Apple Mail App's New UI Enhancements: What Email Marketers Need to Know

With the release of Apple's iOS 18 and its subsequent upgrades, the Mail app has received several new enhancements—and these changes have left some marketers concerned about the implications for their email programs. Thankfully, viewing these changes through the lens of a customer-centric messaging strategy makes it clear that iOS 18 is unlikely to have a significant impact on senders who are attuned to subscriber needs.

To better understand the evolving email landscape, let’s dive into some of the changes Apple Mail has made with the new iOS 18 update and the implications these adjustments have for marketers.

Mail categories have made their way into Apple Mail

Gmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft have offered tabbed inboxes for years, automatically sorting emails into categories such as "Social," "Promotions," and "Updates” in an effort to provide more structure as the number of messages that customers were receiving continued to grow. Now, Apple is joining them by introducing their own version of this approach, called Mail Categories.

As with those other tabbed inboxes, Mail Categories isn't intrinsically a threat to conversions—even if some marketers may have worries about the messages they send landing in the Promotions category. Email marketing continues to be a crucial relationship- and revenue-enhancing channel for brands of all sizes, even outside of the Primary tab, and a categorized inbox can actually boost your efforts by making it easier for subscribers to find wanted marketing emails in a crowd of personal correspondence.

Being labeled as a promotional message isn't a punishment! All of these Mail Categories are still considered the inbox (not the spam folder), and if you're not sending a one-to-one personal email, that's where your mail belongs. (One thing to keep in mind: Senders can't control categorization, but users can reorganize or disable categories via this feature.)

Stand out with Branded Mail

Another key email update from Apple? The introduction of Branded Mail in Apple Business Connect. This tool, which is similar to the better-known Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI), allows businesses to customize the look of their emails with their own branded logo.

Leveraging Brand Mail can help the emails your brand sends stand out in the inbox and make them more likely to be opened, which can in turn boost inbox placement and email performance. However, be aware that Branded Mail is currently only available to businesses that have a paid Apple Developer account.

An easier way to scroll: Digest View

Last spring, Apple announced that it was going to bring Digest View to the Mail App, automatically grouping all of the messages from a given sender into a tidy bundle for efficient browsing. This change has the potential to be beneficial for subscribers who receive frequent emails from several senders, condensing their inboxes to convey the same information in a more manageable format. On the flip side, a consolidated view could also make it more difficult for emails to stand out, increasing the chances of deliverability issues if measurable engagement wanes.

To respond effectively, marketers will need to make sure their subject lines are descriptive and their emails are relevant, unique, or dynamic. Emails should be sent at a cadence that subscribers expect (and want) to receive, and marketers should monitor what content resonates best. Encouraging feedback like replies and clicks can reinforce positive sender reputation and contribute to continued inbox placement. As with many of these changes, the goal is to put more control over the email experience into the hands of recipients, so marketers who take the time to understand and honor their customers’ preferences in that regard are more likely to benefit.

TLDR: AI Overviews

Reflecting the growing use of AI to streamline experiences for consumers, Apple’s new AI Overviews feature provides subscribers with a summary of their emails, including vital information like the sender, subject, and date. Perfect for subscribers who are short on time or who want a quick overview of their emails, this feature is currently in beta. With AI Overviews still in their infancy, the results are often unpredictable—meaning marketers will need to put extra effort into subject lines and openers to hook recipients and keep them interested.

Additional Considerations for Email Marketers

In addition to the new features in Apple's iOS 18 Mail app, there are a few other things that email marketers should be aware of:

• Email clipping: More messages are being clipped in the inbox, causing incomplete versions of a given email to be displayed to recipients. To avoid this outcome, emails need to be made shorter and lighter, with an emphasis on text rather than images. This is also vital for accessibility, which is another benefit for senders who choose to embrace the change. In addition, senders may need to implement additional QA checks into their campaign launches to ensure messages render legibly in the Mail App without diminishing the campaign’s effectiveness.
• Apple's focus on privacy: Apple has been increasingly focused on privacy in recent years, and this is only likely to become more important in the future. To safeguard their customer engagement programs, email marketers need to be cautious about how they collect and use data, centering customer consent and transparency and taking advantage of first-party data whenever possible. In particular, make sure that you don't collect more than you need, and use what you have wisely.
• Email is just one part of your customers’ journey: In addition to email, there are a number of other channels that email marketers can use to reach their audiences, such as in-app messages, push notifications, and SMS. Marketers should consider which channels are right for their specific audience, and use them in concert with email to support more effective messaging programs. Depending on your audience and your goals, your cross-channel messaging strategy could even take advantage of your social media presence to encourage email subscription and engagement.

Putting Yourself in Your Subscribers' Seats

Because inbox placement is based on recipient engagement, marketers need to approach their email strategy from the subscriber's perspective and make sure that they’re sending messages that are relevant, engaging, and easy to read. If your emails add value to recipients’ lives, you're more likely to thrive in the inbox, even in the face of Apple’s recent updates to the Mail app.

Struggling with where to start? You probably receive marketing messages every day! What excites or delights you? What makes you race to the unsubscribe link? What insights have your subscribers provided, and how can you give them more of what they responded to in the past? When in doubt, ask. You have a direct line to your customers! Request preferences during subscription, provide a preference center within your emails, and solicit subscriber input regularly. Remember, clicks and replies build positive reputation, and all actionable feedback is a gift that can strengthen your results over time.

The latest features in Apple's iOS 18 Mail app are unlikely to have a meaningful effect on email marketing for senders who are focused on creating relevant, helpful, and engaging content and following best practices. By prioritizing the subscriber experience, marketers can continue to reach their intended audience and more successfully reach their goals.

Interested in doing more with your email marketing program? Draw inspiration from leading brands and innovative email marketers with the Braze Email Inspiration Guide.