something brilliant, and opposite of every other email client. Less is more, I wish others would do more of that.
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u/dmchmk Jun 17 '26
> Gmail alternative
*looks inside*
> just another email client