Friday: AI E-mail Assistant
How does Friday's smart sorting work, and can it prioritize emails from specific people?
Friday learns your email habits over a day or two and automatically surfaces messages from your most important contacts, like family or your project manager. In testing, it highlighted a shipping confirmation and an urgent work email on the second day, letting you handle key tasks in minutes.
Is the AI draft reply feature actually useful for everyday emails?
Yes, it's surprisingly good for a free tool—it generates clear, polite drafts that match your usual tone based on the email you're replying to. For example, one user sent a draft after adding just one sentence for a meeting reschedule, though it can feel too formal for casual or joke-filled messages.
Why does the AI sometimes suggest replies that are too generic or formal?
The AI works best on straightforward work or transactional emails, but it struggles with nuanced personal messages like a friend's party invitation that includes inside jokes. If the draft misses the mark, you can always edit it or rewrite from scratch—it's a starting point, not a final product.
Can I create my own custom categories or rules for sorting emails?
Currently, Friday only offers its automatic sorting categories and doesn't let you create custom rules like a folder for 'dentist' or 'car insurance.' This is a common request from users who want more control over how specific topics are grouped together.
How does Friday compare to other free AI email assistants like Google's Smart Reply?
Unlike Google's Smart Reply, which only suggests short one-tap responses, Friday drafts full-length emails and learns your priorities over time instead of just sorting by date. It also has a cleaner, ad-free interface, but it lacks the deep integration with Gmail that Google's own tools offer.
