Email Client Market Share in January 2022

Here’s a look at the most popular email clients in January 2022, and what happened with email client market share last month.

Top Email Clients

Before we get started, there are two things we always like to note:

• The category “Apple” includes Apple iPhone (iOS Mail), Apple Mail (macOS Mail), Apple iPad (iPadOS Mail), and Apple Mail Privacy Protection (Apple privacy-impacted opens)—something we introduced in fall 2021. To learn why, check out this blog post.
• Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) hides device data so we aren’t able to differentiate between iOS, iPadOS, or macOS. Additionally, the new OSes don’t differentiate between MPP and non-MPP in the user agent data it passes.

That being said, the most popular email clients for January 2022 are Apple, Gmail, and Outlook.

1. Apple: 57.2%
2. Gmail: 30.2%
3. Outlook: 4.4%
4. Yahoo Mail: 2.6%
5. Google Android: 1.9%
6. Outlook.com: 1.0%
7. Samsung Mail: 0.4%
8. Windows Live Mail: 0.1%
9. Web.de: 0.05%
10. GMX: 0.04%

Apple’s overall market share has been increasing since MPP’s launch in September 2021. But in January 2022, we’re seeing a small decline.

When we looked in October 2021, Apple’s share was at 51.4%. It peaked at 57.4% in December 2021 but we’re now seeing a minor decrease by 0.2 percentage points, to 57.2%. However, when we take a closer look at the individual-level MPP stats, the number of privacy-impacted opens has actually gone up.

Let’s look at the breakdown of Apple email clients:

1. Apple Mail Privacy Protection: 44.6%
2. Apple iPhone (iOS Mail): 7.7%
3. Apple Mail (macOS Mail): 4.3%
4. Apple iPad (iPadOS Mail): 0.5%

To recap previous months, Apple Mail Privacy Protection saw a near 82% increase, from October to November 2021. Then, from November to December, Apple Mail Privacy Protection’s share grew by nearly 57%. As for December 2021 to January 2022? We’re seeing an 8.78% increase (41.0% in December 2021 and 44.6% in January 2022)—an increase that’s much lower than previous months, meaning we could be seeing the normalization of MPP adoption.

Something worth noting: With the introduction of MPP in September 2021, at this point, a majority of Apple users have upgraded to iOS15 and have had the opportunity to opt in or out of MPP.

As for the other Apple email clients: Apple iPhone (iOS Mail) decreased its share from 10.7% to 7.7%, as did Apple Mail (macOS Mail) from 5% to 4.3% and Apple iPad (iPadOS Mail) from 0.6% to 0.5%.

Want more data and trends? Check out our email client market share site, which includes Apple’s MPP data, pre- and post-MPP launch.

Opens by environment

January 2022 is the fifth month we’ve been able to track MPP with Litmus Email Analytics. However, though MPP launched in September 2021, we consider our MPP metrics early data.

1. Apple Mail Privacy Protection: 44.2%
2. Webmail: 35.6%
3. Mobile: 10.5%
4. Desktop: 8.7%
5. Other: 1%

In December 2021, Apple Mail Privacy Protection took the top spot for reading environment, a spot historically occupied by webmail. In January 2022, it continues to grow, from 40.6% last month to 44.2% in January.

Most popular mobile opens

The top 3 most popular mobile open environments are still Apple iPhone (iOS Mail), Google Android, Apple iPad (iPadOS Mail)—same as it’s been for previous months.

1. Apple iPhone (iOS Mail): 72.8%
2. Google Android: 18.2%
3. Apple iPad (iPadOS Mail): 5.1%

Though it has the highest share, Apple iPhone (iOS Mail) has been slowly waning over the past few months, seeing a decrease from 77.6% to 72.8%. In contrast, Google Android and Apple iPad (iPadOS Mail) have increased their shares a bit, from 14.5% to 18.2% and and 4.6% and 5.1%, respectively. This small growth happened last month, too.

Most popular webmail opens

As for webmail: The top 3 webmail clients are still Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Outlook.com.

1. Gmail: 89%
2. Yahoo Mail: 7.7%
3. Outlook.com: 3%

Unlike the slow climb we’ve seen with Gmail over the past few months, it has decreased slightly and now back at 89%, similar to October 2021 (89.1%). Yahoo and Outlook.com have increased their market share.

Want to know why we categorize Gmail as webmail? Learn how Gmail opens are reported in Email Analytics.

Most popular desktop opens

What about desktop opens? The top 3 are Outlook, Apple Mail (macOS Mail), and Windows Live Mail.

1. Outlook: 50.4%
2. Apple Mail (macOS Mail): 48.3%
3. Windows Live Mail: 1.1%

Apple Mail (macOS Mail) is no longer the top desktop client, according to the data we’re seeing with Litmus Email Analytics. This decrease is in line with what we saw when looking at each Apple email client.

The shift in desktop opens is likely attributed to MPP. When we look back to pre-MPP days, to August 2021, market share for Apple Mail (macOS Mail) was 62.9%. It since has been slowly receding from the number one spot, finally landing at number two. 

As for Outlook, its share grew from 44.7% to 50.4%. Windows Live Mail stayed the same at 1.1%

Light Mode vs. Dark Mode opens

Similar to MPP, Dark Mode usage is a relatively new metric we’re able to track with Litmus Email Analytics, beginning in September 2021. Before we jump in, we’d like to note that our Dark Mode data is based only on the Apple Mail app for iOS 13, macOS 13, iOS 14, macOS 14, iPadOS 14, iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and Apple Mail privacy-impacted devices.

1. Light Mode: 74.3%
2. Dark Mode: 25.7%

In terms of shifts, we’re seeing very little here. These two reading environments continue to hold steady, with only changes happening down to the hundredth place. In December 2021, Light Mode was at 74.29% and in January 2022, it decreased a tiny bit to 74.27%. As a result, Dark Mode saw a 0.02% lift, from 25.71% to 25.73%.

What’s most popular with your audience?

Now it’s your turn: Although email client market share provides powerful insights about the industry as a whole, the key lies with your audience. We recommend getting to know your subscribers first, then use email client market share as a supplementary tool.

Small shifts can lead to big changes overtime. Stay tuned next month as we share our findings and continue to track the impact of MPP.

Where did we get all this data? Our email client market share stats are pulled from over a billion email opens, anonymously collected and aggregated with Litmus Email Analytics from January 1-31, 2022. It highlights global trends across all industries and verticals. Some email clients may be over- or under-represented, particularly with mobile and webmail. This is due to image blocking or image caching, most notably with Gmail. Still curious? Learn how we get this data.

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