The AI-fication of the iPhone was heavily anticipated, apparently more so by analysts and investors than the average user. Apple Intelligence put AI in all key places that define an iPhone, including Mail, Photos, Safari, notifications, Notes — you name it.
But those changes haven’t been welcomed by all. The Photos redesign continues to test the patience of iPhone users. But the Mail app is not too far off in the rage race. On Reddit and other user forums, many have been venting their frustration against the new categorization system, which sorts emails across different classes.
Thanks in no part to Apple’s efforts, users are missing out on the simplicity of seeing all their emails neatly arranged in chronological order. Moreover, it’s another hassle to click on the category tags at the top to find certain types of emails slotted across primary, transactions, and updates, among other tiers.
“No one was asking for this, and no one wants it,” writes one frustrated user. Multiple users are also reporting that the categorization in Mail is not always accurate. A few have also mentioned that the read/unread system is acting haphazardly for them.
Thankfully, you can revert to the old — and more importantly, familiar — look of Mail before the rollout of AI with iOS 18 changed things on your iPhone. Moreover, it’s a relatively easy exercise.
When you open the Mail app on your iPhone, click on the Three-dot icon in the top-right corner. You will now see a small window that shows previews of the old and new Mail views.
All you have to do is select the Checkbox underneath the List view, and you’re good to go. If you are in two minds about categories, swipe on the pill-shaped Category button at the top, and you will land on the All mail view, where all your emails are listed in order without any category sorting.
You can also access your emails, stored in a combined fashion across different inboxes, from the side panel in case the categories have been disabled. Tap on Mailboxes in the top-left corner to open the side panel, scroll down, and select the All mail option.
There are a healthy few complaints about the email summarization system, too. Yes, it has been misfiring, especially for chained emails. The Digital Trends team often has a good laugh at the poor summaries in group chats.
The good news here is that you can disable email summaries as well. They are often badly executed and just serve as a distraction at the top. Head over to the Settings app, open Mail, and disable the toggle that says Summarize message previews.
If your experience has also been hit or miss with Apple’s mail summaries, you can switch things over to Gmail, where the summaries are generated by Gemini. In my experience, they’ve been more contextually accurate.
Shortwave is another excellent app that does a lot of AI in-mail management. But just like Apple Mail, this app also relies on OpenAI’s GPT stack to pull off its AI magic. On the positive side, it offers a lot more functional versatility, so you might want to check that out as well.
