It’s that time again, Apple are set to release the latest version of their iOS in Autumn 2024. Similar to iOS 15, the iOS 18 update has sent shockwaves through the marketing landscape, particularly for email marketers.
The update will introduce enhancements to Apple Mail, giving users new ways to manage their inbox and stay up-to-date.
What are the new Mail app enhancements?
On-device categorisation
Similar to the likes of Gmail, the Mail app will be launching the on-device categorisation of emails with the aim of helping users find important information and efficiently manage their inboxes. Emails will be categorised by:
- Primary: personal and time-sensitive emails
- Transactions: confirmations and receipts
- Updates: news and social notifications
- Promotions: marketing emails and couponsÂ
Apple Mail will also feature a new view that pulls together all of the relevant emails from a business, helping users easily find what’s important at that moment.
Apple Intelligence email summaries
Apple Intelligence will unlock new ways for users to enhance their writing and communicate more effectively. Users can rewrite, proofread, and summarise text nearly everywhere, including Apple Mail.
Instead of displaying preview text or the first few lines of an email, the Mail app will show a ‘digest view’ of the email content, generated by the new AI capabilities, which may overwrite any preview text you set.
How to prepare for the roll-out
It’s hard to predict exactly how accurate the new features will be until the iOS 18 update is launched, however here are some of the ways you can start to prepare:
Understand the category placementsÂ
Users continue to have high expectations of brands and the content they share, so while many may see the ‘primary’ tab as where they need to land in the inbox, recognising the value of multiple categories will ensure you meet the expectations of your subscribers, avoiding frustrations, and in turn, generating good results.
Create clear and concise messaging
Ensuring emails have well-crafted messages will be essential. Users will need to be able to easily access any key information and the Mail digest view will need to be able to identify any important information. This will improve the chances of the digest view showing users accurate summaries.
Make your emails stand out in the inbox
With emails now being categorised, it’s never been more important to focus on getting your emails noticed in the inbox. As well as sending subscribers content they want and expect from you, make sure your subject lines spark interest and urgency, so users interact as soon as the emails hit their inbox.
We hope this article has answered some of the worries and questions you may have had about Apple’s iOS 18 update – if you have any more, please reach out to our team and we’ll be happy to help!
