Make Shortwave your AI Assistant
SHORTWAVE A Google/Google Workspace account
SHORTWAVE IS THE CREATION of a number of ex-Google developers, who seem to be reaching for the holy grail of helping users organize their email inbox once and for all. The good news is that if you’re on PC, there’s no downloadable client to install; you only need to sign in via your Google account.
Shortwave makes use of ‘bundles’ and ‘labels’ to categorize messages into rows. You can also schedule delivery of messages so that your device isn’t pinging every few seconds.
The recent inclusion of an AI assistant allows for quick summaries of message lists, scheduling reminders and even drafting suitable replies, automating the headache of navigating through dozens of messages at a time.
In this guide, you’ll discover how to get started with Shortwave, group your messages neatly into categories, and even let AI do the hard work of scheduling appointments and drafting messages for you. –NATHAN JORDAN
1
SET UP SHORTWAVE
To use Shortwave, you need to have a Google/Google Workspace account, though the developers hope to support more providers in future.
» Although mobile versions are available, to get started on your PC simply head to https://shortwave.com and click ‘Sign in with Gmail’ > ‘Sign in with Google’ to begin. As you do so, make sure you pay close attention to the permissions required by Shortwave, as naturally it needs to be able to view, edit, and send emails. [ Image A]
» Upon first logging in, you’ll notice a new email entitled ‘Welcome to Shortwave’. Get started by clicking into this. Here,
you’ll see the developers’ bold claim that you can hit ‘Inbox zero’ by marking certain items as ‘Done’. Once you’ve read through this, click the checkbox in the topright corner to mark this email as actioned. There’s also a corresponding button in the top right of the main inbox to mark emails as ‘All Done’.
» If you do return to the main inbox, you’ll notice that certain emails have been grouped together in horizontal rows that Shortwave calls ‘ Bundles’. These offer a quick and easy way to view emails in a similar category. Bundles are automatically determined by Shortwave, but you can add and configure them further.
» Take a moment to click into one of these, eg. ‘Newsletters’, to view listed messages. Click the settings icon next to the bundle name. From here, you can choose to disable bundling messages like these. [ Image B]
» Another great aspect of Shortwave is the ability to configure how and when certain messages are delivered. Click ‘Immediately’ in the Settings menu to manage the delivery schedule to your inbox, eg. daily at 8am. You can also enable or disable push notifications from here.
» You can add an email to an existing bundle by opening it, then clicking options (...) > Label. Scroll down and check your chosen bundle, eg. ‘Newsletters’, as well as ‘Apply Changes to Future Messages’. [ Image C]
2
DO MORE WITH BUNDLES
Shortwave not only groups emails together for you via email; it can also provide you with a summary of all messages via the AI assistant.
» To see this in action, open any Bundle once again, and hit the button marked ‘Summarize this Bundle’ in the top right. This will open the AI assistant. [ Image D]
» Once you’ve read through the summaries, use Ctrl + J to close the assistant (you can also summon it in the same way).
» Currently, the AI can’t actually create bundles or labels for you, but you can easily do so yourself—eg. for messages from the same sender, simply by opening an email then options (...) > ‘Bundle Threads like this’.
» Shortwave will display a notification saying that this feature is currently disabled. Click ‘Turn bundling on’ to continue. You can also create a dedicated label for your bundle by opening it, choosing more options (...) > Label > then typing the new name. Choose ‘Bundle in Inbox’ in the configuration screen to display the newly named bundle. [ Image E]
» You can also use shortcuts to access common bundles. Simply hit ‘+’ in the left-hand pane. In the search field, enter ‘label:
» In order to fine-tune your inbox even further, click the Settings option in the bottom left corner of the screen. First, select ‘Turn On’ under ‘Enable Notifications’ to enable push notifications. Next, select ‘Inbox Settings’ to access your label and contact rules.
» This essentially is a quick and easy way to manage how and when emails from various contacts and/or bundles are delivered to your inbox. Click ‘Immediately’ under ‘Deliver to Inbox’ on each of these to amend the delivery schedule. Note that you can choose ‘Never’ so that certain types of email don’t automatically appear in your inbox.
3
ARMING UP WITH AI
Shortly after signing up for Shortwave, you’ll have received an email from the developers inviting you to upgrade. This provides a good opportunity to learn how the AI assistant can schedule reminders. Simply open the email, then invoke the Assistant with Ctrl+J. Give it a simple prompt, such as: ‘Please set a reminder for me in 30 days to upgrade Shortwave if it’s working for me.’
» The AI Assistant will explain that it needs access to your Google Calendar. Click ‘Grant Google Calendar Permissions’ to sign in via your account.
» Next, enter your request to the AI assistant to set the reminder once more. This will appear in the chat pane. Click ‘Create Event’ to confirm.
» The AI assistant really comes into its own when helping you reply to emails. To get started, open a message, and hit Ctrl + J. If you’re happy with a bland, GPT- like response, you can just enter the command: ‘Write a Reply to this thread from scratch.’ [ Image G]. Paid subscribers can train the assistant to their writing style and provide prompts about responses, like starting an email with ‘Hey’.
» You can also have the assistant provide a more tailored response, eg. ‘Please write a reply thanking them for importing the emails. Tell them I plan to evaluate Shortwave for a month before I begin training for my mission to Mars.’
» If you’re unhappy with the response, you can provide prompts, such as ‘Make shorter’ or ‘Make Less Formal’. The free version of the assistant supports a range of writing styles, even ‘Pirate English’.
» Once you’re happy with the text, click ‘Insert Draft’. Although the text is inserted into the email, you have to click ‘Send’ yourself or ‘Schedule Send’ to send later.