As someone who recently had the opportunity to try out the Mail app for the Apple Vision Pro, I must admit that my experience has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. The app promises a lot, with features such as access to multiple email accounts in one unified inbox, the ability to add images, scan documents, create sketches, and attach files using the Format Bar. It also advertises some great organizational tools like setting reminders for important emails, scheduling emails to send at designated times, and even receiving follow-up notifications for emails that haven’t received a response.
On paper, this sounds like a robust and comprehensive email application, but my actual experience has been quite different. Let’s dig a little deeper into the various aspects of this app.
The ability to access emails from numerous providers like iCloud, Gmail, Exchange, Yahoo, and Outlook is indeed a strong point. It should theoretically provide unparalleled convenience by consolidating all your emails in a single inbox. You can, of course, filter to see only Unread or Flagged messages or prioritize a specific mailbox. It’s a feature many users, like myself, find valuable because it reduces the hassle of toggling between different apps for different email accounts. However, the actual execution has been less than stellar for many users, myself included. There have been frequent issues with accounts showing errors, instances where messages simply don’t download from servers, and synchronization problems, especially with services like AOL and even iCloud itself. These issues crop up repeatedly, making the experience frustrating and unreliable.
Another functionality that seems promising is the ability to manage your inbox efficiently with options like scheduling emails, setting reminders, and following up on sent emails that haven’t received a response. But the usability of these features is again hampered by performance inconsistencies and glitches. For instance, there were several instances where important emails were either missing or couldn’t be retrieved during a critical moment, which was particularly problematic during business meetings. These moments exemplify the app’s unreliability and the potential for significant inconvenience.
One of the more exciting features on the mail app is the integration of the Format Bar, which allows for text formatting, adding images, scanning documents, creating sketches, and using markup tools to add drawings or signatures. It also supports Mail Drop for sending large attachments through iCloud, and intelligent search functionalities that correct typos and use synonyms. Unfortunately, these, too, are plagued with their own set of issues—ranging from spontaneous crashes to inconsistent performance of the markup features. The intelligent search is often criticized for being unreliable, failing to find emails that are clearly present, or not correlating searches correctly between devices.
The app also boasts Mail Privacy Protection, aimed at hiding IP addresses and preventing senders from tracking your activity. While this feature works relatively well and provides a semblance of digital privacy, it can’t compensate for the fundamental flaws that dominate the user experience.
The customer reviews echo my sentiments and highlight the same issues across the board. New iPhone users find the layout overwhelming and visually cluttered. There is excessive use of minimalistic design principles which, instead of aiding in a pleasant visual experience, create a barrage of text that’s exhausting to look at. It makes the process of finding and organizing emails more tedious than it should be, leading users towards alternatives like the Gmail app for better usability and interface design.
Others have pointed out deeper systemic issues, like the app’s inability to reliably handle junk mail, blocking unwanted emails, and maintaining a consistent inbox. These lapses might seem minor, but they add up to create an immensely frustrating experience. Just moving a single email to the junk folder or reporting it as spam seems to be a hit-or-miss affair, and the absence of more advanced spam filtering features is a notable letdown.
A particularly troubling problem reported by visually impaired users involves the app’s compatibility with voiceover features. Simple tasks like reading email content or accessing attached files become incredibly challenging, undermining the app’s accessibility and inclusivity.
On the other hand, long-time users have increasingly become dissatisfied with the app due to incessant glitches—such as constant prompts for passwords, accounts becoming non-functional for no discernible reason, and important folders getting swapped with the trash folder. Anomalies like these disrupt workflows and create unnecessary complications, especially concerning for business and critical emails where reliability is paramount.
Despite Apple being a trillion-dollar company, the email application looks and feels outdated. Given its long history of user complaints, it’s bewildering why Apple hasn’t implemented the necessary overhauls. It seems like a superficial attempt to maintain user engagement rather than solving the core issues, which is evident in the app’s fluctuating user ratings and the collective sentiment of frustration across various reviews.
While the Mail app for Apple Vision Pro brings some modern tools and functionalities to the table, its myriad issues and unreliable performance overshadow its potential benefits. The inconsistency in handling emails, frequent glitches, and the visually overwhelming layout make it less user-friendly than intended. For a company renowned for its intuitive designs and seamless functionality, this email client feels like a glaring anomaly that begs for significant improvements. Until such enhancements are made, I find it hard to recommend this app to anyone looking for a dependable email solution.
