SpamSieve 3
A spam filter for email that trains as it works
SpamSieve never stops learning, and training it is both quick and simple
$39.99 (about £40) FROM c-command.com/spamsieve NEEDS macOS 10.13 or later
Unfortunately, if you’ve got email, you’ve got spam. Although Apple’s Mail and Microsoft Outlook both have a go at filtering junk and unwanted messages, it isn’t their strong suit. That’s where you turn to SpamSieve, an app and extension to both, and train it to sort wanted messages from ads and phishing attacks.
SpamSieve goes back almost as far as Mac OS X, and was first released for 10.2 Jaguar, 21 years ago. Over that time it has established itself as the only spam filter worth using, and version 3 builds on that success. While this is a required update if you want to continue using SpamSieve in Sonoma, it has been extensively improved, now runs as a Mail extension, and is simpler to set up with Outlook.
When used with Mail, it defaults to moving spam to the Junk mailbox, and you can opt for it to move the most spammy messages straight into the Bin, to let you concentrate on classifying more marginal mail accurately. It can also filter messages in mailboxes other than your Inbox, such as those moved using rules. New in version 3 is the option for SpamSieve to colour the background of Mail messages according to how spammy each is.
SpamSieve never stops learning, and training it is quick and simple; select one or more messages and either use its menu bar commands or Dock icon to classify them as ‘good’ or ‘spam’. You’ll be surprised how quickly this is reflected in improving accuracy. Those messages are then used to build its Corpus, the database it uses to classify further messages. It also uses known addresses in Contacts, and has an allowlist and blocklist. When you need to change Mac, you can readily transfer its Corpus and settings to your new system. If the type or pattern of spam changes, provided that you take a few moments to classify those messages, SpamSieve adapts. You can always teach this old dog new tricks.
All-round support
In addition to its full support for Apple Mail and Microsoft Outlook, SpamSieve 3 also works directly with Airmail, GyazMail, MailMate, PowerMail and others. Alternatively you can set it up to work through the Mail app with web mail accounts that use POP, IMAP or Exchange protocols, such as Gmail. SpamSieve then filters the mail in those mail accounts whenever Apple’s Mail app is running.
As well as being one of the longest-serving macOS apps, SpamSieve is one of its bestsupported. It comes with a 320-page PDF manual covering absolutely everything there is to know, including detailed tips on how to disable built-in spam filtering on several web mail services, and that’s backed by excellent technical support. Howard Oakley