Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, iPod touch
iPhone mail: the sequel
In my post yesterday I whined quite a bit about how it was hard to get control of mail on the iPhone 
because there was not a unified mailbox. The post obviously struck a nerve, because there were lots of responses and in our little poll most people seemed to agree that mail was pretty much a mess and needed some love from the Apple development team.
There were also many people who made very valid comments about other things that were missing from mail, and I wanted to share those as well. Here they are, in no particular order.
Thanks to all who participated in the poll -- even those who thought everything was just dandy in iPhone mail.
because there was not a unified mailbox. The post obviously struck a nerve, because there were lots of responses and in our little poll most people seemed to agree that mail was pretty much a mess and needed some love from the Apple development team.There were also many people who made very valid comments about other things that were missing from mail, and I wanted to share those as well. Here they are, in no particular order.
- Mail needs to allow searching. With a lot of messages things are difficult to find. (The people who invented Spotlight on OS X shouldn't find that too difficult)
- People want individual signatures for each email account. Again, not rocket science.
- Many readers wanted to see quick on-screen buttons to move expeditiously from one mail account to another.
- Others wanted to make sure accounts stayed separate. I agree with this, I just wanted a visual or virtual joining of the messages so I would not have to finger dance all over the screen to navigate between accounts. In other words, the way it works in Apple Mail in Leopard.
- Finally, as with all things software, people wanted software switches to turn these features on and off.
Thanks to all who participated in the poll -- even those who thought everything was just dandy in iPhone mail.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Chris B said 7:30AM on 12-10-2008
I would like an option to mark emails as read rather than having to open each message individually. So many basic issues to resolve all over the iPhone. If these are sorted I'll be overjoyed. I emailed my list of suggestions to Apple, just to add my thoughts/ vote. Come on Apple... please... don't make me go back to BlackBerry... I am tempted.
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Izzy said 11:07AM on 12-10-2008
Amen, that's my biggest peeve.
I prefer my accounts separate as they are each used for different types of senders.
Anders Omel said 7:34AM on 12-10-2008
While Apple are doing housecleening, the music player needs a sequal too!
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Dorv said 7:58AM on 12-10-2008
I'd really REALLY like to see the ability to flag items for follow up. I had a mobile client that did this before (chatter email), and I found it invaluable. 75% of the email you get is FYI kind of stuff, but 25% requires you to do something, more often than not, when you return to your desk. This ability makes this process easy.
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Justin said 9:40AM on 12-10-2008
I agree. In the meantime, I'll just "mark as unread" until I get back to my lappy. Kinda annoying when you look and see "ooh 2 new mails" but they're just being saved for later.. but it works :)
Gavin Jones said 8:02AM on 12-10-2008
I would like the ability to have an on-screen notification of any emails waiting for me like you do when you have a missed call or text message so that I dont need to unlock my phone to see if I have any emails waiting.
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Zyber said 1:25PM on 12-10-2008
Yes, I totally agree w/ that. I'd love to have a "today/news" scren. How about making that screen accessible by 3 party apps too, for example my weather app (fizz weather) could display me current weather on the "today" screen, right below my current chat/missed messages in BeeJive.
Jim C said 8:14AM on 12-10-2008
How about the ability to read/compose emails in landscape mode?
How about the ability to flag outgoing mail as 'read receipt requested' (needed in Mac Mail too)
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nicleT said 11:03AM on 12-10-2008
Exactly my thoughts.
neilkachu said 8:21AM on 12-10-2008
>Gavin Jones
Can be done on jailbroken phones via statusNotifier puts call,sms&mail notification icons up in the top status bar next to the battery indicator, ery useful, especially if you have it password locked.
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Meatleg said 4:06PM on 12-11-2008
THANKS for that tip! I love having those notifications at the top of my screen now!
MadLogic said 8:25AM on 12-10-2008
I would like the ability to check my HOTMAIL, I don't use yahoo or gmail, sorry, I just like to stick to one, I don't need multiple accounts, my hotmail handles it all quite well. After I have the ability to have a 'push' Hotmail account, then I can review how well that works..........................wish I could get it for Christmas.
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david said 10:42AM on 12-10-2008
unfortunately this is on hotmail's side, not Apple's
trish said 8:24AM on 12-10-2008
Sorry if this has been asked & answered before. But what happened to the "mark as unread" button that used to be at the top when you'd read a message. It just disappeared and I don't remember any update happening between having it and then suddenly not having it. What gives?
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Justin said 9:42AM on 12-10-2008
trish, click on "Details", it'll show up.
destructo said 8:29AM on 12-10-2008
...and a junk mail filter!
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Joshua said 8:35AM on 12-10-2008
I understand that Apple may not want to focus their development on Mail or other business needs for the iPhone. But I would love the option to purchase an app that would do all of the features that you listed. I currently use an app that allows me to type email in landscape mode, but is more of a hack then a working solution.
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Andrew said 8:38AM on 12-10-2008
It is not email, but how about a topic on the calendar - Anyone that uses the iPhone for work can NOT dial a con call from the calendar. I had a con call with an 800 number, then a 10 digit access code, then a pin - time to get out pencil and paper.
Maybe the iPhone should have a stylus; then i can get a 3rd party one with a pencil/pen at the other end.
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Victor said 9:54AM on 12-10-2008
A good feature would be a "Mark ALL as read"!!!
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phil said 10:10AM on 12-10-2008
I want pictures from mail to save to the camera roll WITHOUT being blurred after 2.2 update!! Unbelieveable.
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