Most email tools stop at sending and receiving. The Aptly Inbox is built for teams who manage relationships, so every conversation can be assigned, followed, tracked, commented on, and turned into the work it creates: cards, tasks, events and knowledge. This article walks through each power feature and how to use it.
Every feature below starts the same way: open a conversation from any inbox view. The conversation toolbar sits above the thread, the details pane sits to the right, and the composer bar (Reply All, Forward, Comment) sits at the bottom.
Assigning conversations
Assign a conversation to the teammate who owns it. Assigned conversations show up in that person's Assigned to me view, and the assignment is recorded in the conversation history.
- Open the conversation.
- Click the assignee avatar next to the status badge in the conversation header. If nobody is assigned yet, the avatar is empty.
- Search or scroll the Assign list and pick a teammate. Choose Unassigned to clear it.
Tips: use the Assignee button in the view toolbar to assign several conversations at once after pressing Select, or press Option + A to open the assign menu from the keyboard. In Table view, the Assignee column can be changed inline.
Following conversations
Following keeps you in the loop on a conversation without being its owner. Anything you follow appears in your Following view (previously called Shared with Me), and you can share a conversation with teammates so it appears in theirs.
- Open the conversation.
- Click the share icon next to the assignee avatar in the conversation header.
- In Conversation Shared With, press + Invite and choose the teammates who should follow the thread.
Teammates you mention in a comment are added automatically. You can also press Option + U to unfollow a conversation.
Email tracking
Every email your team sends from Aptly is tracked. Next to each sent message in the thread you will see an eye icon with a count showing how many times the recipient has opened it.
- Open a conversation with messages your team has sent.
- Look for the eye icon and number in the message header, for example 0 before it has been opened.
- Open Aptly's notifications (the bell in the app header) to see Email Opened alerts as they happen.
Tracking is automatic. There is nothing to turn on per message.
Shared drafts
Drafts in Aptly live on the conversation, not in a private folder, so anyone on the team with access to the inbox can pick up where a colleague left off.
- Open the conversation and press Reply All (or Send Text for SMS).
- Write your reply. Aptly saves it as you type.
- Press Close to leave the draft on the thread. If you press Discard, choose Save in the confirmation to keep it.
- The draft appears in the thread with a Draft badge. Any teammate can open the conversation, click the draft, edit it and send it.
To save a reply for reuse across conversations, pop the composer out and press Save Reply. Saved replies are inserted with Insert Reply.
Commenting on conversations
Comments are internal notes on the thread. Customers never see them, and they are the fastest way to loop in a colleague.
- Open the conversation and press Comment at the bottom right of the composer bar (or press Option + M).
- Type your note. Use @ to mention a teammate; they get a notification and start following the conversation.
- Use the toolbar to add an image, formatting, a link or an emoji, then submit.
Comments show inline in the thread with a yellow background, and the Comments column in Table view shows which conversations have them.
Creating cards from conversations
Turn a conversation into a card on any board, for example a maintenance request, a lead, or a collections case. The conversation is linked to the card and visible from the card's Related tab.
- Open the conversation.
- Click the Create Card icon in the conversation toolbar (or press Option + C).
- Read the linking notice and press Proceed.
- In Create New Card, choose a Board, fill in the card fields and press Save.
To link the conversation to a card that already exists, use + in the Cards section of the details pane and choose an existing card. Linked cards appear in the pane and in the Related cards column in Table view.
Creating tasks from conversations
Tasks capture the follow up a conversation needs, with an owner and a due date, and they stay attached to the thread.
- Open the conversation.
- Click the Create Task icon in the conversation toolbar, or press + next to Tasks in the details pane.
- In New Task, enter a title, choose an assignee, set a priority and a due date, then press Create.
Tasks linked to the conversation appear in the Tasks section of the details pane, in the Linked tasks column in Table view, and in the assignee's Tasks panel in the app header. Overdue tasks are flagged in red.
Creating events from conversations
Schedule a call, showing or meeting straight from the thread. The contact is added as a guest automatically.
- Open the conversation.
- In the details pane, press + next to Events and choose New (or Choose Existing to link an event already on the calendar).
- In Select Meeting Time, pick a slot on the calendar, then complete the Meeting Details on the right: calendar, title, date and time, guests, location and description.
- Press Save.
The event appears in the Events section of the pane and on the calendar you chose.
Creating knowledge documents from conversations
When a conversation contains an answer your team will need again, turn it into a knowledge page so the AI agent and your teammates can reuse it.
- Open the conversation.
- Press the AI assistant icon in the conversation toolbar (or the sparkle at the bottom right of the composer bar).
- On the Conversation tab, press Create page. The assistant drafts a page from the thread, which you can edit before saving.
You can also press + next to Knowledge in the details pane to start a blank page linked to the conversation, or use the Knowledge tab of the AI assistant to see pages already related to the thread.
Drafting responses with AI
Let the AI assistant write the first version so you only need to review and send.
- Open the conversation.
- Press the AI assistant icon in the conversation toolbar, or press Reply All and use the sparkle inside the composer.
- Choose a quick action: Write a first draft, Draft a follow-up, Write a polite decline or Make it professional. Or type your own instruction in Ask me anything, for example "Reply confirming the showing on Thursday at 2pm."
- Review the draft, insert it into the composer, edit as needed and press Send.
The assistant reads the whole thread and the contact's synced data, so it can answer questions about the resident, owner or property as well as draft the reply. The same panel can summarize the email, list action items, extract key dates and create tasks.
Keyboard shortcuts for power users
Open Keyboard Commands at the bottom of the inbox sidebar for the full list. The ones that matter most here: Option + A assign, Option + C create card, Option + M add comment, Option + H flag, Option + S snooze, Option + T add topic, Option + U unfollow, Option + B AI summary.