iOS 18 introduced significant changes to how emails appear and function on Apple devices. These updates directly affect how your subscribers receive and interact with your emails. Here's what you need to know and how to adapt your strategy.
Key Changes in iOS 18
New email categories
Similar to Gmail's tab system, Apple Mail now automatically sorts emails into four categories (Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions) by default. This categorization can significantly impact your open rates and overall engagement.
AI-generated preview summaries
For subscribers using newer devices (iPhone 15+ and recent Macs), Apple has replaced traditional preview text with AI-generated summaries. This creates two different experiences across your customer base—some see your carefully crafted preview text, while others see an AI summary of your content. This dual system requires strategic planning for your email content structure.
Enhanced privacy protections
New privacy settings in iOS 18 may prevent images from loading by default in emails. This feature particularly impacts campaigns that rely heavily on visuals. Subscribers must now take additional steps to view images, which means your message needs to be effective even without images.
Brand logo display changes
Your brand's visibility in the inbox now depends on two distinct systems:
- Apple Business Connect (ABC): This is now the primary system for displaying your logo across all Apple Mail accounts. Without registration, your brand may appear generic in recipients' inboxes. See Apple Business Connect for more information.
- BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification): This serves as a backup system that only works for subscribers using iCloud accounts. It requires proper implementation to function correctly. See BIMI Group for more information.
How to adapt your email strategy
Register with Apple Business Connect and implement BIMI
Take immediate steps to register your business with Apple Business Connect. This ensures your brand logo is displayed properly in subscribers' inboxes, increasing recognition and potentially improving engagement rates.
While Apple Business Connect is your primary focus, also implement BIMI to ensure your brand displays properly for iCloud users.
Revise your email design approach
- Move beyond image-only emails: Create emails that communicate effectively through both text and images, since many subscribers may not see your images immediately. Also consider creating and testing text-only alternatives for all your email campaigns. These serve as fallbacks when subscribers have stringent privacy settings enabled.
- Implement robust alt text: Add descriptive alternative text to all images so subscribers can understand what they're missing if images don't load. See Email accessibility tips for more about how to add alt text to images and other tips for making your emails more accessible.
- Consider fully coded emails: Instead of image-sliced designs, use responsive HTML that works reliably across all devices and privacy settings. See Responsive design in emails for more about how to build responsive emails in Attentive.
Update your content strategy
Create effective preview text for all devices
- Develop strong traditional preview text: Continue crafting compelling preview text for subscribers using older iOS versions or non-Apple devices.
- Structure content for AI summarization: Place key information at the beginning of your email and create a logical content flow that AI can effectively summarize for newer devices.
Design for image blocking
Ensure your emails convey their core message even without images. This means including critical information in text form and not hiding essential details in images without text alternatives.
Implement hybrid design approaches
Create email templates that blend the best of both worlds—visually appealing when images load, but still functional and compelling when they don't. This future-proofs your emails against further privacy enhancements.
Best practices for iOS 18
Design for accessibility and privacy
Create emails that respect user choices about privacy while still being accessible to all subscribers, including those using screen readers or other assistive technologies. See Email accessibility tips for more about how to make your emails more accessible.
Use responsive, code-based designs
Invest in properly coded, responsive email templates rather than image-heavy designs. This approach is more resilient to the changes in iOS 18 and future updates. See Responsive design in emails for more about how to build responsive emails in Attentive.
Include dual-format CTAs
Place important calls-to-action in both text and button/image formats to ensure they remain visible regardless of image loading settings.
Monitor deliverability
Keep an eye on signals that indicate positive and negative deliverability. For a more in-depth evaluation of deliverability, including which Apple Mail categories your emails land in, reach out to your Attentive CSM.
Troubleshooting image issues
If your subscribers report that images aren't loading in your emails:
- Guide them to check their "Protect Mail Activity" settings in the Mail app
- Consider adding brief instructions in your email footer explaining how to enable images for your specific communications
Remember to continually test and adapt your strategy as Apple refines these systems with future updates. The email landscape continues to evolve, so staying flexible with your approach will help maintain strong engagement with your subscribers.