iOS 18.1 brings two sorely needed email features to the iPhone

By Nadeem Sarwar Published October 12, 2024

Setting primary email address after iOS 18.1 update. — Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

With the introduction of iOS 18.1, Apple has made a crucial change that will make life easier for users eyeing an inbox address change for their account activities. Up till now, if you sought to change the primary email associated with your Apple account, the existing email address had to be deleted first.

Only after deleting the current email address were users able to add a new one for their Apple account. Following the iOS 18.1 update, users can simply change it without any erasure hassle.

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In the Settings app, there’s now a dedicated “Primary Email” toggle that lets users specify an email address as the preferred email inbox for all kinds of communication. This is a convenient change, especially for people who use a Gmail account for collaboration on their iPhone and iPad.

Apple is also making it easier for users to change their primary iCloud email account. This is the account used for all kinds of Apple services, ranging from identity and recovery to using iMessage and FaceTime.

Changing iCloud email address on iPhone. — Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

It’s yet another meaningful convenience, one with a security aspect to it. Up until now, users could only use an alias for their identity if they were a part of a shared project with other people; otherwise, the inbox address was left exposed.

In the outlier cases, well, you may just want to get rid of an email address that was not particularly professional-sounding. I remember creating one that mirrored my immature strategy with a gamer tag, and I am sure there are others out there who want to get rid of that shame as well.

With iOS 18.1, it’s finally possible to change the iCloud email address and use a fresh one. If you’ve already installed iOS 18.1 on your iPhone, you can make the changes by following this path: Settings > Profile Name (at the top) > Sign-In & Security > Email & Phone Numbers.

The changes were first spotted by the folks over at MacRumors. For those on the test channel, Apple has already released the sixth beta update of iOS 18.1, which brings a handful of cosmetic changes to the table and a few minor additions to the Settings app.

Managing Editor

Nadeem is the Managing Editor at Digital Trends.

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