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The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone

Jun 4, 2014 03:24 PM
Sep 16, 2014 10:27 PM
Hand holding a smartphone displaying an email inbox with various categories.

Staying on the move while managing email is a priority for many of us, from parents to students to business professionals. Seems that Apple had this in mind when improving the stock Mail application in iOS 8, which now includes swipe gestures that make marking messages as read/unread, as well as flagging and deleting, a whole lot quicker.

The Good: There's a Swipe-Right Menu in Mail

To mark a new item as read, simply swipe from left to right and select Mark as Read. The same gesture applies for marking emails as unread, so you can remember to respond later if you need to.

The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone
The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone
The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone
The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone
The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone
The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone

The Good: You Can Change the Swipe-Right Menu Action

You can also change what appears in the left-to-right swipe menu by going to Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars -> Swipe Options -> Swipe Right. From here, you can select either "Mark as Read" ("Unread" is the opposite function), "Flag" (or "Unflag as the opposite), "Archive," or even nothing.

Settings menu showing mail options on a mobile device.
Mail settings with swipe options displayed on a mobile device.
Options for managing items in an application, including "Mark as Read," "Flag," and "Archive."
Settings menu showing mail options on a mobile device.
Mail settings with swipe options displayed on a mobile device.
Options for managing items in an application, including "Mark as Read," "Flag," and "Archive."

The Good: There's More in the Swipe-Left Menu

Swiping an email from right to left used to reveal "Delete" and "More," but now slowly sliding from right to left also allows you to Flag messages, which will save them for later in your "Flagged" folder.

Swipe options menu with sliders for marking emails as read or flagging them.
The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone
Swipe options menu with sliders for marking emails as read or flagging them.
The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone

You can change the default "Flag" option in the Swipe Left menu options to be either "Mark as Read" or nothing at all.

The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone
The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone
The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone
The Good & Bad About iOS 8's New Swipe Gestures in Mail for iPhone

The Bad: The Faster (More Troublesome) Way to Delete

I said "slowly slide" above because it's very easy to accidentally activate another new gesture in Mail, and that's swipe left to "Trash".

Swiping fast from right to left will delete the email, and that's great, but it is seriously just too easy to accidentally delete a message I didn't want to. Of course, these can be recovered from your Trash folder, or by shaking your device quickly to bring up the "Undo Trash" menu, but I'd rather see an undo option like with the Gmail app—I'm not big on flicking my phone around.

Barnes & Noble 15% Savings Coupon notification.

The "Undo" option after deleting an email in Gmail.

And even though there is an option in the Mail, Contacts, Calendar settings to Ask Before Deleting message—it doesn't work. It's never worked for me in iOS 7 either, so it's no surprise iOS 8 is any different.

Settings menu for Mail, Contacts, and Calendars on a mobile device, highlighting options related to email privacy and organization.
Settings menu for Mail, Contacts, and Calendars on an iPhone.
Settings menu for Mail, Contacts, and Calendars on a mobile device, highlighting options related to email privacy and organization.
Settings menu for Mail, Contacts, and Calendars on an iPhone.

More iOS 8 Tips...

To see what else you can do in Apple's latest mobile operating system, check out the Coolest Hidden Features of iOS 8, as well as the Best Hidden Safari Features, Top Hidden Features in Messages, and our other iOS 8 tips.

Also, follow Gadget Hacks on Facebook and Twitter for more great tips.

The next big software update for iPhone is coming sometime in April and will include a Food section in Apple News+, an easy-to-miss new Ambient Music app, Priority Notifications thanks to Apple Intelligence, and updates to apps like Mail, Photos, Podcasts, and Safari. See what else is coming to your iPhone with the iOS 18.4 update.

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