Cannot Careate Email Groups In IOS...Why?

[donster28]

I recently convinced my brother to use an iPad, heck he even bought one for his wife. They totally enjoyed their iPads until they learned that there is no way to create contact groups and easily send an email to groups on their new high-tech gadgets.

There was no way I could help them because all of my searching on the internet pointed to the ugly truth: there is no way to create a group on the native IOS Mail app.

Furthermore, when sending to a group (created from a Mac, of course), there is no easy way to pick a group from the contacts list because they're all named 'Group'...what the heck is happening here?

Yes, there are apps I can download to remedy this but why is not Apple letting us do this natively on the Mail app? Everyone seems to be ok with it because I cannot find a single forum thread that tackles this extensively. As a long time Mac user, I can just setup groups on my Mac, but how about a person that uses only an iPad?

I am now embarrassed to tell my brother that he made the right choice in choosing an iPad. I feel sorry for him because he is not that tech savvy in the first place. He also doesn't have a Mac and I was hoping he'd get one after experiencing the iPad...I just don't know if I can convince him now.

Is there some secret conspiracy going on here...LOL. Will Apple ever solve this problem?

 

[stulaw11]

Have you tried a Google Search? Took me 5 seconds and the first result.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/iphone/how-send-group-email-on-iphone-3579788/

 

[C DM]

Have you contacted Apple about this?

 

[donster28]

Have you tried a Google Search? Took me 5 seconds and the first result.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/iphone/how-send-group-email-on-iphone-3579788/

Yep, saw this workaround and tried it. It doesn't work anymore...it only uses the first email address on the list.
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Have you contacted Apple about this?

Not yet, but will do.

 

[stulaw11]

Yep, saw this workaround and tried it. It doesn't work anymore...it only uses the first email address on the list.

Ah ok. It didn't specify what OS version nor the article updated that it stopped working.

 

[Abazigal]

It's probably one of those little things that Apple simply hasn't gotten round to yet.

I agree that while there are many 3rd party apps that let us do this, it should be something baked into the OS.

 

[donster28]

It's probably one of those little things that Apple simply hasn't gotten round to yet.

I agree that while there are many 3rd party apps that let us do this, it should be something baked into the OS.

It's been years now and it's hard to believe that Apple isn't aware of this nor they haven't gotten around it yet.

 

[stulaw11]

It was in iOS at some point many OSes ago and taken out. I just suspect it's not a highly requested feature to put it back in.

 

[donster28]

I think I remember it was there before, but I just don't believe it's taken out because it's not a 'highly requested feature'...it's a useful feature as it is.

In any case, I am on hold on the phone for an Apple engineer and would love to hear the real reasoning behind this. I've been chatting and talking on the phone with support specialists and they cannot answer my question. One finally suggested I talk to an engineer.

Will post my findings afterwards.

 

[C DM]

I think I remember it was there before, but I just don't believe it's taken out because it's not a 'highly requested feature'...it's a useful feature as it is.

In any case, I am on hold on the phone for an Apple engineer and would love to hear the real reasoning behind this. I've been chatting and talking on the phone with support specialists and they cannot answer my question. One finally suggested I talk to an engineer.

Will post my findings afterwards.

Not likely anyone will be able to provide some specific reasoning for it. Just something that isn't part of iOS at this point and no one really knows when or if it will be part of it.

 

[donster28]

Just got on the phone with Apple. Nope, I couldn't get to an engineer...they're not supposed to talk to people like us. The only thing I was suggested to do is to leave a feedback on the Apple website.

There you have it folks.

 

[C DM]

Just got on the phone with Apple. Nope, I couldn't get to an engineer...they're not supposed to talk to people like us. The only thing I was suggested to do is to leave a feedback on the Apple website.

There you have it folks.

Feedback and/or bug report. Pretty much standard with most companies (some don't even provide ways to file bugs and just a general "contact us" form).

 

[BrianBaughn]

"Groups", as they pertain to contacts, has various meanings depending on the service you're using and none of them seem to work well. User created Gmail contact groups don't show up in iOS Contacts or Mac OS X Contacts. With Exchange, a "Group" can be one of two different things...neither of which, I'm pretty sure, work with iOS Contacts.

The best way to create Groups in iOS is via a third-party app. There are a couple of free ones that look like they'd be fine. I don't know of any that sync between devices (using iCloud, Dropbox or similar) but that would be a bonus if anyone has one like that to recommend.

No reason to panic!

 

[donster28]

"Groups", as they pertain to contacts, has various meanings depending on the service you're using and none of them seem to work well. User created Gmail contact groups don't show up in iOS Contacts or Mac OS X Contacts. With Exchange, a "Group" can be one of two different things...neither of which, I'm pretty sure, work with iOS Contacts.

The best way to create Groups in iOS is via a third-party app. There are a couple of free ones that look like they'd be fine. I don't know of any that sync between devices (using iCloud, Dropbox or similar) but that would be a bonus if anyone has one like that to recommend.

No reason to panic!

Thanks, but I'm not panicking. When I say 'groups' I simply mean email addresses that are together
and named as one...as in the group name: 'Family' (contains all email addresses of my family members).

Again, using a third party app is not ideal. This should be baked in iOS as with other OS's.
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Feedback and/or bug report. Pretty much standard with most companies (some don't even provide ways to file bugs and just a general "contact us" form).

I agree. I'm not even sure if I would create a feedback at this point. The Apple support person I talked to says they get millions of these feedbacks and it'll just be the luck of the draw to get yours answered and/or tackled with.

 

[NoBoMac]

The phone call hoping to talk to an engineer, the result, not surprising.

Yes, frustrating some of the decisions done on iOS. For example, Mac calendar program allows you to assign a timezone for an event, multiple alerts, and custom recurrences (eg. Every third Thursday of the month, last Sunday of the month). It took until iOS 8 to get two of those functions, while plenty of 3rd party apps out there have been doing it for years. Still can't assign more than two alerts in iOS Calendar app. But since I use Fantastical, not an issue for me (does all three, and combines Reminders with Calendar, so don't have to fire off two apps to see everything)

Since I have a Mac, I can manage groups on there or via iCloud website, but would be nice to have that on iOS. Maybe in a couple of years we'll get it. ;-)

 

[stulaw11]

I think I remember it was there before, but I just don't believe it's taken out because it's not a 'highly requested feature'...it's a useful feature as it is.

In any case, I am on hold on the phone for an Apple engineer and would love to hear the real reasoning behind this. I've been chatting and talking on the phone with support specialists and they cannot answer my question. One finally suggested I talk to an engineer.

Will post my findings afterwards.

No I meant that it was taken up some Os versions ago and never high priority to add back in because it is not highly requested.

But if you refuse to use a 3rd party app idk what to tell you. Like others have tried here, like the all day even calendar issue, complaining wont put the feature into iOS and refusing to use an app that gets the job done makes no sense.

 

[donster28]

The phone call hoping to talk to an engineer, the result, not surprising.

Yes, frustrating some of the decisions done on iOS. For example, Mac calendar program allows you to assign a timezone for an event, multiple alerts, and custom recurrences (eg. Every third Thursday of the month, last Sunday of the month). It took until iOS 8 to get two of those functions, while plenty of 3rd party apps out there have been doing it for years. Still can't assign more than two alerts in iOS Calendar app. But since I use Fantastical, not an issue for me (does all three, and combines Reminders with Calendar, so don't have to fire off two apps to see everything)

Since I have a Mac, I can manage groups on there or via iCloud website, but would be nice to have that on iOS. Maybe in a couple of years we'll get it. ;-)

I hear ya.

No I meant that it was taken up some Os versions ago and never high priority to add back in because it is not highly requested.

But if you refuse to use a 3rd party app idk what to tell you. Like others have tried here, like the all day even calendar issue, complaining wont put the feature into iOS and refusing to use an app that gets the job done makes no sense.

Sorry but I'm not refusing to use a third party app. I'm just saying it's not ideal. If I have to use one, I will.

I'm aware of some Calendar issues, which I think there are workarounds. I just believe email functionality should be streamlined at this point in time if we want to be more productive on a tablet.

 

[stulaw11]

It's not ideal, not everything is. But with Apple its take it or leave it really. You can report it as a bug/suggestion and it will likely go on a list of 10,000 other small tweaks on their agenda. Realistically 3rd party is the only way for now.

There are many many things iOS mail does not do right, which is why I haven't used it in years. Hell, you cant even view a full threaded view, it only shows the incoming emails in the thread not your outgoing (like say in gmail you see that income and outgoings in the conversation).

To me it's inexcusable that I cannot click "cards/boxes" in the conversation and see mine I sent out along with the incoming to get context of the chain without scrolling all the way down in emails to see the reply portion. Like I have an email in my inbox I already sent a reply to but I cant see my reply in the stock Mail app in my inbox; just the little curved arrow symbol. Why!? It's 2016. How hard would it be to click to another screen (like all mail convos) that shows the convos and then dive in?

Basic stuff it still doens't do right.

 

[lolkthxbai]

I recently convinced my brother to use an iPad, heck he even bought one for his wife. They totally enjoyed their iPads until they learned that there is no way to create contact groups and easily send an email to groups on their new high-tech gadgets.

There was no way I could help them because all of my searching on the internet pointed to the ugly truth: there is no way to create a group on the native IOS Mail app.

Furthermore, when sending to a group (created from a Mac, of course), there is no easy way to pick a group from the contacts list because they're all named 'Group'...what the heck is happening here?

Yes, there are apps I can download to remedy this but why is not Apple letting us do this natively on the Mail app? Everyone seems to be ok with it because I cannot find a single forum thread that tackles this extensively. As a long time Mac user, I can just setup groups on my Mac, but how about a person that uses only an iPad?

I am now embarrassed to tell my brother that he made the right choice in choosing an iPad. I feel sorry for him because he is not that tech savvy in the first place. He also doesn't have a Mac and I was hoping he'd get one after experiencing the iPad...I just don't know if I can convince him now.

Is there some secret conspiracy going on here...LOL. Will Apple ever solve this problem?

You can create a group if you have an iCloud account and log into a desktop browser to iCloud.com and open the contacts app.

Alternatively, iOS proactive will learn your habits in sending group emails and suggest those same contacts next time.

 

[donster28]

You can create a group if you have an iCloud account and log into a desktop browser to iCloud.com and open the contacts app.

Alternatively, iOS proactive will learn your habits in sending group emails and suggest those same contacts next time.

Thanks but as I mentioned early in this thread, I am aware of iCloud.com and it still does not solve the problem of using an IPad only to create groups.
[doublepost=1453261690][/doublepost]

It's not ideal, not everything is. But with Apple its take it or leave it really. You can report it as a bug/suggestion and it will likely go on a list of 10,000 other small tweaks on their agenda. Realistically 3rd party is the only way for now.

There are many many things iOS mail does not do right, which is why I haven't used it in years. Hell, you cant even view a full threaded view, it only shows the incoming emails in the thread not your outgoing (like say in gmail you see that income and outgoings in the conversation).

To me it's inexcusable that I cannot click "cards/boxes" in the conversation and see mine I sent out along with the incoming to get context of the chain without scrolling all the way down in emails to see the reply portion. Like I have an email in my inbox I already sent a reply to but I cant see my reply in the stock Mail app in my inbox; just the little curved arrow symbol. Why!? It's 2016. How hard would it be to click to another screen (like all mail convos) that shows the convos and then dive in?

Basic stuff it still doens't do right.

I hear ya too.

 

[NoBoMac]

There are a couple of free ones that look like they'd be fine. I don't know of any that sync between devices (using iCloud, Dropbox or similar) but that would be a bonus if anyone has one like that to recommend.

Not a user of any of those, but, looks like "Groups" app gets the job done and syncs with native apps/iCloud.