iPhone Tips: Email Expertise
Posted 09/09/2008 at 7:09pm
| by Cory Bohon
Manage, send, and receive messages easier than ever.
Send email from any account

Normally when you create an email on your iPhone, you have to be in the account inbox you want the message to be sent from. This can be frustrating and difficult to send emails if you manage multiple email accounts using your iPhone, such as Gmail and MobileMe. However, if you tap on the “CC/Bcc, From:” line in a new message and additionally tap on the “From” field, you will be able to select the account from which the email will be sent.
Move and Delete Multiple Messages

Are you tired of swiping from left to right to delete items from your email folders? Well, there’s an easier way and it involves tapping on the Edit button in the top right corner of the Mail window. Once in edit view, you will be able to tap to the left of each message you want to either move or delete. When you are done selecting the messages, tap either the move or delete button at the bottom of the Mail window. If you tap delete, your message will be moved to the trash. If you tap move, you will be prompted to select another folder location to move the items.
Change Your Default Mail Account

Normally, email accounts are specified as default when you first add them. The default address automatically sends mail when you tap an email link in a webpage or another application. However, you can change this default even after the initial setup. Open Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Default Account. From this preference, select the Mail account you wish to be the default.
Disable—Don’t Delete—an Email Account

Sometimes you might not want to receive emails from a specific email account (perhaps you get spam at that account), but you want the account settings to remain on the iPhone in case you ever want to receive an important email. Well, all you have to do is navigate to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Select the email account you want to disable from the Accounts group at the top. Once you’re in a specific account’s settings, move the Account on/off switch to the “off” position. This will remove the account from Mail, but keep the settings intact. That way, if you need to temporarily check for mail, just turn it back on.
Conserve Battery by Changing Retrieval Frequency

Depending on your email host compatibility, “push” sends new messages to your phone instantly. But this constant connection can burn through the iPhone battery. Fetch mail on a timed interval, or manually look for messages to conserve power.
From the Settings main menu, tap Fetch New Data. From this menu, you can use the switch at the top of the window to toggle push support. You can also change the universal settings to Fetch data using the intervals buttons: every 15-, 30-, 60-minutes, or manually. The Advanced button lets you tune multiple accounts differently. Your batteries will last the longest if you choose manual retrival, but you’ll have to open Mail in order to check for new messages, instead of listening for the Pavlovian bell.
Check out our other iPhone University subjects:
Instant Interface - Learn input secrets for any situation.
Fine Photos - Shoot—or at least end up with—snappier pictures with the built in camera.
iTunes - Make your music library and iPhone sing together.