Contact groups don’t work when sending email in iOS, and I would prefer not having to type in 10 to 20 names every time I need to email a group. Is there a workaround?
Yeah, the lack of group functionality is a major shortcoming of Mail on iOS devices. But iOS 5 is just around the corner, so hopefully Apple will build in native support for it this time around. Thankfully, you’re not left at the mercy of Apple. There are a couple of different workarounds, and they’re actually all pretty simple.
If you want to go the app route, you’ll find lots of options in the App Store that will let you create and manage mail groups. In particular, we like ABContacts ($4.99) for its deep feature set and easy group creation. But shop around -- if all you want is an app to manage groups, there are plenty of free and cheap options.
Making your own multiple-address contacts is free...and fairly simple to do in Address Book on your Mac.
It may be easier, however, to build your own solution -- especially if your email groups are fairly stable and don’t change much. To create an email group for use on your phone, create a new contact in Address Book on your Mac and give it a unique name. In the email field, type or paste email addresses separated by commas. Then whenever you need to send an email to your group, just type the group contact name in the address field, and you’re good to go. This method takes a bit more work to create a group than the app-based alternatives, but it’s free, and you can create the mega-list pretty quickly on a Mac and then sync it to your iPhone to save lots of tapping.
If the group you’re emailing frequently adds or drops members, your best bet is an old-school email list. Google Groups are free, easy to set up, and people can join and leave groups on their own as needed.
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