The first beta of iOS 18.5 for developers was made available today, and there are not many significant changes to report so far. One notable update, however, simplifies the process of reverting to the classic Apple Mail design in iOS 18.5.
In iOS 18.2, Apple Mail underwent a major redesign that introduced features such as inbox categorization, a digest view, and contact photos, among other changes.
Nevertheless, Apple anticipated that not all users would be fond of these modifications.
Initially, users had the option to disable categorization by clicking the three-dot icon located in the upper right corner.
This menu provided choices to switch from Categories View to the traditional List View for your inbox.
You could also turn off the Apple Intelligence-driven ‘Priority messages’ feature, which highlights more significant emails at the top of the inbox.
Now, new options have been introduced: you can choose to disable contact photos and the ‘Group by Sender’ digest view.
The redesign of the Mail app introduced contact photos into your inbox, taking cues from the design of Apple’s Messages app, where contact images are similarly featured prominently.
In earlier iOS versions, disabling contact photos in Mail required navigating through Settings ⇾ Apps ⇾ Mail and turning off the ‘Show Contact Photos’ setting.
However, with iOS 18.5, you can now adjust this setting directly within the Mail app, along with other options to toggle Apple’s additional Mail features. Disabling the digest view from this same menu is a welcome enhancement.
While these adjustments may seem minor, they are beneficial for those who are still not fond of Apple Mail’s new design.
What are your thoughts on the Apple Mail redesign? Share your opinions in the comments.
