Overview

Why MBOX Reader?

MBOX files are common email exports from Gmail, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, and other mail tools. They are useful for backups, legal review, migration checks, and old mailbox archives, but they are not convenient to inspect on mobile devices.

MBOX Reader opens a selected archive read-only, builds an on-device message index, groups messages by mailbox labels where possible, and gives you a clean native interface for reading messages and attachments.

The app keeps the archive under your control. It uses Apple's document picker and security-scoped bookmarks for recently opened files instead of uploading mailbox content to a developer server.

Features

Built for Mail Archives

Open MBOX and MIME Archives

Select an archive from Files, iCloud Drive, external storage, or another document provider. The parser reads the file locally, indexes messages, and keeps the source archive read-only.

Folders, Labels and Message Counts

Browse an All Messages view plus labels and folder-style groupings from common mailbox headers such as Gmail labels, keywords, and original folder metadata.

Search Sender, Subject and Body

Search inside the selected folder across sender, recipients, subject, and message body. Sort by date, sender, or subject, and filter views such as flagged messages and messages with attachments.

HTML and Plain Text Reading

Read MIME messages with structured headers, recipients, dates, raw headers, inline content, and a native message view. JavaScript is disabled in rendered HTML messages.

Attachment Preview and Export

Preview and save attachments using system tools. Share emails as PDF on iPhone and iPad, or HTML on Mac, with temporary files kept in the system temporary directory.

Recent Files and Sample Mailbox

Recent archives stay one tap away through security-scoped bookmarks. A bundled sample mailbox lets you explore the app before opening your own archive.

Native Layouts for Every Screen

Use a compact iPhone flow, split-view iPad layout, and a Mac interface with mailbox sidebar, message list, detail pane, settings window, and separate message windows.

Privacy-First by Design

No account, no analytics SDK, no advertising SDK, and no developer upload service. Mailbox processing happens on your device; StoreKit is used only for premium purchases.

Under the Hood

Built With

Swift SwiftUI StoreKit 2 Keychain WebKit QuickLook UniformTypeIdentifiers MIME Parser

A native Swift parser scans MBOX separators, decodes headers, builds folder buckets, parses MIME bodies, extracts attachments, and tracks message counts without sending mailbox data to a backend.

Premium is verified with StoreKit 2. Free users can read up to 10 messages per day; Premium removes the daily read limit through monthly, yearly, or lifetime options.

Pricing

Free to Start

Free

Open MBOX archives
Browse folders and message lists
Read up to 10 messages per day
Use the bundled sample mailbox
Recent files and local settings

Premium

Unlimited messages per day
Full mailbox search workflow
Attachment preview and export workflow
Monthly and yearly subscriptions
Lifetime purchase option

Purchases are managed by Apple. Cancel subscriptions anytime.

The free plan is enough to inspect occasional messages. Premium is for larger mailbox review sessions.

MBOX Reader