Meet Alto, The Gmail Replacement You Won't Believe Was Made By AOL

The numbers seem to show declines in Web-based email aren't worth fighting. Teens don't like to use email and older adults check their email in apps on their phones.

Across the entire Internet, Web-based email was up a mere 1% in September 2012 over September 2011. AOL Mail is down 8%. Yahoo Mail is down 16%. Hotmail is down 18%.

But there is one piece of evidence that shows good Web-based email design can still attract new users, if only from other services.

That evidence: Google's widely-lauded Web-based email product, Gmail, is up 14% year-over-year.

And so, in an effort to recapture some of that audience, AOL has released a new Web-based email app.

It's called Alto.

It's not a Web-based email provider. There are no @alto.com email addresses yet.

Alto is an inbox-replacement for your current email address. You can read your Gmail and Yahoo Mail there. You can also import Facebook and Twitter content.