In case you have an email account with your own domain name and not a 3rd-party one, you will be able to use an email software app such as Apple Mail, Thunderbird or Outlook to check and administer your emails. The advantage of using such apps is that they also offer other features, such as address books and calendars. There are two different email retrieval protocols that you can select from when you configure the app of your choosing to access your mailbox – POP3 and IMAP. With the first one, all messages that are received will be downloaded on your device – mobile or desktop, unless you opt to save a copy on the server. With the second protocol, the email messages will be displayed locally at your end, but they will stay on the server all the time, so you can set up the email account on numerous devices and check the messages from any place. You will also be able to view old emails if there’s a predicament with your Internet service, which is a huge advantage over a web-based service.