You'll have 10 seconds to cancel a sent email with iOS 16

Ios 16 Icon (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

iOS 16 will allow people to undo a sent email.
Those looking to cancel sent email will have just ten seconds to do so.
iOS 16 will ship later this fall.

Apple's upcoming iOS 16 update will include some new improvements to the iPhone's Mail app, with one of the additions being the ability to unsend an email when needed. However, people should note that they'll have just ten seconds to realize their mistake if they need to cancel an outgoing email.

The iOS 16 update was announced during the WWDC22 opening keynote and brings with it a raft of improvements. The Mail app has plenty of them with the ability to cancel an outbound email just one. The addition of such a feature is a welcome one but Mail isn't the first email client to offer the ability to undo a sent email. It is, however, the first time Apple has offered it.

Easily unsend an email message that you just sent before it reaches the recipient's inbox

Other notable iOS 16 Mail features include the ability to schedule when an outbound message will be sent as well as having the app remind people of emails that have been opened but they "didn't get back to." Features like this have historically only been offered by third-party solutions and it's great to see them come to the Mail app.

The iOS 16 update is currently available in early beta form for developers with a public beta set to be released next month. The final version, set to be the best iPhone software to date, is expected to arrive on devices worldwide later this year — in or around September, if past years are any indication.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.