What is Apple Intelligence in Mail App ?

Apple Intelligence was officially unveiled on June 10, 2024. Apple announced that phases of Apple Intelligence would be launched intermittently in the coming years, with a major one being in 2025. Using Artificial Intelligence in Apple gadgets to make them more personal, effective and helpful. Besides affecting all kinds of apps, it also challenges the way users operate with the Mail app. It can change from being just a communication tool to being a very active and smart personal assistant.

Apple Intelligence makes use of sophisticated AI capabilities to make the devices more helpful in multiple ways. From enhanced writing and summarising capabilities to intelligent notifications as well as context-based recommendations, the system follows users’ behaviour while keeping their security intact.

Firstly, by integrating with the Apple ecosystem, Apple Intelligence simplifies email management, enhancing communications, bringing back the best user demands and making sure that privacy is always secured.

Apple Intelligence in Mail App – Overview

The Apple Mail app has evolved and enriched itself such that what once was a simple mail client is now a vibrant communication hub. This change is even more pronounced with the introduction of Apple Intelligence. The entry of Apple Intelligence in the Mail App essentially means the users are getting access to very smart AI-powered tools that not only speed up email-related tasks but also do it in a very effective manner. Read on.

1. Summarisation of Emails

Possibly the biggest draw for many users will be the introduction of Apple Intelligence to the Mail app, with the capability to filter long and complex emails or entire email chains using Apple Intelligence. If one has to deal with long, detailed emails frequently, then this feature would come in very handy. Rather than reading through all the emails, one can simply get a very brief summary and thus get the gist of the emails.

• In-Inbox Summaries: Under the unread emails, a summary will be shown in the inbox view. It is the replacement of the normal preview text, simply showing the user the message at a glance without opening the email. With this improvement, Apple Intelligence in Mail demonstrates how user habits and user needs can influence the design and clarify the experience while making it faster.
• On-Demand Summaries: If you want a comprehensive summary of a lengthy email, tap the ‘Summarise’ button. You will be given simple and smartly written paragraphs, bullet points, etc.

Note: This idea of summaries has also been debated back and forth. While some users found the summaries very accurate and consistent, others said that sometimes important information was missing. There are users who want to disable Apple Intelligence in Apple Mail due to getting AI summaries wrong.

Also, check out: Where does Mac Mail store files

2. Smart AI Reply on Mail App

Apple Intelligence makes replying to emails remarkably straightforward, especially when you are faced with a flood of messages that can take up a lot of your time. It features Smart Reply, which gives relevant, short, and direct auto-generated reply suggestions to help users quickly respond while ensuring they include all the necessary information.

On iPhone and iPad, the suggestions are displayed above the keyboard; on Mac, they appear at the top of the email body.

You don’t have to only use the suggested replies, though. Apple Intelligence’s writing tools also support users who desire to further polish the replies by changing the tone, rewriting, or even checking and correcting grammar and word choice. This way, the user can review and perfect the message before sending it.

3. Priority Messages: Get Highlighting for Important Emails

Sifting through an inbox to find important emails among less critical ones can be overwhelming. That is why Apple Intelligence in the Mail app comes up with “priority Messages” that highlight time-sensitive emails at the top of the inbox. In other words, the system recognises and prioritises email messages such as same-day meeting reminders, flight boarding passes, work updates, etc., thereby making sure the user doesn’t miss any vital information.

By selecting “Show Priority Messages” in the inbox, you will be able to see only the most important emails.

In addition to Priority Messages, Apple Intelligence introduces a tabbed inbox experience similar to Gmail. Emails will be automatically separated into ‘Primary,’ ‘Transactional,’ ‘Updates,’ and Promotions. This auto email sorting by categories considerably helps in cleaning up one’s primary inbox.

4. Enhanced Writing Tools

Besides generating replies and summaries, Apple’s intelligence is integrated into iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, increasing the functionalities of the Mail app. It can improve the following:

• Rewrite: This feature gives users the ability to choose what to write and the most appropriate tone for the message. It is especially useful for business communication where tone is critical.
• Write from Scratch: Thanks to the ChatGPT integration, users can provide a brief description and have Apple Intelligence draft a complete email. It is a huge time saver since manually drafting emails is one of the most time-consuming tasks.
• Proofread: Proofreading not only looks over spelling, grammar, sentence structure, word choice, etc., but also suggests improvements, along with giving explanations.

Pro Tip: Apple Intelligence in the Mail app can boost your email productivity; however, it still won’t help you to get over the email migration issue that we face so often. Use Apple Mail Converter to export your data easily if you think of moving or even just making a backup.

How to Turn off Apple Intelligence in Apple Mail

At times, these AI advances often become too much for the users. Therefore, there are options to turn off the Apple Intelligence in Mail App. Follow the steps:

iOS/iPad

• Go to the Settings.
• Select Apple Intelligence & Siri.
• Use the toggle to turn off Apple Intelligence.
• Tap Turn off Apple Intelligence to confirm.

On Mac:

• Go to System Settings.
• Select Apple Intelligence & Siri.
• Turn off the Apple Intelligence.

Conclusion

In short, Apple Intelligence is aimed at transforming the Mail app into a smart personal assistant that makes email handling more productive. With features such as summarising, prioritising messages, providing writing tools, generating smart replies, and so on, the Mail app is definitely going to be an essential application. All this is a major step toward the development of the Mail app, giving rise to a more personalised and reactive email experience.