Whether you use Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, or the iOS Mail app, it probably does a good job minimizing the amount of junk or spam emails that land in your inbox. When it comes to promotional emails that you chose to sign up for — and might now regret signing up for — that’s a different story. 

Some retailers make it difficult for you to unsubscribe by forcing you to navigate through multiple menus before officially unsubscribing. Even worse, they could make you try to remember your account login info. 

Luckily, if Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, or the iOS Mail app detect an unsubscribe option in an email, you can unsubscribe directly through your email app instead of through a retailer’s website. Here’s how to do it. 

How to unsubscribe from emails in Gmail

Gmail is the most popular email service, whether you're on Android or iOS. It’s easy and intuitive to use, integrates well with other Google services, and comes with a ton of helpful features, including the ability to quickly unsubscribe from emails in only a few steps. 

If you’re sorting through emails on the desktop, you’ll see an unsubscribe link to the right of the sender’s email address when you open an email. A pop-up message asks if you’re sure, and then you can press the blue Unsubscribe button. The process is similar in the mobile app, with only three steps after opening the Gmail app. 

1. Select an email from a retailer you’d like to unsubscribe from. 

2. Tap the three vertical dots in the top right corner. If Google detects the option to unsubscribe in that email, you can select the Unsubscribe option from the menu. 

3. Confirm that you’d like to unsubscribe from that email sender by tapping Unsubscribe in the pop-up box.  

How to unsubscribe from emails in iOS mail

Whether you're looking at Apple's email app on desktop or mobile, the steps to unsubscribe from retailers are just as simple. 

1. From the iOS Mail app, select an email from a retailer you'd like to unsubscribe from. 

2. If there's an unsubscribe link in the email, you'll see a message under the email's subject line that reads "This message is from a mailing list." Select the clickable Unsubscribe button next to this message. 

3. When the confirmation pop-up appears, select Unsubscribe again to confirm your decision. 

How to unsubscribe from emails in Microsoft Outlook

Unsubscribing from emails in Microsoft Outlook is almost identical to the process in Gmail. If your email is pulled up on the desktop, you’ll see a message at the top of certain emails below the subject line that reads “Getting too much email?” with a clickable Unsubscribe link beside it. With the mobile Microsoft Outlook app open, unsubscribing from retailers takes three steps.

1. Open an email from a company you’d like to unsubscribe from.  

2. If there’s an unsubscribe link in the email, you can tap the clickable Unsubscribe link below the email’s subject line.

3. When the pop-up message asks if you’re sure you want to unsubscribe, select Unsubscribe. 

It's easy to quickly blurt out your email when you're at the checkout counter and an employee prompts you to sign up for their rewards program. But when you give out your email to 20+ different retailers, those promotional emails start to pile up faster than you can delete them in your inbox. Unsubscribing via your preferred email app makes this filtering process simpler. For an even better email experience, check out how to stop invisible email tracking pixels. 

iOS 17 was announced at WWDC 2023, and the public beta is out right now. It’s fair to say this update has been overshadowed by the 15-inch MacBook Air and the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, but it shouldn’t be ignored.

Apple’s really bringing the heat with an update that is packed to the brim with new features — some are useful, others aren’t so much, but they should change the way you interact with your iPhone.

So let’s get into the nitty gritty of these new features in the public beta, how they impact your iPhone, and whether this is the big, well-thought-out update we’ve all been hoping for. Or whether the Cupertino company is back to its old tricks of throwing everything at the wall, and seeing what sticks.

Can your iPhone run iOS 17?

Let’s answer the first obvious question here. Does iOS 17 support the iPhone you have? Apple has always been pretty legendary in terms of multiple years of software support across many of its iPhones. But some models like the iPhone X and iPhone 8 have been cut from the list this time around. Here are all the phones that will get this update:

• iPhone 14
• iPhone 14 Plus
• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro Max
• iPhone 13 mini
• iPhone 13 Pro
• iPhone 13 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2022)
• iPhone 12 mini
• iPhone 12
• iPhone 12 Pro
• iPhone 12 Pro Max
• iPhone SE (2020)
• iPhone 11 Pro Max
• iPhone 11 Pro
• iPhone 11
• iPhone XS Max
• iPhone XS
• iPhone XR

New convenience

So before we get to the big features Craig Federighi (and his magnificent hair) bragged about on-stage, let’s talk about the convenience tweaks that heal some of my iOS frustrations. You see, I do love the bigger things that Apple brings to the table, but it’s the smaller developments that help make tasks simpler that tend to make the biggest differences in day-to-day usage.

A huge game changer for iOS 17 is the massive updates made to AirDrop — not just for transferring files, but for the ease of transferring so much more. It starts with the ability to transfer contact information by just holding your iPhone on top of someone else’s, and this proximity-based exchange works on files too.

Plus, AirDrop transfers will continue even if you have to step away. Provided your recipient is signed into iCloud, the transfer will continue over the internet at longer distances. That is a Godsend to someone like me who is always moving around from place to place.

As for how you use the home screen, widgets are no longer just glorified app opening icons. They are interactive, which means you can do things like switch on your Nanoleaf lights directly from the home screen, rather than having to drag down the control center or open the Home app. It massively reduces the amount of taps needed to perform certain tasks.

But my favorite update is, in fact, the smallest switch. Head over to passwords and activate “Clean Up Automatically.” This is part of a 1-2 punch where iOS will now AutoFill two-factor authentication codes from Mail (not just messages), and automatically delete the email after you’ve used the code. It’s been a lifesaver for keeping my inbox clean, and something that blends seamlessly into the background. 

This joins other tiny tweaks like a catch up arrow in messages to go back to where you left off, replying to individual messages by swiping on them, enhanced AutoFill for PDFs that recognises places to fill in details, and AI identifying items in photos with more rich information to give you a far smoother iPhone experience.

Oh, and shout-out to the reminders app automatically sorting your grocery list into categories. I never thought I would be excited about stuff like this. But in my 30s, as a person who gets excited about buying an air fryer during Prime Day, this small bit of automation has been a massively helpful feature.

That’s not to say that all of the features are super useful. I’m, of course, talking about StandBy mode. This is definitely more window dressing than something worthwhile — rotating your phone into landscape on a charging stand turns it into what is essentially a nice little clock for your bedside table with interactive widgets. For sure, it looks cool, but it will really come into its own with increased customization and more third party widgets.

New ways to mess with your friends

Now with the small but impactful functional tweaks out the way, let’s get into the fun part. Apple dedicated a lot of time to talking about the Phone and Messages apps, and I’ll be honest, the company stuck the landing with a sly grin.

It all begins by making your own contact poster that other users see when you call. The customization suite has the same amount of depth as what you can do with the lockscreen, and you can create something that matches your personality with ease. It’s another asset to making your iPhone your own, and I really like it.

But that’s just window dressing when compared to live voicemail, which automatically transcribes a voicemail message as it comes in. For the anxiety of wanting to dodge calls from friends (if you’re reading this, it’s not you, it’s me) or telemarketers, but not knowing whether it was important, this is huge. 

Of course, Google has offered something similar for a while now, but Apple’s implementation integrating directly into the call screen makes it a cinch to just pick up quickly when you see it’s something critical.

Moving over to Messages, all of your additional apps and implementations have been moved into a singular plus button menu, which you can customize the order of to make a helluva lot simpler to use. And within that, stickers have been given a huge revamp in the name of having a laugh. Remember that nifty feature from iOS 16 where you could cut a subject from a photo and paste it as a PNG anywhere else? That is now being used to create stickers.

You can even use it on live photos, so you can slap whatever reactions you want on people’s messages. However creatively you wish to use that is up to you. Translation: troll your friends. It’s a lot of fun.

But don’t take it too far. If you’re one of those weirdos that thinks unsolicited nudes are funny, first of all, go sit by yourself and learn why it’s actually a really problematic behavior. And second, to those on the receiving end, iOS 17 now has a feature to block sensitive photos — displaying two content warning windows that you have to agree to.

Beyond that, you’re getting live transcription on voice memos, sharing your location happens directly within the Messages app, and a new Check In feature helps keep your friends and family aware of when you get home safely — giving the group chat a nudge if there are any unexpected delays.

The keyboard has also been updated with a more reactive Autocorrect that adapts faster to the words you want to ducking use, and it will start to make more accurate predictions inline as you type — meaning you just have to hit the space bar to fill in the rest of the sentence. Think of it like Gmail’s prediction, where it will far more accurately suggest words to fill a whole sentence, while also learning the way you type to cater its dictionary to you. It’s one of those features that you don’t really see or feel working, but it just does its thing in the background.

What’s missing?

There are a slew of other features that we don’t have access to in iOS 17 just yet, such as the new Journal app. And others just haven’t made a material difference to the way I use my iPhone, like the increased accuracy of keyboard autocorrect. But let’s take a beat and look at what this new version doesn’t have:

• Dynamic Island is still pretty pointless — Look, it was a nice idea on paper, and there are some useful integrations with certain live activities. But Apple hasn’t done anything to expand notification support with greater levels of interactivity, or provide any real enticement for developers to take advantage of them.
• Still no way to download apps from third party app stores — Don’t expect this to change any time soon, but I only bring it up because of the moves from regulatory bodies to try and democratize this.

You’ll also find the slow drip feed of features you’d expect to already be present is still alive and well. After iOS 16’s option to keep photo albums private behind Face ID, the fact the company waited an entire year to make this a thing for private browsing on Safari too — rather than giving it to us as part of a whole private suite — is a little annoying. Almost like Apple is holding back features to make newer versions look better.

Outlook

There are some big new features in this public beta that are sure to surprise and delight users, which makes iOS 17 a fun update to look forward to.

In its current state, this new version doesn’t tackle some of our key frustrations with iOS 16, such as Apple not making the most of that dynamic island or a revamped control center with a sleeker UI.

But it’s great to create contact posters for others to see, interactive widgets reduce the amount of taps to get stuff done, live photo stickers are a quick and easy way to troll your mates, and the StandBy mode seems a little pointless, but does turn your phone into a nice additional screen for your bedside table. Also, thank the lord we finally have multiple timers on iOS!

Wondering how to download the new iOS 17 public beta? You've come to the right place! Like you, we're can't wait to experiment with new features, including Stickers, the updated Visual Look Up, Check In, NameDrop, and more.

Of course, you can't do any of this if you're still stuck on iOS 16. To preview some of the best features iOS 17 has to offer, you'll have to upgrade to the new iOS 17 public beta Apple just released today.

Keep in mind, however, that there are risks involved with downloading the iOS 17 public beta. It is a beta version, after all, which means it's, at best, little rough around the edges, and at worst, a possible threat to the existing content on your iPhone. So before downloading the iOS 17 public beta, we highly recommend backing up your iPhone first.

How to download the iOS 17 public beta

Once you've backed everything up and you, follow the steps below to install the iOS 17 public beta.

1. Make sure that your iPhone is running iOS 16.4 or newer (you can check this by simply asking, "Hey Siri, what iOS version is on my iPhone?")

2. Next, go to Safari on your iPhone and sign up for Apple's Beta Software program. Don't worry; you don't need to pay for anything. It's free.

3. Log in using the Apple ID you use on your iPhone and enroll it in the program. Follow through with the sign-up process (make sure you read the agreement once it pops up.)

4. Go to the Settings app.

5. Tap on Software Update. 

6. Under Automatic Update, tap on Beta Updates.

7. Now, you should see the option to download iOS 17 Public Beta. Tap on it and you'll see a blue check.

8. Go back to the last screen, and you'll be prompted to download the iOS 17 Public Beta.

The iOS 17 Public beta takes several minutes to download, so be patient. Keep in mind that you need a 2018 iPhone or newer to install this beta (e.g., XR, XS, and second-gen SE owners are out of luck).

Your emails are spying on you. Out of the gazillion emails that hit our inboxes every day, most of them have hidden trackers capable of informing the recipient when you open them, where you open them, how many times you’ve read them, and much more — a privacy nightmare many call “endemic.” Fortunately, there are ways you can protect yourself and your inbox. 

Advertisers and marketing companies, especially, equip their promotional emails with tracking pixels to keep tabs on their mass campaigns. Based on how people interact with them, senders can learn which subject lines are the most “clickable,” and which of their targets can be potential customers.

Though this is useful from an analytics perspective, it’s also often done covertly and without consent. Not a fan of this invasion of privacy? There’s an easy way to turn off email tracking. , For a better look at what these intrusive little pixels are and how to put an end to them, read on.

What are email tracking pixels?

The email tracking pixel is a surprisingly simple concept that allows anyone to secretly gather loads of information on you as soon as you interact with their messages. 

When someone wants to track whether you’ve read their email, they embed a tiny 1 pixel by 1 pixel image inside it. Once you open the email, it pings the server where the image is stored and logs the interaction. Not only does the sender trace whether you have clicked their email and how many times it's been clicked on, it can also tell your location by checking where that network ping was launched and which sort of device was used.

There are two reasons why you  never actually see that tracking graphic. One, it’s minuscule. Two, it’s in the GIF or PNG format, which allows the company to keep it transparent and invisible to the naked eye. Oftentimes, a sender will also hide this in their signature. Therefore, that fancy font or the flashing company logo you find at the bottom of a commercial email might be more than a harmless, cosmetic presence. 

More importantly, studies have found that it’s possible for advertisers and other malicious actors to link your email activities with your browser cookies by matching your location and device specifications. This opens an alarming can of worms since it enables them to identify you wherever you go online, connect your email address to your browser history, and much more. 

“The results belie the claim of 'anonymous' web tracking," one study warned.

Find out which emails are spying on you

If email tracking pixels are invisible, how do you spot them? Most email clients like Gmail and Outlook don’t have a built-in mechanism for this, but you can turn to third-party tools. 

For Gmail, we suggest a Chrome and Firefox extension called Ugly Email. It adds a little “eyeball” icon next to the emails that are loaded with tracking pixels and then blocks them from spying on you. Alternatively, if you’re a Yahoo or Outlook user, you can try Trocker, which similarly marks emails with trackers on their websites. 

These extensions, though, are limited to your computers. To detect email trackers on your phone, you’ll need to subscribe to a premium email client like HEY.  

How to block email tracking pixels

Tune your existing inbox

Since email trackers rely on hidden media attachments, they’re fairly straightforward to block. The easiest method is to simply prevent your email apps from loading any images by default and only do it manually for the emails you trust or when there’s an attachment you’d like to download. 

On Gmail, the option to block external images is available under Settings > Images > Ask Before Displaying External Images on the web and mobile apps. On Outlook apps, it’s found under Options > Block External Images on mobile and Options > Trust Center > Automatic Download on desktop.

Though Apple Mail also lets you accomplish this from Preferences > Viewing > Load remote content in messages, you can directly block trackers on it as long as you’re on macOS Monterey. Head over to Mail > Preferences > Privacy and check the “Protect Mail Activity” box. 

Get a private relay email address

The problem with the methods we’ve discussed so far is that they block the tracking pixels after the email has already landed in your inbox — they don’t strip the email of them. For ensuring you never accidentally open an email with trackers, you’ll need a proxy address that pats down your messages and removes any contraband before they arrive in your inbox. Another benefit of this is that it allows you to keep your personal email address private and only hand out a relay ID to websites, newsletters, and others. 

There are plenty of free services that offer a proxy email address. We recommend DuckDuckGo’s Email Protection. It lets you create a new custom relay address, which, before forwarding your mail to your personal inbox, secures them by booting the trackers and encrypting any unsecured links in the body. 

At the top of forwarded emails, DuckDuckGo also adds a little section that tells you whether it found any trackers in it and if it did, which companies were responsible for it. 

On an Android phone or iPhone, go to Settings > Email Protection on the DuckDuckGo app to sign up. On a desktop, you can get started with the DuckDuckGo browser extension or its browser for Mac. 

Though the Mail app is undoubtedly a workhorse, there’s no such thing as perfect. For the tinkerers out there, you can get a little closer with some really excellent third-party plugins. There are a number of them out there, whether you’re looking for something to manage multiple accounts, add notes and tags, or organize your inbox, chances are there’s a plugin out there to do it. 

To install these, you first need to understand that it’s not nearly as straightforward as it should be. Though Apple supports these plugins, it doesn’t exactly advertise it. And some are available with installable packages, while others are installed as bundles, meaning installation isn’t the same for every plugin. 

That said, this should work for a majority of Mail plugins, though if it doesn’t you may have to consult the instructions offered by the developer. And don’t forget to enable the plugin once you’re finished.

1) Download the plugin you want to use with Apple Mail.

2) Open the downloaded file from the Downloads folder and follow the installation process.

3) Open the Mail app from the Launchpad.

4) In the drop-down menu, select Preferences.

5) In the Preferences window, on the General tab, click Manage Plug-ins.

6) Select the app from the plug-ins list.

7) Click Apply and Restart Mail, to complete  the process.

A high volume of email puts recipients at the wrong end of chore-level work. Fortunately, Apple's desktop Mail app allows you to create Rules that perform actions automatically when terms and conditions are met.

All you need to do to make Mail's Rules work for you is understand the options available and how you can better filter and sort the messages you receive. Here's how to set up filtering in Apple Mail:

1. Click Mail.

2. Click Preferences.

3. Click Rules.

4. Click Add Rule.

5. Click Any recipient to see filtering options.

Rules can activate based on sender, subject, recipient and other aspects.

6. Click Move Message to see action options.

When a rule is met, Mail can do a number of things such as file messages, highlight messages in the list view, bounce the Mail icon, forward messages, delete them, send notification and mark them as flagged.

You can make a rule to delete messages.

Rules can make sure your computer alerts you about important messages.

Rules can assist your spam filters. 

You can make a rule to make it easier to see which messages were sent from people you know. 

As you can see, Rules add order to Mail, and make it easier to navigate through the morass.

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Apple Mail defaults to show you a sizable preview of the messages in your inbox, but all that information takes up a ton of space. Fortunately, things were once simpler, and by turning on Classic Layout, you can see more of your inbox at a time.

This is a great way to take care of email in large chunks, so you can select a batch to archive or mark as read. It's also useful for helping you find the important messages in a sea of newsletters, spam and other digital detritus.

Here's how to switch Apple Mail to Classic Layout:

1. Click Mail.

2. Select Preferences.

3. Click Viewing.

4. Click use classic layout.

Now you've enabled classic layout. Isn't it easier to see everything now?

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Just because Apple Mail uses 12-point Helvetica as its default font doesn't mean you're stuck with it. By changing the standard font for your emails, you can personalize your text and add another level of expression. 

Not only can you change the default font of your email messages, but you can also change the colors used for quoted text that appears below a reply. Here's how to change the default font in Apple Mail. 

1. Click Mail.

2. Select Preferences.

3. Select Fonts & Colors. Skip to step 6 if quoted text isn't important.

4. Click the Purple to change the default color for quoted text. 

5. Select a color. Repeat steps 4 and 5 as necessary. Don't reuse colors.

6. Click Select next to Message font.

7. Click the gear icon.

8. Select a font family, typeface style and size.

You've changed the default message font in Apple Mail.

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An email signature doesn't have to contain only your name; it can serve as a calling card that conveys your personality, and provides additional contact information. Apple's desktop Mail app allows users to store multiple signatures, and assign different ones to each account.

For example, your personal email account can give out your home address, while your business signature only provides your office phone number. Here's how to add and use signatures in Apple Mail.

1. Click Mail.

2. Click Preferences.

3. Click Signatures.

4. Click +.

5. Name your signature. Give it a memorable title if you plan to use multiple.

6. Compose a signature. You can right-click the message and select Font to change formatting. If you insert a URL, it will become a clickable link when received.

7. Drag the title of the signature to the email accounts that you want to use it with. 

8. Click on each account you drag it to. 

9. Click None.

10. Select the signature to set it as an account's default signature. Repeat steps 8,9 and 10 for each account.

11. Click your signature's name while composing an email to select from your options.

12. Select a signature.

When you send your message, your signature will appear at the bottom of your message. As you can see, URLs become clickable links.

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Users of Apple's desktop Mail app should know that it can support multiple email accounts, and it's easy to add another. This way you can keep your home, work and extra email accounts all under the same digital roof.

Mail supports email accounts from Apple's iCloud, Microsoft's Exchange, Google's Gmail, Yahoo! and AOL, as well as others that use POP3 or IMAP technologies. Here's how to add an account to Apple Mail.

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1. Click Mail in the Menu bar.

2. Select Add Account...

3. Select an email service.

4. Click Continue.

5. Enter your email address and click Next.

6. Enter your password and click Next.

7. Check off the box next to Contacts, as you'll want to make it easy to send emails.

You've added an email address to Apple Mail.

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We all get a lot of email, so wouldn't it be great if someone else would sort it for you? Apple Mail fulfills this need with the option to create Smart Mailboxes that will filter by sender or a handful of other aspects such as if there's an attachment or if there's a specific word in the subject line.

Smart mailboxes also pull messages together from across different accounts, which could save you some time if you find yourself searching for the same things. Here's how to create smart mailboxes in Apple Mail:

1. Click Mailbox.

2. Select New Smart Mailbox.

3. Click Any recipient to see all of the filtering options available

4. Select from this long list of items including sender, subject, VIP contact status, messages you haven't replied to and those containing attachments.

5. Select From, then contains, add email addresses and click the + sign to create a smart mailbox of messages from specific groups of people.

6. Select Contains attachments to collect messages with attached files.

7. Select "Message was not replied to," click + and then select "Priority is high" to organize emails that the sender found important that you haven't responded to yet.

The list of possible smart mailboxes is limitless, so play around and figure out which are right for you. This Google Docs Alerts smart mailbox shows me notifications related to updates to articles in progress that I've shared with coworkers.

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