Does the email program suck or is it just me?

[mikedeanellis]

My issue with it is it does not allow you to put due dates on flags.

 

[Grytpype]

It sucks big time. As mentioned above, it's dumb to have to attach the email to an attachment rather than the other way round. As well as that, there's no formatting beyond bold/italic/underline, there's unnecessary and distracting highlighting of dates etc that it thinks should be links, you can't create new folders (you have to do that on your PC) and worst of all (for me, anyway) you can't collapse/expand folders. I have to work with a lot of folders and sub-folders for storing emails, and scrolling down through my non-collapsible list takes ages.

It's a truly crappy and basic app, like most of the native Apple offerings. It's even more annoying than the native Calendar app, and you have to work very hard to be worse than that.

 

[dhewson777]

I think you're right, the native email program sucks! One can't even attach files when you have started an email message, neither can you attach multiple files. Heck, try responding to an email and attaching something...

Attaching to emails is the opposite of what people expect is their normal way on Windows. There is a good reason though. Because files are stored in or by app rather than a traditional file system (sand boxing), they need to be pushed "out" to the email app rather than pulled "in" to the email app. It is not the app itself, it is iOS. I could not foresee any other email app could do it either.

 

[twerppoet]

Which is why many people are transitioning to using a cloud file service to upload their files, then emailing the links. Lots of savvy Android users, who don't have this iOS limitation, are fond of DropBox and it's ilk, and use it this way.

Small emails with links are fast. They don't take minutes to upload and half a day to get delivered on a slow connection.

Recipients can download stuff when they need them.

You can organize entire folders (easier on Box.com), instead of patching together another email each time you want to send the same files.

Even if you use an alternate email app, it will work better if you don't have to mess with attachments.


Sometimes change, even when you didn't want to change, is good. It's not just about iOS. This is where file sharing is going.

 

[nkbh]

Attaching to emails is the opposite of what people expect is their normal way on Windows. There is a good reason though. Because files are stored in or by app rather than a traditional file system (sand boxing), they need to be pushed "out" to the email app rather than pulled "in" to the email app. It is not the app itself, it is iOS. I could not foresee any other email app could do it either.

Agreed, however I do feel it is rudimentary to have to go to each app, locate file and then attach. There have been plenty of times I have started an email only to realize the need to attach a file. Apple is supposed to make things easier, not frustrating. In anycase, how does one attach a file when responding to emails?

 

[colorado_scott]

I hope attached to this reply is what my email home screen looks like. It shows some email on the left and the last email 'behind' these emails. This is awful. I can't keep emails from my family in a folder. While I do not use the iPad as my mail email program, I do use the iPad a fair amount sitting on the couch while watching TV and it would be nice to have a file system for emails. The iPad has its own email address so people I send email to reply to the iPad. I just don't like it and expected more from Apple in this area.

 

[michali]

I rarely use iPad in portrait mode and I see now why! I am always quite upset when I open a new app to find it only displays in portrait mode. But I do agree with the comments on limitations of the native email app. It works for me but I can understand others who need more sophisticated options. Maybe ios6?

 

[Mickey330]

I hope attached to this reply is what my email home screen looks like. It shows some email on the left and the last email 'behind' these emails. This is awful. I can't keep emails from my family in a folder. While I do not use the iPad as my mail email program, I do use the iPad a fair amount sitting on the couch while watching TV and it would be nice to have a file system for emails. The iPad has its own email address so people I send email to reply to the iPad. I just don't like it and expected more from Apple in this area.

If you slide your finger toward the list of e-mails, they will retract to the left so that you can see the viewed e-mail in its entirety. To get the list back so that you can select another e-mail, slide your finger from the left side in; the list will appear.

Granted, the iPad can't use folders if your e-mail account is a POP account. However, if it's and IMAP account, you can create folders on the iPad. See this thread here for details (post #4): http://www.ipadforums.net/showthread.php?t=60856

Hope some of this helpps.

Marilyn

 

[dchristo]

I know Apple has its own ikdeas on what's necessary and what's not, but the inability to put multiple attachments on an e-mail just says to me, "Microsoft does it, so we won't."

 

[thewitt]

I know Apple has its own ikdeas on what's necessary and what's not, but the inability to put multiple attachments on an e-mail just says to me, "Microsoft does it, so we won't."

If you looking for a new feature, make the request on Apple's website. They use the frequency of feature requests as input in the planning process.

We support over 20,000 iPads in corporate use and being able to attach multiple files to a single email is a very rare request for us, however we have recorded it in our database. Apple uses all the inputs it gets to help it decide what to add next, so you should give them your input.

Several requests from our users have ended up in the product over the years. It really does pay to ask them directly.

 

[BabaIkram]

It sucks big time. As mentioned above, it's dumb to have to attach the email to an attachment rather than the other way round. As well as that, there's no formatting beyond bold/italic/underline, there's unnecessary and distracting highlighting of dates etc that it thinks should be links, you can't create new folders (you have to do that on your PC) and worst of all (for me, anyway) you can't collapse/expand folders. I have to work with a lot of folders and sub-folders for storing emails, and scrolling down through my non-collapsible list takes ages.

It's a truly crappy and basic app, like most of the native Apple offerings. It's even more annoying than the native Calendar app, and you have to work very hard to be worse than that.

You can creat a new folder on this stock email programme by going into an individual email account and pressing edit, a new mail box will appear on the lower left hand corner and if you press it, it will come up with the option of naming it.

 

[thewitt]

Make sure you go to the Accounts section and not the Inbox section when you create new folders. That messes up many people.

 

[Grytpype]

You can creat a new folder on this stock email programme by going into an individual email account and pressing edit, a new mail box will appear on the lower left hand corner and if you press it, it will come up with the option of naming it.

You can name it, but you can't choose where to put in a folder structure. And you still can't format anything in it, or prevent unnecessary and annoying highlighting of text, or collapse/expand folders.

 

[dunbarhamlin]

The worst featurette in my eye is the inability to select a sensible font size - a problem it shares with safari. Magnifying the page in safari isn't good enough - it destroys the page readability instead of the browser engine properly flowing content within the view.

 

[Mickey330]

The worst featurette in my eye is the inability to select a sensible font size - a problem it shares with safari. Magnifying the page in safari isn't good enough - it destroys the page readability instead of the browser engine properly flowing content within the view.

Yes, the Mail app is limited in that way and I join you in your frustration. I have nothing to help with that.

However, on the Safari issue, for reflowing - you can create a bookmarklet so you can increase or decrease the font in the web page (if the Reader button in the URL bar doesn't appear or doesn't work for you). Have a look at this thread that explains bookmarklets and shows how to create them: http://www.ipadforums.net/showthread.php?t=72353

It works well for me - maybe it'll help you?

Marilyn