iOS 18.2 beta includes redesigned Mail app with smart categories

Apple released the first beta of iOS 18.2 to developers on Wednesday, which includes additional Apple Intelligence features. However, the update also brings some other improvements, including the redesigned Mail app announced in June at WWDC 2024.

Redesigned Mail app now available in iOS 18.2 beta

Apple announced the new Mail app as part of iOS 18 in June. However, the company said that this new version of its email client will arrive later with a future software update. We now know that the new Mail will arrive with iOS 18.2, as the new design is now available to iOS beta users running the latest beta version.

This is definitely one of the biggest updates to Apple’s Mail app. It has a new design that shows profile photos and icons for each email in your inbox. But more than that, the new Mail also comes with smart categories. The app will use on-device processing to sort a user’s emails by primary, transaction, update, and promotion.

Things like receipts and order confirmations will be sorted by transaction, newsletters and social media notifications will be sorted by update, while ads and marketing will be sorted by promotion. There will also be an all-mail tab where you can see everything in chronological order.

In addition, the new Mail app also makes it easy for users to view other emails from the same sender. Apple has also made the division between new and old emails clearer. And with Apple Intelligence, Mail can also suggest smart replies.

iOS 18.2 also adds Image Playground, Genmoji, ChatGPT integration, and visual search for iPhone 16 models.

For now, the iOS 18.2 beta is only available for devices that are compatible with Apple Intelligence. That means iPhone 15 Pro or later and iPad M1 or later. Of course, the update will eventually be available for more devices. Apple previously suggested that iOS 18.2 would be released to the public in December.