The release of iOS 18.2 is monumental for Apple users. Noteworthy enhancements from Apple Intelligence stand out, but the Mail app’s extensive redesign is also a key feature. Here’s everything you need to know about what’s new.
Revamped Mail App Resembles Messages More Closely
Upon accessing the Mail app on iOS 18.2, users will quickly notice the updated design. While the mailboxes interface remains familiar, significant modifications are apparent upon entering an inbox.
Visually, Apple now prioritizes showcasing contact photos for senders within your inbox. Gone are the days of merely seeing text; now, vibrant colors and images enhance the experience. Essentially, emails in your inbox resemble threads found in the Messages app, with sender photos displayed on the left.
This change correlates with Apple’s new Branded Mail features for businesses. Companies can now upload their logos to appear as contact images, not just in Mail, but also in the Phone app and the Apple Pay framework for contactless transactions. If a business has not yet uploaded an image, corresponding icons from Apple Maps will be shown instead.
Categories Introduce Significant Changes in Inbox Functionality
Beyond the inclusion of contact photos, iOS 18.2 introduces a vital overhaul in how your inbox is structured.
Apple Mail now automatically segments your inbox into four distinct categories, each with a title and a brief description:
- Primary: Discover the most important messages in Primary while organizing everything else efficiently.
- Transactions: Monitor your orders, including shipping and delivery notifications, arranged by sender.
- Updates: Keep track of various communications including newsletters and alerts in one convenient location.
- Promotions: Explore what’s new from recognized businesses and organizations.
Emails are sorted automatically as they arrive, and every category is further divided into two sections: ‘New Messages’ and ‘Older Messages.’
In a thoughtful addition, you can choose to modify Mail’s notification badge count to reflect only new messages in your Primary category, or retain the previous setting that counts all messages.
Training Mail’s System or Opting Out
If Apple’s categorization system places messages in categories that don’t suit your preference, you can opt to make manual adjustments that will remain effective in the future. There’s also an option to direct messages from specific senders to a category of your choice, rather than relying on Apple’s system.
For those who are less enthusiastic about the new categorization system, there are two ways to revert to an older unified inbox format:
- By default, the Mail app displays only the four specified categories. However, an ‘All Mail’ view remains accessible. Regardless of your active inbox category, swiping left will take you to the ‘All Mail’ view.
- Alternatively, if you wish to completely disable categories, simply tap the three dots in the top-right corner to switch from Categories to List View. This returns your inbox structure to its original format prior to iOS 18.2.
Grouping Messages in a Digest View
Additionally, another significant alteration to your inbox behavior has been implemented.
While the ‘All Mail’ view will display every individual email, the four new category divisions aim to enhance your inbox’s organization.
They achieve this by clustering messages from the same sender together and presenting a ‘Digest view,’ as illustrated above. However, similar to other features introduced in iOS 18.2, you have the flexibility to disable this functionality if you prefer.
Conclusion on iOS 18.2 Mail App
The Mail application stands out as one of the most widely used apps on the iPhone, yet it has historically seen few updates from Apple. The redesign in iOS 18.2 significantly changes this narrative.
I’ve found the revamped Mail app in the iOS 18.2 beta to be quite enjoyable, and I appreciate that Apple has given users the option to disable changes that might not work for them. Now that the Mail app has been updated for iPhones, I’m looking forward to similar enhancements on the iPad and Mac.
What do you think of the Mail app’s new design? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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