questions & support
the things people ask before and after they install it. if your question is not here, write to us — a person reads that address.
the basics
is guvercin really free?
yes. it is free and open source, with no subscription, no paid tier and nothing to upgrade to. you cannot resell it, but you can use it as much as you like.
which email providers work?
any provider that speaks IMAP and SMTP — Gmail, Outlook and Hotmail, Yandex, iCloud, Fastmail, your university, your own server. Google accounts can sign in with a single click.
does guvercin give me an email address?
no. it is a client for the mailboxes you already have, not a mail provider.
what does “guvercin” mean?
it is Turkish for pigeon — the bird that used to carry your mail.
how finished is it?
version 0.1.0 is an early release. it is used daily by the people who make it, but expect rough edges and please report them.
privacy & security
where is my mail stored?
in a local database on your own computer. nothing reaches our servers, because there are no servers.
do you collect analytics?
no telemetry, no usage statistics, no crash reporting, no ads, no tracking code of any kind — in the app or on this website.
is my password safe?
credentials and OAuth tokens live in the SQLCipher-encrypted local database, never in plain text. with Google sign-in, the app never sees your password at all. note that the key to that database is a file in your user profile rather than the OS keychain, so it protects you against a lost disk, not against something already running as you.
can senders tell that I opened their email?
no — remote images are withheld until you click load images, so opening a message sends the sender nothing at all. that is what defeats a tracking pixel.
what happens to my data if I uninstall?
Settings offers a proper uninstall that asks whether you want your local data erased or kept for a future reinstall.
installing & using
does it work offline?
yes. synced mail, attachments and search work with no connection, and anything you do is replayed when you reconnect.
macOS says the app cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified.
right-click the app, choose Open, and confirm once. the builds are not notarized yet; signing is on the roadmap.
Windows shows a SmartScreen warning.
choose More info, then Run anyway. same reason: the installer is not code-signed yet.
can I use it on Linux?
yes, with the .deb or .rpm package. you will need WebKitGTK and libsecret, which most desktops already have.
what is the difference between stable and beta?
beta gets features first and may break or change how data is stored; stable is what we recommend for the mail you actually rely on.
can I use guvercin at work or in my company?
yes, for internal use. the only thing you may not do is sell it or build a paid service out of it.
how do I make guvercin my default mail app?
it offers this on first launch, and you can change it later in Settings — after that, mailto: links open a compose window.
can I change the keyboard shortcuts?
all of them, individually, in Settings.
is there a mobile app?
not today. a companion app is on the roadmap, nothing more.
how do I report a bug or request a feature?
open an issue on GitHub, or write to support@guvercin.email with your operating system, the app version and what you did before it broke.
still need a hand?
still stuck?
write to support@guvercin.email with your operating system and app version. we read everything.
found a bug?
open an issue on GitHub with the steps to reproduce it, and it goes straight to the people who can fix it.