The Bottom Line
Pros
- VacuumMail makes Mac OS X Mail perform faster by optimizing its database
- Working with launchd, VacuumMail can be scheduled flexibly and run automatized
Cons
- VacuumMail lacks an easy way to uninstall itself
- Progress is not shown while VacuumMail runs (not VacuumMail's fault, but would be nice)
Description
- VacuumMail optimizes the Mac OS X Mail message envelope database for speed.
- The database is used to build mailboxes and perform searches confined to email headers (subjects, senders,...).
- VacuumMail can be run manually or on a schedule using the OS X launchd daemon.
- When Mail is running, VacuumMail offers to quit it (or exit), and will restart it after the optimization.
- Technically, VacuumMail runs the SQLite "vacuum" command.
- VacuumMail supports Mac OS X 10.4.
Guide Review - VacuumMail 0.9.6 - Mac OS X Mail Add-On
To display mailboxes quickly and to enable smart folders, Mail keeps essential message data in a database. Over time, the data become entangled and intertwined — the database fragments like a disk.
Fortunately, the database can reorganize itself for speedy access. Unfortunately, Mail never tells it to do so.
Enter VacuumMail. Run either on demand or scheduled smartly using launchd (a system service that can run applications on start-up, for example, or using flexible intervals), VacuumMail shuts down Mail if running, cleans up the database and re-starts Mail.
For good measure, VacuumMail comes with Lingon, a comfortable way to edit VacuumMail's launchd schedule (the default weekly interval might be a bit short). Chances are Mail will start faster and open mailboxes swifter, too.
