New Apple Mail features might make you forget about those other apps

January 29, 2020

By Kim Komando

Apple fans love the operating system created to make everyday life just a little more exciting. They can connect all of their devices to pick up right where they left off, use them for business needs or school projects and, of course, for entertainment.

Everything from Macbooks to Apple Watches features plenty of native apps to help you be productive, keep in touch with friends and family, and even help organize your crazy schedule. Tap or click here for 10 essential apps for your new iPhone or iPad.

But the one app that is often overlooked, despite its popularity, is Mail. This humble program might seem basic, but once you see what its new features offer, you’ll never look back. Are they really that impressive? Let’s compare them to Gmail’s features to see which app takes the crown.

What’s new with Mail?

Apple Mail has long served as a simple email application, but its latest iOS 13 update came with several helpful changes, allowing Mail to hold its own against Gmail.

Yes, it’s true there was one mistake the company made with the update, but they’ve more than made up for their little misstep with all these new bells and whistles. Tap or click to see the one change Apple made that caused people to accidentally delete their messages.

If you use Mail, you’ll love these new changes that include better ways to format messages, block senders and more. Let’s start with all the ways you can customize messages sent from Mail.

1. No more boring emails

With the release of iOS 13 came a format bar, which offers easy access to numerous formatting and attachment tools. Gone are the days of simple text in your messages with basic photo and document attachments.

Now, when you compose a new message from a mobile device, access the new Format bar by tapping the arrow to the right of the predictive text box. Next, tap the Aa icon to reveal the impressive formatting menu.

This menu reveals the ability to bold, italicize, underline or strikethrough text. You can choose between the default font or other native fonts, as well as any you’ve downloaded from Apple’s App Store. Change the size and color of your text, indent, add bullets or numbers, center, align left or align right.

Meanwhile, to access the formatting options for Gmail, you have to open the app, create a new message, type what you want then go through the individual sections, double-tapping text you want to format.

Once you’ve chosen the section, a basic menu pops up and you have to scroll through the options. You must do this for every change, but ultimately there are more steps and fewer formatting options than Apple’s Mail app.

2. Send messages in batches

When you have a lot of emails that need to be moved into folders, marked or deleted, you can select several messages at once and move them accordingly. Just tap Edit on the top right of the screen and choose Select All or tap the circles to the left of the messages you want to mark, move or dispose of.

This is helpful for anyone who receives tons of spam and wants to delete them in one fell swoop. It’s also ideal for anyone who wants to move several messages into a folder or mark multiple emails as important.

RELATED: Tap or click here to cut down the amount of spam in your inbox

In this instance, anyone using Gmail has the upper hand. Simply tap the buttons to the left of the emails, then tap the three-dot menu on the top right of the app to reveal multiple options, including snoozing messages (you receive a reminder at a customizable later time), move them to new folders and more.

3. Have fun with pictures

When you have pictures that you want to share in your email, tap the second icon on the Format bar. This opens your recent photos, but if you have older ones you want to include, tap “All Photos.”

If you choose the camera icon on the Format bar, you can use your camera to take a picture or video to insert as well.

If you want to send photos or documents in Gmail, you’re limited to attachments. These can be found from Google Drive or the camera roll. Another feature is the ability to send or request money through Google Pay. Tap or click here to learn more about Google Pay.

Meanwhile, the three-dot menu doesn’t disappoint. It allows you to schedule when to send emails or to send them in Confidential mode, which lets you set expiration dates or the ability to revoke access at any time.

4. Add all the files

Need to insert a PDF, worksheet or other documents? No problem. With the new Format toolbar, you can even scan printed documents and email them out to coworkers.

To access your saved files, tap the File icon, which appears to be a piece of paper folded on the top right corner. Tapping this icon will reveal your saved documents. If you have a specific doc that doesn’t appear on the Recents tab, tap Browse on the bottom right to find what you need.

If you want to scan something, tap the Scan icon on the Format toolbar. It looks like a document outlined at its corners and is the second-to-last icon. You can choose to scan documents in color, black and white, grayscale or simply take a picture.

You can also choose Auto on the top right corner to change the setting to Manual. With Auto, simply hold your device above the document you want to scan and once the right angle is caught, your phone will automatically scan it. If you set it to Manual, you’ll have to press the button at the bottom of the screen.

Again, Gmail only allows users to insert attachments. There is no scan option and documents can’t just be added to the body of your emails. But if you love your Gmail app and want to learn about more features, tap or click here to see how you can unsend emails.

5. Block senders

When you keep getting emails from people you don’t really want to talk to, or from companies whose unsubscribe button doesn’t ever seem to work, it’s time to block them.

Simply open an email from the sender you want to block. Tap their email address then choose Block this Contact. And that’s it!

For Gmail users, you can block email addresses by opening an email from the sender you want to block. Tap on the three-dot menu next to the sender’s email address and choose “block.” That’s it!

The latest Mail features don’t always come out on top when compared to Gmail, but that’s not to say they’re bad. The formatting options alone elevate the app to new heights. But while Apple works to improve its email app, Gmail isn’t just sitting around. Tap or click here to see the new time-saving Gmail feature.

Now that you know how to get the most from your Mail and Gmail accounts, start typing out some messages and impress your friends, family and even coworkers and peers with your email know-how.