Apple's unwanted 18.2 Mail makeover

Posted on December 21, 2024 by Loren

I updated my iPhone to iOS 18.2 the other day and was pissed to find my Mail app hijacked by the categories and giant sender icons. I was more pissed that the update just forced these changes on me without even asking if I wanted these shitty1 new features.

After fucking around for a while, I figured out how to turn these annoying new features off and return to the Mail interface that’s worked perfectly fine forever.

To disable sender icons, follow these steps:

• Open the Settings app on your iPhone
• Scroll down and tap “Apps”
• Find and tap “Mail”
• Locate the “Message List” section
• Toggle off the switch next to “Show Contact Photos”

To disable categories, follow these steps:

• Open the Mail app on your iPhone
• Tap the “More” button (three dots) in the upper right corner of your inbox
• Select “List View” from the pop-up menu