Jan 18, 2008
The iPhone’s long-missing two-pane email client
So I was looking over my Macworld 2007 keynote coverage the other day and noticed something just about everyone — myself included — glossed over as the months passed between its January introduction and June launch: the iPhone once had a two-pane email client. (You can even see the view mode selector up top! This later became the edit button.)
Anyone who knows me and my email-addicted ways knows how desperately I loathe the iPhone’s mail client, and, given its frequency of use, how much I wish they’d improve it. Apple: three simple steps to make email nerds like me happy.
- Add delete for multiple / all messages.
- Fix the annoying bug that just lets the iPhone idle while some HTML messages are not downloaded / parsed.
- Give us (back) the two-pane view mode!
That’s not so hard, now is it? One more minor email client diff after the break.
Oh yeah, and they nixed the “x of y” messages indicator in the email selector.
I'm an editor and technology critic in the midst of founding a new web startup: 
As a new iPhone owner, I’m a little surprised at how many clicks to takes to navigate from my Sling Inbox to my Yahoo Inbox. Maybe there’s a short cut I just don’t know about? On my WinMo Treo 750, it was just a simple click to the right/left…
I could do without two-pane – the preview option is sufficient for me. But how about a landscape view for Mail?
The iPhone mail client is abysmal. It’s clear they’re not a very email-centric company, it’s way inefficient, esp. compared to email powerhouses like BB and WinMo.
Landscape would be hot, but I’ll take any of the above three first!
I want one simple thing. A home button. One button that will take me from an email back to my account list. Is that to much to ask?
Great points, I had forgotten about the 2 pane view. To add one more thing, how about the ability to save a photo or song from an email. They could make a separate playlist or album if necessary.
“Desktop class email” my ass. How about also letting us send more than one photo, since you won’t let us send MMS? Cut and paste – ESPECIALLY for email. And obviously all the things mentioned in this post.
Gah, it’s amazing how a company that is so good at human interfaces can screw things up so bad sometimes.
Oh, and this just came in my knowledge base update digest… What to do if a T-Mobile SIM displays ‘@@@@@’ instead of T-Mobile when T-Mobile SIM is inserted. It may be that deep down, Apple doesn’t really care if you jump AT&T’s ship!
To add to your HTML point, why doesn’t the “Mark as Unread” become “Mark as Read” so we don’t have to sit there and wait for it to load.
I suggested some other cool improvements on the iphone… nothing like the usual copy-and-paste or global search (that apple still failed to deliver), but cool stuff like better camera commands, wireless sync and proximity behaviors.
http://blog.nonlinear.cc/old/improving-the-iphone-interface/
@John B.
T-Mo runs iPhone in Germany.
Why can’t the iPhone display all of your accounts in one Inbox, like Mac OS X?
The more I look the more it seems that Apple is holding back features to ensure the phone stays locked. Chat, cut + paste, correct syncing with read messages in Email, and on and on. Steve, are you listening?
@Joey: Good point, I hadn’t thought of that. Though I wouldn’t think it would be part of the US knowledge base – Apple’s Germany site has its own KB.
I’m curious if we might see a “Pro” email client with everything mentioned above soon after the iPhone SDK release next month.
[...] his personal blog, Engadget chief Ryan Block illustrates his recollection that a year ago at Macworld 2007, one Mr. Jobs showed the then unreleased iPhone as containing a [...]
Why did they even drop such an important feature ?? I mean its doable ain’t it?? Then why should they drop it?? Bugs? They could demo it but not release it?? Cmon Apple…
I think it’s pretty clear as an Ipod Touch owner that Apple will soon have us spending a small fortune upgrading the rather basic apps to pro versions. “App envy” will have us buying apps we don’t even need! I just did!
I’d like to point something out here. First of all, I used to hate mail on the iPhone until Gmail got IMAP support. Gmail IMAP makes the iPhone’s email the best thing EVER. ANY complaints you have about the iPhone’s email are instantly fixed with this IMAP support.
Having said that….why the F*#$ does the edit button NOT let you select multiple emails for deletion instead of one at a time. It’s like they were THERE, the thought was TRYING to come through. Did they BLACKOUT or something just as they were trying to implement the feature?! I don’t get it. Either way, the bottom line is, now with the new Gmail IMAP, I don’t care anymore.
[...] the iPhone: What to do better next time Von roger @ 15:07 [ Diverses ] Two-pane email client by Ryan Block. I think Ryan’s post shows the future for products like the iPhone, in that even a [...]
three letters are what I’m missing…
B
C
C
(and replying from a different address than it was sent too… that wouldn’t be bad)
It would also be nice to attach multiple photos, even after you have started to compose an email.
I just got here from Daring Fireball. I (nerdily) had rewatched the iPhone keynote last night and wrote to Gruber asking about the two-pane view that is now gone (wondering if he knew whether that had been noticed anywhere…I realize now how much time he must spend reading blogs to have sent me your link within ten minutes). My thought was that it wouldn’t work that well with the Mail UI. That is, losing half the message list for a sentence or two of preview (which can be had in the “how many lines do you want to see in the message list” Mail setting) wouldn’t be a good trade. Just noticed that the original demo didn’t have any preview text. So, maybe they traded the preview pane for more info in the message list.
Another thing that changed is the caller’s picture (maybe this has been mentioned before, but I’ve not seen it). In the keynote, when Phil called, his little picture was next to his name, and the wallpaper stayed on screen. Now, obviously, the caller’s picture takes over the whole screen. Yes, I know, an astounding observation… ;-)
Oh, and they still have the x of y message indicator; it’s just not between the left and right-arrow buttons (which obviously have changed to up and down buttons), but rather to the left of the arrows.
EZ-E, caller picture is actually still like that, just depends on how large the address book photo is. Smaller, icon sized entries result in the image next to the name, and not the full-screen image.
@22: Interesting…I’ve only used photos. I’ll have to try a tiny icon. (Seems odd that Steve had a Phil icon, rather than a photo.)
Add delete for multiple / all messages. — This is my biggest beef, too. Bring it on!
As others have mentioned, the unified inbox is another huge request.
I’m also most annoyed with the iPhone email client. What’s most frustrating is that Apple already got this (mostly) right with the desktop mail client.
I’m not missing the two-pane view so much, but the multiple-delete, or – better yet – some implementation of mail rules would be great. There are a *lot* of emails that I don’t want on my iPhone but still want on my desktop. I don’t care if I have to create the rules on my desktop and transfer them via iTunes – I just don’t want them on my iPhone.
And a big “WTF” on the idling phone while messages are waiting.
One last wish: how about a “Don’t download messages larger than X kb”?
My one feature I’m missing: “flagging” e-mails. It’s a feature I live by on my desktop, and I’m really missing it on the iPhone. Selective quoting would be nice, too, but I’m making do without it.
That being said, I’d argue that despite what people say here, iPhone Mail pretty much rocks. An e-mail client I can carry around with me that displays full HTML e-mail with enclosures, where I can perform an inertial scroll by flicking a finger and zoom in by using two…I’ve never seen an e-mail client that delivers even half of that stuff. I give it an “A.”
They didn’t scrap the x of y count, it’s just centered up on the toolbar now. That being said, I’m with you on everything else. Especially unified inbox. Also, how hard would it be to let me pick what account I send from when a new mail is opened from an outside app.
#17 hit it. IMAP is your friend.
I personally have addressed nearly all of my mail complaints by simply leaving my home computer on all the time. My regular mail client handles all of the spam filtering and application of rules. Deleting mail from the phone dumps the messages into the trash folder, and eventually the desktop machine will blow them away according to the rules I’ve specified. So to repeat, I’ve covered:
1) Spam
2) Rules
3) Deletion
without any intervention beyond what I was already doing. IMAP is great.
If the two-pane Mail view were to be released in a future firmware update for both the iPhone and the iPod touch, I would suddenly find using Mail on my touch so much more important, and much more like a desktop experience. Does Apple not see the value in this?
I agree with #3 ChiliMac. Give me SOME way to get back to my email accounts list fast. Clicking that darn back arrow gets old really quick.
Yes the iPhone mail client is inefficient.
When I tried the first time to add my Hotmail account I discovered that Hotmail is not supported.
So I tried to set up my Gmail IMAP account and I found it quite difficult. Obviusly I can’t access to it at work because a corporate firewall closes the ports needed by the Mail client to establish a connection. Sigh!
Finally I started to use some web mail app and I found one at http://www.tm.comvalid.com that works good.
But I’d like to have the same freedom using the Mail client, too.
About the confusion with the contact photo on the iphone.
I’ve spent a while experimenting and found out basically how it all works.
If you set your contacts on the computer in windows or on mac address book etc and copy the photos into the application in the os, then sync down onto the iphone. The contacts photo will be a small one next to their name, without a large background.
If you select the contact from within the iphone from your photos or camera reel it’ll come up as a large background photo.
Okay? With me so far?
Now. It gets a little complicated. If you have a contact photo you set on the computer then synced down, so it’s a small contact, then go into the iphone and select ‘edit the current photo’ resize a little then resave. It’ll change to a large one from now on and be used as the background.
If you set a contact photo from within the iphone, then sync the contact onto your desktop app, then re-edit that photo in the desktop app it’ll change it back down to a smaller one when it syncs again.
Phew! So that’s the mystery solved.
Although there’s one thing. I’ve seen from screenshots online before where a person calling has both a small photo then another background photo too. I have no idea how to do that! I’d love to have that.
I really hope (although I know it won’t happen until a third party app is released) being able to browse contacts with their contact photo in the list, or as a gallery with the name underneath. At least when viewing a contact in non-editing mode touching their photo should bring up a large preview no? Otherwise it’s a right hassle to see it. :-/
Hope some that’s helpful.
Does anybody miss having access to websites with FLASH?!! I do! Please tell me I’m not the only one that hates surfing along in wireless bliss to smash into a Flash-only website!!
also missing is a “Send As” (sender alias/impersonation) functionality.
i’m forwarding all my e-mails to my MobileMe account so that they are pushed to my iphone. (therefore, i only need to setup one e-mail account on my iphone: MobileMe)
however, when i reply to e-mails such as those addressed to my other domains i would like to reply as the same domain… but since my settings on iphone is for MobileMe… my replies are sent as me.com all the time.
The complaints i have are 1) the frequency that the client checks for mail (15 min), and the alarm upon receipt is so muted and breif as to be useless!!
I receive competitive orders by email . . . If I don’t get them someone else will.
I feel frustration.
nice little feature, but what I like the most is all those extra soft. you can get for the phone, ok also wallpapers, example here http://www.desktopexchange.com/gallery/Iphone_wallpaper but mostly the software.
i think most everyone is forgetting one thing. this is a mobile device. its software is not meant to totally replace that which is on your desktop. sure you can check email and delete and send a picture. they cannot add everything to it or it just going to either force them to make the device even bigger or it will be so difficult to navigate to use that you will wish they just went back to basic features. if you want to delete multiple emails (using gmail for instance) then get to a desktop computer that is internet capable (definatley no shortage there) and log into your gmail and do it from there! if you want multiple panes then log into your desktop computer! i think this cell phones are getting REALLY close to giving a computing type experience but they are not quite all the way there yet.
As an enterprise user I love and hate the email client on i-phone. The ability to open powerpoint in landscape actually means I can follow a presentation from my phone when on calls away from my office. Similarly the view of excel attachments is excellent.
However I find the email client to be very basic in its functionality. I receive over 100 mails a day and without ant filtering its easy to lose track of email. Specifically i need to sort/search fir emails by sender, subject or date. Without these features the i-phone is a poor cousin to blackberry.
I suggest Apple recruit some expertise in from RIM now they have launched the enterprise email version, or at least get a blackberry into their R&D labs to compare functionality – its clear that the device is only playing at servicing the needs of a business user.
Also I noticed that if your contact is created in the address book on your pc/mac and then synched with the i-phone then the contacts picture is still displayed by the contacts name and the wallpaper remains visible, however if the contact is created on the i-phone then the picture fills the whole screen when the contact calls.
Nevertheless its still a very cool device overall.
I read all the comments here / well skimmed them… and nobody requested a search feature??
should be pretty easy to implement through IMAP
The lack of search within email client befuddled me way more than non-existent copy/paste. It’s insane. Why would this feature ever go against any vision that Steve Jobs has for the iPhone? It doesn’t. It is stupid ridiculous that iPhone email client does not have a search function.
i really want to like this device, but two months in now, and I’m having serious regrets that both the bb8300 and treo750 were put out to pasture.
The interface hinders all productivity. Example: I get an email w/ contact information enclosed, IF the phone had intergrated copy and paste one could simply copy details and paste to new contact and sync for backup.
Instead I have to go and add this manually to my contacts.. by keying it in either desktop app or via phone and then sync for backup.. Extra steps = time lost.
Brian, thanks for the IMAP suggestions. Now I too have the following sorted.
1) Spam
2) Rules
3) Deletion
But. WTF. You can not forgive apple for not including a search. Apple is becomming more like microsoft everyday. It’s lock down central!!
I am more tempted to jailbreak my phone everyday. Based on good honest principals. Apple… Please give us a real email client.
hi,
does anybody know how i manage email contacts on the iphone?
i want to delete some but have no idea how to do it
cheers
Long-time Win user, trying the iPhone:
1. Neat device, I like almost all of its features.
2. The e-mail client really needs work, I don’t know if the Mac OS-whatever client is like this, but this one sucks.
3. MMS is a neat capability, why not provide it?
4. The e-mail really does suck – I bought the phone for road use in my business, based on experience with the Windows Mobile OS. The Win phone was clunky and slow, but it sure offered flexibility and e-mail capabilities that this device does not offer.
I’ll probably wind up foisting it off on one of the kids and buying the HTC Fuze – more expensive, but works better and much more suited to adult-type usage. The iPhone seems good for listening to music and surfing the web, but I’m way past the point of dancing around grooving on how cool I look – I need performance, and the iPhone is just not making the cut.
[...] evitar el engorroso procedimiento de configuración, tanto en el iPhone como en los equipos de Blackberry se necesita editar la configuración de las cuentas para [...]
When I read email with my iphone, my computer mail program cannot access my email server anymore.
It seems the server is blocked when the same account is accessed from 2 different sources at the same time.
Is it a server problem or a recurrent issue with users of iPhone and Macs.
What could I do if I need to have my phone active while working with my desktop with the mail application checking constantly for emails
Rgds
Carlos