Faraday for iPhone is live on TestFlight. The link is open to everyone, and the build is the real thing: the same inbox, the same sorting, the same Auto-write, shaped for a screen you hold.
The complaint we have heard most since day one was never about the web app. It was about the phone: the same rows for a LinkedIn update, a newsletter, a pending bill, a flight, and an OTP. Why open a newsletter to find out it is fluff? Why offer Reply on a one-time code? Why is a twelve-message chain so hard to follow on a train? Faraday answered each of those on the web and on the Mac. This is that same answer, on a phone.
It is not on the App Store yet. TestFlight is Apple's beta programme, and it is how the app reaches you first, while the last rough edges are still being found. If you have been waiting since we said the phone was next, this is the part where you get to try it.
A phone app that starts with a list is a desktop app in a pocket.
Start here: four steps
1. Install TestFlight from the App Store. It is Apple's own app for beta builds, and it takes a minute.
2. On your iPhone, open faraday.email/download/ios. The page links to both TestFlight and Faraday.
3. Once TestFlight is installed, open the same link again. If it opens the App Store instead of TestFlight, that is the order, not a broken link.
4. Tap Accept, then Install, and open Faraday. Sign in with Google or Outlook exactly as you do on the web, then let the onboarding walk you through the app.
Opening the same link twice is a hassle, and we know it. It disappears the day the App Store listing goes live. You need an iPhone on iOS 16.4 or later. Faraday itself is free for a week, and the phone is included in the plan you already have.
Quick glance, not a wall
The app opens on Glance, not on an inbox. There is a sky photo that follows the time of day, a short summary of the day, and then the things that actually need you: latest human emails, orders, bills and statements, bookings, notifications, updates, and recent newsletters by genre.
Each section shows a handful of items and a way into the rest. That is the whole idea. You open the app to a few things worth a look, not four thousand that are not. The small screen forced a decision about what belongs first, and the answer was never "everything, but smaller."
It is also light the way the Mac app is light: a small download and a small memory footprint. A mail client should not be the heaviest thing on the device, and the phone is where that matters most.
The inbox is already sorted
Past Glance is the inbox, and it is split into the six kinds of mail Faraday already recognises: Humans, Updates, Bills & Txns, Bookings, Newsletters, and Notifications. You tap a chip; the mail is already there. There are no folders to maintain and no labels to invent.
Filters go further than the category. Inside Humans you can narrow to received, sent, drafts, not done, unread, to reply, flagged, saved, labels, and senders. Attachments get their own filters: starred, 2 MB or larger, PDF, XLS, and Google files. On a laptop that is convenience. On a phone it is the difference between finding a document in a minute and giving up.
The phone did not get a smaller inbox. It got a shorter path to the point.
Threads that end in a point
A long thread on a phone is usually a scroll with a reply at the bottom. Faraday puts a summary at the top instead, so you can see where the conversation landed before you read twenty messages to find out.
From the thread you can reply, reply all, forward, snooze for up to seven days, archive, mark done, or unsubscribe, without hunting through a menu. Swiping a row in the list archives it or marks it done. The actions sit where your thumb already is, which sounds like a small thing until you use an app that puts them in a corner.
Search that knows what an email is
Search is not a text box over a pile. It starts with the same six kinds of mail, so you can search people separately from bills, bookings, newsletters, updates, and notifications. Recent searches are kept, and the app suggests the filters that fit the category you are in.
This matters most when you half-remember something. You know it was a receipt, or a booking, or a person. Starting from the type gets you there faster than guessing a subject line from six months ago.
Writing that does not start at zero
Compose carries the same idea as the rest of Faraday. Auto-write offers a full draft in a card above the action bar: tap it to use it, dismiss it with the ✕, or write your own. No prompt, no chat window, no setup.
The rest is what a phone reply needs: reply, reply all, forward, or a new message; Cc and Bcc when you need them; drafts you can save and pick up later; attachments from your photo library, the camera, or Files; and a From selector when you have more than one account connected. The phone is not a read-only companion to the desktop. It is the same client.
Notifications that know the difference
Push notifications are split by type. Once you allow them, the defaults are opinionated. Humans, bills, bookings, updates, and notifications are on. Newsletters are off, because a newsletter is rarely the reason to pick up a phone.
You can change each one in settings. The point is that Faraday already knows which of those a message is, so it can ask you once instead of buzzing for everything.
TestFlight is not the launch party. It is the last honest conversation before it.
What TestFlight means, honestly
This is a real build, and it is still a beta. Expect a rough edge or two: a layout that needs another pass, a gesture that is slower than it should be, a screen that has not met every kind of email yet. That is what the next few weeks are for.
Apple expires TestFlight builds after 90 days. Updates arrive through TestFlight, so keep the app installed and accept the new build when it appears. If something breaks, send feedback from inside TestFlight, with a screenshot if you can. It reaches the people who can fix it.
Nothing is held back for the store version. This is the app, delivered early, so you can use it now instead of waiting out a review queue.
The App Store version is still ahead. When it is ready, it will be the same app with fewer rough edges, not a different product.
The same Faraday, on the account you already have
Faraday is still an email client, not a provider. You sign in with the Gmail, Google Workspace, or Outlook account you already use on the web and the Mac. The address does not change, the mail does not move, and the plan does not change.
That also means the iPhone app inherits what Faraday already is: AES-256 encryption, ESOF certification, and no training on your email. The phone did not need a new account to be useful. It needed the inbox you already had, in the minutes you are not at a desk.
Android is next
This TestFlight is the iPhone build. Android is built from the same app and gets its own note when its build is ready to try. One product, two platforms; the iPhone simply got to the door first.
Go get it
The link works for anyone, and it is one tap from here: faraday.email/download/ios. If you have never used Faraday, start with the phone announcement for the thinking behind the app, or the best email app for iPhone for how it compares. Mac users can read how that app arrived in Faraday for Mac.
If you are carrying Gmail, Superhuman, and Spark on an iPhone to cover the whole day, this is the release that lets one of them go: the Superhuman alternative, the Spark comparison, and the best AI email clients are the honest versions of that argument.
The phone was the request that kept coming back. It is in your pocket now, with a link that works for anyone. Diwali came early this year.
If you still have questions, we might have answered all of them below for you.
Is Faraday on the App Store yet?
Not yet. The iPhone app is live on TestFlight, Apple's beta programme, and anyone with the link can install it. The App Store release comes after the beta has done its job.
How do I install Faraday on my iPhone?
Install TestFlight from the App Store first, then open faraday.email/download/ios again on the iPhone, tap Accept, then Install. Sign in with Google or Outlook when the app opens.
Which iPhones and iOS versions are supported?
The build runs on iPhone with iOS 16.4 or later. That is the same floor the app is developed against, not a marketing cutoff.
Do I need a new email account for the iPhone app?
No. Faraday is a client for the Gmail, Google Workspace, or Outlook account you already use. The phone app signs in to that account. Nothing moves and the address stays the same.
Is the iPhone app free?
Faraday is free for a week, then the same plan as the web and Mac. The phone is included; there is no separate mobile subscription.
What is missing from the TestFlight build?
It is a beta, not a preview: the core inbox is here and the polish is still landing. Expect rough edges, and expect the same app in the App Store later. TestFlight builds also expire after 90 days; accept the next build when TestFlight offers it so the app keeps working.
Is there an Android version?
Android is built from the same app, and it is not part of this TestFlight. It gets its own note when a build is ready to try.
Does Faraday work with Hotmail or Outlook.com on iPhone?
Yes. Hotmail is Outlook.com, and Faraday signs in with that Microsoft account. If mail has stopped arriving, fix delivery first with the Hotmail not receiving emails checklist, then connect the app.
