With Apple's WWDC 2024 keynote behind us and a laundry list of intuitive iOS 18 features on the horizon this Fall, there are plenty of additions to look forward to but a few changes that may have raised concerns. On the email front, iOS 18 promises some major quality-of-life improvements for users but has many senders questioning their ability to reach the ever-changing inbox.
The good news? Your email deliverability will not be negatively affected by iOS 18. The better news? You may actually experience a reduction in complaint rates and an improvement in deliverability along the way.
How is Apple Mail Changing With iOS 18?
Apple Mail is making two major changes to its email platform with the release of iOS 18, both powered by their new contextual AI system (known as “Apple Intelligence”).
The first is the introduction of the tabbed inbox, similar to Gmail’s popular interface, which will automatically organize emails by category for a much more streamlined user experience. Emails will now be sorted into one of these four categories:
- Primary – “High priority” emails like time-sensitive messages and messages from friends, family, or other close connections.
- Transactions – Emails related to purchase confirmations, receipts, and other transactional communications.
- Updates – Notifications about account changes, policy updates, or other service-related information.
- Promotions – Marketing emails containing offers, discounts, and product announcements from brands and businesses.
The goal of this change is to help users more quickly navigate to the messages that matter most to them, while simultaneously decluttering the inbox.
The second change gives Apple Mail users a brand new way to view snippets of receipts, newsletters, and other regularly received marketing emails in an easily scannable “feed,” grouped by sender.
Will This Affect My Deliverability?
In short, no. Your brand’s emails aren’t going to be rerouted to spam or lost to the depths of some mystical inbox abyss. As long as you continue to maintain a clean email list, stay up to date on email sending best practices, and personalize your emails for maximum relevance, your brand voice will remain as present as ever.
Those who were sending a decade or so ago most likely remember the Great Gmail Scare of 2013, when tabs were first introduced to email inboxes. At the time it was seen as a major disruption, with the perception of these new “invisible barriers” creating paranoia that legitimate marketing emails would be lumped with all other email spam. In reality, email deliverability never became as destabilized as everyone had feared.
In fact, this disruption ended up pushing marketers to adapt their email marketing strategies to place a stronger focus on personalized and engaging content to maintain open rates within the Promotions tab. Over the years, as user expectations and marketing literacy have evolved, our marketing practices have only continued to become more refined.
Why the Promotions Tab is Your Friend
Jumping back to present day, with Apple’s adoption of inbox tabs, email senders may actually see lower complaint rates and a boost in deliverability.
When a user is in their Primary tab, they are focused on personal and time-sensitive communications. This “high-priority environment” is one where promotional emails feel intrusive, potentially leading to a negative response or even being marked as spam.
However, when users switch to the Promotions tab, their mindset shifts with it. They are more likely to be in a receptive state, primed to see marketing messages, deals, and offers. In this context, promotional emails are no longer competing with personal or urgent messages, reducing the likelihood of being ignored or marked as spam. Instead, users are actually more open to engaging with these emails because they are mentally prepared to browse through marketing content.
By aligning with user expectations, this system fosters a more favorable environment for marketing communications, ultimately benefiting both users and marketers. Even if you see a slight reduction in open rates for promotional messages, the opens that you do receive will give you higher quality engagement.
OneSignal for Email
Making a splash in user inboxes begins with your email provider. At OneSignal, we’ve made a name for ourselves not only by revolutionizing the way brands communicate with an omnichannel approach but also by giving email marketers new life with the right tools for the job.
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