Many iPhone , iPad , and iPod touch users have sundry feelings about Io ’s Mail app . On the whole , it ’s one of the best mobile electronic mail customer , making it easy to record and respond to e-mail . But it ’s also missing many of the features you ’ve issue forth to expect from electronic mail clients on the desktop . We evidently should n’t expect the same level of functionality from a mobile app as we do from a Mac app , but the fact that we use Io Mailso muchmakes it an easy target area for criticism .
The good news is that Io ’s Mail keeps getting beneficial . In iOS 4 , the Mail appreceived a act of updatesthat significantly ameliorate its public utility company . IniOS 5 , Apple has continued the vogue by tot a phone number of feature that user have been request . Here ’s a agile look at the major improvements .
More formatting and quoting options
Prior to iOS 5 , messages you created in Mail were limited to plain textual matter . In iOS 5 , we finally get some basic formatting choice , though it ’s not obvious where to detect them . Select a word or a city block of textual matter , and a popover appears ; tap the right - face arrow at the remainder of the popover , and you get several new options . The button pronounce BIU give you three formatting options : Bold , Italic , and Underline . Tap one to apply it ; you may apply multiple options — say , bluff and italic — by tapping each . To dismiss the formatting options , just exploit anywhere outside the menu .
ring armor in Io 5 permit you style school text : Just choose it and tap the right arrow in the popover , tap BIU , and then choose the data formatting .
Another welcome data formatting choice for forthcoming message is that you could now manually increase or lessen the quotation level — the telephone number of indentation and quote - level indicator — for any line of text edition ( where line means any block of text uninterrupted by a paragraph interruption , a passenger car return , or a knockout return ) . As with the aforementioned textual matter - arrange option , this feature is a bit inter . wiretap and hold or double - tap anywhere in the target text edition , and then tap the the right way - facing pointer in the popover that appears . Tap Quote Level and then tap diminution or Increase as many times as is necessary to accomplish the desired inverted comma level . ( Even if you ’ve tapped or highlight text in the middle of a telephone circuit or paragraph , the citation level will be applied to the entire line or paragraph of text edition . )
Mail in iOS 5 lets you style text: Just select it and tap the right arrow in the popover, tap BIU, and then choose the formatting.
you could now increase or decrease the quotation mark degree of text in an email subject matter : spigot in the text edition and tip the right arrow in the popover , pat Quote Level , and then rap Decrease or Increase .
If you prefer to never increase the quotation mark level of existing school text when you reply to or frontward an email subject matter , you ’ll appreciate the fresh Increase Quote degree scope , which you could disable in the Mail , Contacts , Calendars CRT screen of the configurations app .
Search More
Tap the All button when performing a search in Mail , and the body of each message is now searched , in addition to the head .
You ’ve long been able to explore the From , To , and Subject fields of message in iOS ’s chain mail . But Io 5 lets you seek the dead body of messages , as well . When using the hunt theatre ( which you access by scrolling up past the first substance in any mailbox ) , just type your search term and choose the All choice . subject matter that agree the hunting appear in the tilt below ; Mail even searches messages on the mail server . However , in our testing , the feature did n’t work with every email account statement ; for example , it worked well with MobileMe and Yahoo email account , but not with Gmail account .
Message flagging and status
We ’ve long wished for the capability to ease off messages for later action . In iOS 5 , Apple has at last added backing for viewing and toggle message flags , although the feature is n’t yet on a equality with the flesh out drooping characteristic of Mail in Lion .
When viewing a receive message with the cope detail visible — if you see a Details link to the right of the From theater of operations , rap the link to view the elaborated coping — tap Mark , which is to the right wing of the message date and time . You ’ll see a popover listing Flag and Mark As Unread ( or Read ) . Tap Flag and a standard post flag is applied to the substance . The message will now display a pocket-sized , red flag next to the Mark tie-in when viewing the message , and to the leftfield of the message in any message list — in both Io ’s Mail and OS X ’s Mail , as well as in other background and Web email clients that support flags .
Mail in Io now lets you flag message , just as your desktop Mail client does .
You can now increase or decrease the quote level of text in an email message: Tap in the text and tap the right arrow in the popover, tap Quote Level, and then tap Decrease or Increase.
However , while Lion ’s adaptation of Mail lets you apply one of eight different flag colors , iOS 5 ’s Mail supports only a single flagstone type . If you ’re using Lion ’s multiple flags , our testing shows discrepant result when view such flagged messages in iOS 5 : When you apply a pin to a content on your iOS gimmick , that message evidence up with a reddened masthead in Lion Mail . But when you apply a flag other than ruddy in Lion Mail , sometimes the message will display a red signal flag in iOS Mail , and sometimes it wo n’t display a iris at all . We suspect this is an issue Apple will be ironing out in a future update to iOS 5 .
The other welcome lineament , related to both flag and message position , is that you’re able to now transfer the read position of multiple messages , and flag and unflag multiple messages , simultaneously . When viewing any message tilt , tap the Edit push and then tap each message for which you want to change status ; a white - on - crimson checkmark appears next to each substance you select . Tap Mark , and you may then tap Flag ( or Unflag ) to modify the messages ’ flagged status , or tap Mark As Read ( or Unread ) to exchange the message ’ read status .
Mailbox management
Another welcome characteristic iOS 5 brings to Mail is basic mailbox management for IMAP and Exchange accounts . When take in the mailbox list for an individual account , tap the Edit button at the top of the list . You immediately notice a New Mailbox button at the bottom of the inclination . Tap this push , and you’re able to give the new mailbox ( folder ) a name ; you’re able to even determine where in that account ’s mailbox hierarchy — at the root layer , or inside another letter box — the new mailbox should repose . rap Save and the new letter box instantly appears in the account . Tap Done to exit Edit modality .
tapdance the Edit clit while see a Mail account ’s mailbox listing , and you could edit existing mailbox and create new postbox .
But you could also edit exist mailboxes . While in Edit mode , tap a letter box and you get options to rename the letter box , move it to a dissimilar localisation within the report ( you ca n’t move a letter box between accounts ) , or erase it ( along with all messages it contains ! ) . Tap Save when you ’ve finished , or Cancel to cancel the changes .
Tap the All button when performing a search in Mail, and the body of each message is now searched, in addition to the headers.
Miscellaneous changes
Among the minor - but - utile feature scatter around iOS 5 ’s chain armour is the capableness to drag recipient role between the To , Cc , and Bcc field when addressing a message . Just tap once in any of these fields to turn recipients into blue capsule - like detail ( Apple send for them tokens ) , and then tap and hold a recipient ’s name to make it draggable . you may then embroil the recipient ’s name between fields , or even just to a dissimilar location within the same champaign .
Mail in Io 5 lets you drag recipient names between the To , Cc , and Bcc field of study .
Mail also now include an Archive Messages option for MobileMe and iCloud accounts . With this choice enable , deleted subject matter are saved to an Archive folder within each account . former support for archiving messages in Gmail accounts remains , as well .
Mail in iOS now lets you flag messages, just as your desktop Mail client does.
Also novel in iOS 5 ’s Mail , Contacts , and Calendar configurations ( in the configurations app ) is a My Info choice for choose your own contact record . Although we have n’t yet figured out all the uses for this scene , we have discovered one : When create a location - base admonisher , your place and work addresses are mechanically filled in base on the information in the contact you take here . As for other modest changes , the Advanced preferences screen for an electronic mail news report now include a new security choice ( under Authentication ) for Apple Token , as well as an option to set S / MIME to On or Off .
System-wide improvements inherited
Mail also benefits from a few organization - blanket feature of speech new to iOS 5 . Perhaps the most significant is Io 5’snew notifications organisation . you’re able to now be give notice of new email subject matter using any of iOS 5 ’s alert styles , and those notifications can include message previews .
Mail also inherits a few system features that are useable whenever you ’re working with text . For example , if you want to see the definition of a word , just double - tap the word to pick out it , then tap the right - facing arrow button that appears ; knock Define and you get a popover displaying the iOS dictionary ’s definition . ( regrettably , you do n’t get a synonym finder alternative , as you do in Mac OS X — an choice that would be useful when composing email . )
[ Dan Frakes is a senior editor program for Macworld . ]
Tap the Edit button while viewing a Mail account’s mailbox listing, and you can edit existing mailboxes and create new mailboxes.
iOS 5
Mail in iOS 5 lets you drag recipient names between the To, Cc, and Bcc fields.
