The Top Nine iOS 8 Message and Mail Tips
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When it comes to staying organized on your iOS device, it is almost imperative that you use the mail and messaging apps. With the new iOS 8 release, some things may look different in the features department. Apple has included some new developments to their mail and messaging apps in the hopes to improve the user experience. Here, we review the top nine messaging and mail tips to help you stay organized and up to date on your iPhone or iPad.
- Quick Photo
If you are communicating through iMessage, you may want to send a picture or a video of something that you are currently looking at. If you want to send a picture or a video without exiting the iMessage application, simply press and hold the camera icon to reveal a new menu. This will open the camera app where you can either swipe up to take a picture or swipe right to record a video.
Hold your finger on the screen and slide back down to the camera and release to instantly snap and send a photo. Be careful with this option as you won’t be able to review the photo before it automatically sends!
- Voice Message
Often times it would be easier to simply say what you need to say than to text it. When this occurs, you’ll want to send your friends a quick voice message through iMessage. If you press on the new microphone button on the right of the text box, you can start recoding a verbal message. You can lift your finger to stop. It will then reveal a playback button. You can review your message and either swipe up or tap the arrow to send, or swipe left and tap the x button to cancel and redo.
- Mute Someone
Sometimes we receive messages from people we’d rather not hear from. If someone is constantly bothering you, go into a message from them, press “Details,” and then switch on the “Do Not Disturb” button. This works for both SMS and iMessages.
- See Attachments
Want to see some attachments you’ve received from a specific friend but you don’t want to scroll all the way up to when they sent it? Go into the iMessage from the person, tap details, and scroll down to reveal all the attachments you’ve sent them or they’ve sent you via iMessage. This will save you a lot of time if you are searching for a photo a friend sent a long time ago!
- Change Swipe Options
With the new iOS update you have the power to swipe left and right on notifications. Some swipe actions cannot be changed, however the mail app’s notifications can be changed. To do this go into Settings > Mail Contacts and Calendars > Swipe Options > and then set your Swipe Left commands and your Swipe Right commands. These options are limited but this is a good tip to know if you often archive e-mails, flag them, or mark them as read.
- Reply Notifications
If you have ever waited for a specific response from an email you previously sent, you probably kept checking your phone every few minutes. Instead of wasting time constantly checking your phone, you can have iOS 8 notify you when that specific person responds. In any message you have received simply tap on the Flag icon at the bottom left of the screen and then select Notify me. You can confirm your decision and when the person you are waiting for replies you will know about it. To send an email with a notification alert automatically set, select the bell icon in the subject line before you send the email.
- Minimize Current Email
Let’s say you are working on an email but you suddenly remembered you need to reply to another message right away. If you are working on something and are in the middle or replying you can drag that email to the bottom of the screen so you can access the rest of your inbox. To do this just press and hold onto the title of the email and drag it towards the bottom. To get it back, swipe back up on the email hidden at the bottom of your screen.
- Time Zone Override
Perhaps you are traveling for work and want to change the time zone of your emails so you can stay current or updated with the appropriate time. The Time Zone Override will let you always show event data and times in the selected time zone. When this feature is off, events will display according to the time zone of your current location. If this sounds like something you want to do, go into Settings, Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Time Zone Override and switch off.
- Build Your Contacts
With the new iOS update, adding contacts from new emails has never been easier. When you get an email from someone and they have a signature, iOS can read this information and will ask if you want to add it to a contact. After it asks you this question, press on the “Add to Contacts” button at the top of the screen and all of their information will be saved. If you don’t want to add this to a contact then you can choose to ignore this feature.
