Mail

Gmail for iPhone and iPad has been updated with a completely new design and, multiple account support, and more. This update comes only 5 months since Google's acquisition of Sparrow and it's pretty clear that the Sparrow guys have been hard at work with Gmail's new app. For the first time, I'm able to say that the official Gmail app for iPhone and iPad is really great.

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Almost 6 years after it was introduced, you still can't attach files to emails in iOS. While iOS 6 has introduced a method to attach photos and videos to in-progress emails, it suffers from poor discoverability, and only works with content from the Photos app. If you want to attach any other file to an email, it's a usability disaster.

Sparrow, the email client for iPhone that was recently acquired by Google, surprisingly received an update that includes support for the iPhone 5's larger display and the ability to open Passbook attachments. The is surprising because with the acquisition, the developers said that there was no plan to release new features to the Sparrow apps.

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While older versions of iOS required you to email pictures and videos using the Photos app, or more recently, tediously copy and paste them into a Mail app email, iOS 6 adds the ability to insert them directly into an email. If you've ever had times where you started typing out an email and then had to close it out in order to copy and paste an image from the Photos app, you'll understand why this feature was much needed.

Now, the bad news is that instead of a simple, multipurpose attachment icon in plain site, Apple is only letting you attach pictures and emails (not documents or anything else), and they've hidden it away in the already jam-packed editing popover. Still, better to have than have not, so here's how it works...

The VIP inbox in iOS allows you to favorite specific Contacts so their messages get filter into their own, special inbox in your Mail app and are always easy to find. If that's not enough, you also have the ability to set up specific tones and alerts for your VIP contacts which makes knowing who is contacting you easier than ever, and lets you stay on top of your email like never before.

Apple has begun sending out emails to inform iCloud users that @icloud.com email addresses have been reserved for them. These seem to be directed towards previous MobileMe users who had @me.com (or legacy @mac.com) addresses. I don't recall email addresses being reserved following the mac.com to me.com transition, and icloud.com, and there's no additional information or context provided.

Microsoft has released Outlook.com, what they consider to be the next-generation of email. And much to their credit, Microsoft have gone above and beyond to make sure you can access it not only on the web, but from any and all of your devices, including the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

Here's how.

Microsoft has announced Outlook.com, a free, web-based email service that clearly has its sites set on Google's hugely popular Gmail service. Of course, Microsoft already has Hotmail, who's very name meant HTML mail (HoTMail), and live.com, but they've never been shy about multiple, seemingly redundant offerings. But this seems different. Rather than doubling up, Outlook.com seems to be a new layer -- a way to offer something new without forcing old users to just take it. According to the Office blog:

The Gmail for iPhone app received an update today that includes the long awaited ability to save picture attachments to your Camera Roll. It has also received performance enhancements that improve the animation and scrolling experience.

Yet another little gem from WWDC is a new VIP inbox for your iOS and OSX e-mail apps, allowing you to separate the wheat from the chaff, and see only messages from designated contacts. In iOS, you'll receive SMS-style notifications when a VIP e-mails you, and those VIP designations will sync up over iCloud to your Mac and other iOS devices.