Apple iOS 16 introduces improvements across the board, polishing the excellent tools introduced in last year’s iOS 15. Among the numerous improved features sits Mail, the unsung hero of the iPhone app ecosystem. Mail does its job quietly and unremarkably, yet serves as a workhorse for productive iPhone users who communicate via email. With iOS 16, Mail receives subtle improvements that add up to a marked improvement in function and comfort.
Admittedly, some of these changes are features that have been a part of Google’s Gmail kit for some time now. They may not seem very significant at a glance, but they elevate Mail to be more on-par with what you would expect from Google’s popular email service. We’ll look at five of these excellent changes.
1. Smart Search Corrections and Suggestions
Smart Search is a long-standing Mail feature that offers suggestions alongside your top search results. This effectively widens your search to include more potential hits when you’re looking for a contact or particular email. With iOS 16, the AI corrects typos, and includes synonyms for your search terms. For example, type “doc” in the search bar, and you get suggestions for Google Docs, document attachments, and file attachments. This is excellent when you’re searching for a thread about a particular topic or subject, but can’t quite remember the specifics.
2. Recipient and Attachment Reminders
We’ve all sent out an email without an attachment, or forgot to add a recipient; iOS 16 aims to keep us from repeating those flubs. Previously, Mail alerted you to the fact that you were sending an email without a subject line, but now it also notifies you when you’ve forgotten a recipient or an attachment.
3. Undo Sent Email
(Credit: Apple)
On a related point, you can now unsend an email. If you happen to send an email before it’s ready, or you add the wrong recipient to the thread, you now have a 30-second window to undo it. Immediately after sending an email, an Undo Send prompt appears on the bottom of the screen. Tap that and then Cancel, so that Mail rescinds your email and saves it in Drafts.
4. Scheduling Emails
This may seem ho-hum if you’re used to whipping up emails in other platforms, but scheduling emails now comes baked into iOS 16. By long-pressing the Send arrow, you can select a time to schedule an email to be sent. Pick from default times (9PM Tonight, 8AM Tomorrow), or select a precise date and time with the Send Later option.
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5. Remind Yourself to Read later
It’s easy to read an email and promptly forget about it. Apple’s iOS 16 gives you the option to remind you about select emails, which bumps them to the top of your inbox at a designated time. Select the Reply arrow when looking at an email, then scroll down to Remind Me. You can have Mail remind you in an hour, later that night, the next day, or at a specific date and time. These emails also appear in their own unique Remind Me folder for easier reading.
Apple iOS 16 comes with a suite of excellent changes, which you can read about in our iOS 16 review. And check out our impressions on the iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura betas.
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