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Apple Mail (officially known as Mail) is an
email client An email client, email reader or, more formally, message user agent (MUA) or mail user agent is a computer program used to access and manage a user's email. A web application which provides message management, composition, and reception functio ...
included by
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
with its
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...
s
macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
,
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
,
iPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for its iPad line of tablet computers. It is a rebranded variant of iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones, renamed to reflect the diverging features of the two product ...
and
watchOS watchOS is the operating system of the Apple Watch, developed by Apple Inc. It is based on iOS, the operating system used by the iPhone, and has many similar features. It was released on April 24, 2015, along with the Apple Watch, the only d ...
. Apple Mail grew out of NeXTMail, which was originally developed by
NeXT Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...
as part of its
NeXTSTEP NeXTSTEP is a discontinued object-oriented, multitasking operating system based on the Mach kernel and the UNIX-derived BSD. It was developed by NeXT Computer in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was initially used for its range of propri ...
operating system, after Apple's acquisition of NeXT in 1997. The current version of Apple Mail utilizes
SMTP The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an Internet standard communication protocol for electronic mail transmission. Mail servers and other message transfer agents use SMTP to send and receive mail messages. User-level email clients ty ...
for message sending,
POP3 In computing, the Post Office Protocol (POP) is an application-layer Internet standard protocol used by e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a mail server. POP version 3 (POP3) is the version in common use, and along with IMAP the most common ...
,
Exchange Exchange may refer to: Physics *Gas exchange is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Places United States * Exchange, Indiana, an unincorporated community * ...
and
IMAP In computing, the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is an Internet standard protocol used by email clients to retrieve email messages from a mail server over a TCP/IP connection. IMAP is defined by . IMAP was designed with the goal of per ...
for message retrieval and
S/MIME S/MIME (Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) is a standard for public key encryption and signing of MIME data. S/MIME is on an IETF standards track and defined in a number of documents, most importantly . It was originally developed by R ...
for end-to-end message encryption. It is also preconfigured to work with popular email providers, such as
Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Mail is an email service launched on October 8, 1997, by the American company Yahoo, Inc. The service is free for personal use, with an optional monthly fee for additional features. Business email was previously available with the Yahoo! ...
, AOL Mail,
Gmail Gmail is a free email service provided by Google. As of 2019, it had 1.5 billion active users worldwide. A user typically accesses Gmail in a web browser or the official mobile app. Google also supports the use of email clients via the POP and ...
,
Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, an e-mail and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook.com, a web mail service from Microsoft * Outlook on the web, a suite of web applications ...
and
iCloud iCloud is a cloud service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011 as a successor to MobileMe. , the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016. iCloud enables users to sync their data to the cloud, inclu ...
(formerly MobileMe) and it supports
Exchange Exchange may refer to: Physics *Gas exchange is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Places United States * Exchange, Indiana, an unincorporated community * ...
.
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
features a mobile version of Apple Mail with added Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) support, though it notoriously missed the functionality of attaching files to reply emails until the release of
iOS 9 iOS 9 is the ninth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 8. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, 2015, and was released on September 16, ...
. EAS is not supported in the macOS version of Apple's Mail app, the main issue being that sent messages will incorrectly be duplicated in the sent messages folder, which then propagates via sync to all other devices including iOS. Features of Apple Mail include the ability to configure the software to receive all of a user's email accounts in the one list, ability to file emails into folders, ability to search for emails, and ability to automatically append signatures to outgoing emails. It also integrates with the Contacts list, Calendar, Maps and other apps.


History


NeXTMail

Apple Mail was originally developed by NeXT as NeXTMail, the email application for its NeXTSTEP operating system. It supported rich text formatting with images and voice messaging, and
MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Message ...
emails. It also supported a text-based user interface ( TUI) to allow for backwards compatibility. When Apple began to adapt NeXTSTEP to become
Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...
, both the operating system and the application went through various stages as it was developed. In a beta version (codenamed " Rhapsody") and various other early pre-releases of Mac OS X, Mail was known as MailViewer. However, with the third developer release of Mac OS X, the application had returned to being known simply as Mail.


First release

Apple Mail was included in all versions of macOS up to and including
Mac OS X Panther Mac OS X Panther (version 10.3) is the fourth major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system. It followed Mac OS X Jaguar and preceded Mac OS X Tiger. It was released on October 24, 2003. System requirements Panther's sy ...
, which was released on October 24, 2003. It was integrated with other Apple applications such as
Address Book An address book or a name and address book is a book, or a database used for storing entries called contacts. Each contact entry usually consists of a few standard fields (for example: first name, last name, company name, address, telephone n ...
, iChat, and
iCal Calendar is a personal calendar app made by Apple Inc. that runs on both the macOS desktop operating system and the iOS mobile operating system. It offers online cloud backup of calendars using Apple's iCloud service, or can synchronize wi ...
. Some of its features that remain in the most recent version of Mail include rules for mailboxes, junk mail filtering and multiple account management.


Mac OS X Tiger (10.4)

In
Mac OS X Tiger Mac OS X Tiger (version 10.4) is the 5th major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers. Tiger was released to the public on April 29, 2005 for US$129.95 as the successor to Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. Some ...
(version 10.4), Mail version 2 included a proprietary single-message-per-file format (with the
filename extension A filename extension, file name extension or file extension is a suffix to the name of a computer file (e.g., .txt, .docx, .md). The extension indicates a characteristic of the file contents or its intended use. A filename extension is typically ...
.emlx) to permit indexing by
Spotlight Spotlight or spot light may refer to: Lighting * Spot lights, automotive auxiliary lamps * Spotlight (theatre lighting) * Spotlight, a searchlight * Stage lighting instrument, stage lighting instruments, of several types Art, entertainment, an ...
. Additional features were: * "Smart mailboxes" that used Spotlight technology to sort mail into folders. * the ability to flag messages with a low, normal or high priority and to use these priorities in mailbox rules and smart mailboxes. * tools for resizing photos before they are sent to avoid oversized email attachments. * the ability to view emailed pictures as a full-screen slideshow. * parental controls to specify who is allowed to send email to children. *
HTML The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaSc ...
message composition. The new version also changed the UI for the buttons in the toolbar. Whereas previous buttons had free-standing defined shapes, the new buttons featured shapes within a lozenge-shaped capsule. According to many users, and even Apple's own human interface guidelines at the time, this was worse for usability. An open-source third-party application that reverted the icons to their former shapes was available. Nevertheless, Apple updated their guidelines to include capsule-shaped buttons, and the new UI persisted.


Mac OS X Leopard (10.5)

In
Mac OS X Leopard Mac OS X Leopard (version 10.5) is the sixth software versioning, major release of macOS, Apple Inc., Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Leopard was released on October 26, 2007 as the successor of Mac OS X Tig ...
(version 10.5), Mail version 3 included personalized stationery, handled in standard HTML format. In addition, it offered notes and to-dos (which could be synced with
iCal Calendar is a personal calendar app made by Apple Inc. that runs on both the macOS desktop operating system and the iOS mobile operating system. It offers online cloud backup of calendars using Apple's iCloud service, or can synchronize wi ...
) as well as a built-in RSS reader. It also introduced
IMAP IDLE In email technology, IDLE is an IMAP feature described iRFC 2177that allows a client to indicate to the server that it is ready to accept real-time Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guar ...
support for account inboxes.


Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6)

Mac OS X Snow Leopard Mac OS X Snow Leopard (version 10.6) is the seventh major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Snow Leopard was publicly unveiled on June 8, 2009 at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. ...
(version 10.6) brought Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 support.


Mac OS X Lion (10.7)

In
Mac OS X Lion OS X Lion, also known as Mac OS X Lion, (version 10.7) is the eighth major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers. A preview of OS X 10.7 Lion was publicly shown at the "Back to the Mac" Apple Speci ...
(version 10.7), Mail featured a redesigned
iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...
-like user interface with full-screen capabilities, an updated message search interface, support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and
Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Mail is an email service launched on October 8, 1997, by the American company Yahoo, Inc. The service is free for personal use, with an optional monthly fee for additional features. Business email was previously available with the Yahoo! ...
(via IMAP). Also added was the capability to group messages by subject in a similar fashion to Mail on iOS 4. The bounce function, where unwanted emails could be bounced back to the sender, was dropped, as was support for Exchange push email.


OS X Mountain Lion (10.8)

In
OS X Mountain Lion OS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8) is the ninth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Mountain Lion was released on July 25, 2012, for purchase and download through Apple's Mac Ap ...
(version 10.8), Mail received VIP tagging, Safari-style inline search for words within an email message, the ability to sync with
iCloud iCloud is a cloud service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011 as a successor to MobileMe. , the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016. iCloud enables users to sync their data to the cloud, inclu ...
and new sharing features.
Notes Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened versio ...
was split off into a stand-alone application. The RSS reader and to-dos were discontinued.


OS X Mavericks (10.9)

In
OS X Mavericks OS X Mavericks (version 10.9) is the 10th major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Mavericks was announced on June 10, 2013, at WWDC 2013, and was released on October 22, 2013, wo ...
(version 10.9), Mail ceased support for plain-text MIME multipart/alternative messages and solely retained the HTML or rich-text version.


OS X Yosemite (10.10)

In
OS X Yosemite OS X Yosemite ( ; version 10.10) is the eleventh major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Yosemite was announced and released to developers on June 2, 2014, at WWDC 2014 and rel ...
(version 10.10), Mail introduced Markup (inline annotation of PDF or image files) and Mail Drop (automatically uploads attachments to iCloud, and sends a link in the message instead of the whole file).


OS X El Capitan (10.11)

In
OS X El Capitan OS X El Capitan ( ) () is the twelfth major release of macOS (named OS X at the time of El Capitan's release), Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh. It focuses mainly on performance, stability, and security. Followin ...
(version 10.11), a filter was added to the message list to filter by various options such as Unread, Flagged, or messages with attachments. The conversation display was also redesigned and various disk space saving optimizations were implemented. Streaming notification support for Exchange accounts was also added.


macOS High Sierra (10.13)

In macOS 10.13 ( High Sierra) Mail reached version 11.5, a version that was not further upgraded (in High Sierra, at least until 2021).


macOS Mojave (10.14)

Support for macOS's new "
dark mode A light-on-dark color scheme —also called black mode, dark mode, dark theme, night mode, or lights-out (mode)— is a color scheme that uses light-colored text, icons, and graphical user interface elements on a dark background. It is often ...
" was added to Mail.


macOS Catalina (10.15)

Added support for Block Sender, Unsubscribe, Mute Thread and layout options.


macOS Big Sur (11.0)

In
macOS Big Sur macOS Big Sur (version 11) is the seventeenth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s operating system for Macintosh computers. It was announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 22, 2020, and was released to the publi ...
, Mail was updated alongside the other first-party apps to feature the new design language of Big Sur, with a full-height sidebar and updated icons that match the blue color of the app's icon. The Mail app icon was changed to be more consistent with the iOS version, depicting a white envelope on a blue background, albeit with a more "3D" look that has the text "Apple Park California 95014" subtly etched on the envelope. Mail now also supports interactive notifications and integrates with the Reminders app to let Siri suggest possible reminders based on who you are emailing.


macOS Monterey (12.0)

Mail now has an option to block trackers in emails from viewing a user's IP address and being notified of whether they have read an email. Extensions from the Mac App Store can now integrate with the Mail app, and iCloud+ subscribers can easily create a new email address that forwards to their primary address.


macOS Ventura (13.0)

Mail has been updated to include features from popular competitors, such as allowing a user to undo sending an email for up to 10, 20, or 30 seconds, scheduling an email to be sent at a user-set time, reminding the user to follow up to an email, and notifying the user to add an attachment or recipient if they seemed to forget to do themselves. Search has been improved by using synonyms for search terms and automatically correcting typos. It also shows shared content and previous search terms when invoked. Messages you sent which haven't received a reply will also move to the top of the inbox to send a follow-up. Emails from companies now show their logo using BIMI support.


See also

* NeXTMail * GNUMail * Comparison of email clients *
Comparison of feed aggregators The following is a comparison of RSS feed aggregators. Often e-mail programs and web browsers have the ability to display RSS feeds. They are listed here, too. Many BitTorrent clients support RSS feeds for broadcasting (see Comparison of BitT ...


References


External links


Mail.app 3.0 screen shot of 2007
{{iOS MacOS email clients MacOS IOS software WatchOS software Software based on WebKit IOS 1997 mergers and acquisitions
Mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...