How to Setup and Use Email Correctly

By Brad Burd

One of the great features of the iPhone is the ability to manage your email on the go easily.

I’ll show you how to get up to speed the right way.

The way some people start viewing their email is though their ‘webmail’ account on a webpage with the iPhone’s web browser.

A faster, easier, and more secure way is to set it up through your Mail application. You can use any type of email account, be it one linked to your own domain or to your employer, or one of the free accounts from Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft Exchange, MobileMe and the like.

Set up an account on the iPhone mail app

Tap Settings on your Home Screen. Tap Mail, Contacts, Calendars, then Add Account.

Select the correct account type, enter your details, and Save. If you need to supply POP or IMAP information, contact your webhosting company, service provider or system administrator as appropriate. For a Microsoft Exchange account, you might be asked to enter the server address.

Exchange accounts include contacts and calendars – and MobileMe has these plus bookmarks too – and of course you have full access to these functions on your iPhone. You can also choose whether to merge the data already on your iPhone into your MobileMe or Exchange account, or keep it separate.

Send emails

Tap the Write button, type in the name or email address, or tap the Plus button to pick a name from your Contacts list. To add more addresses, tap Return or the Plus button. Tapping Cc/Bcc/From lets you send copies or blind copies to other people, or change the address you’re sending the message from. Type in your subject and message, moving from one field to the next by tapping Return, then tap Send.

Delete emails

Open the message you want to remove and tap the garbage can button. Alternatively, swipe your finger either left or right across the message title, then tap the Delete button that appears. If you want to delete several emails at once, tap Edit, choose the relevant messages and tap Delete.

To add a signature

You can type a signature such as your name, job title and contact details, or a favorite saying, that will show up underneath every message you send. Simply go to Mail, Contacts, Calendars, tap Signature, and enter your desired signature.

Attach a photo or video to your email message

Go  to Photos and pick a photo or video, then touch it and hold until you see the Copy command. Tap Copy, then go to Mail and open a new message.

Insert the photo or video in your message by tapping the place where you want it to go, tap again, then tap Paste when the Edit commands appear. On an iPhone 3GS, tap the photo or video you want to send, and tap Email Photo or Email Video. It’s also possible to copy and paste a photo or video.

Whichever model you have, the photo or video will be sent from your default email account, unless you pick a different account by tapping the From field in the message.

Save attached photos and videos you receive

To save a photo from an email your relieved to your Camera Roll tap the photo first, and then Save Image. To save a video, touch and hold the attached file, then tap Save Video. If the photo or video has yet to download, tap Download first.

View an attached file

You can also receive several other types of files, including doc, docx, xls, xlsx, pdf, htm, html, key, numbers, pages, ppt, pptx, rtf, txt and vcf on your iPhone mail. Just tap the attachment and it will download and open. To save, you’ll need a cloud storage facility such as the iDisk that is free for MobileMe members, or a storage and file viewing app like Readdle Storage.

For easier navigation around your documents, consider the popular Air Sharing app, which also lets you transfer files to and from your computer wirelessly. However, to create and edit Office files, you’ll need the Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite app.