OS X Yosemite: An In-Depth Look at Markup and Mail Drop in the Mail App

[Wordman]

Dear Apple, I will finally update my iMac from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 when you finally implement scheduled email sending in Apple Mail.

Until then I'll stay with Eudora which has had that feature over 15 years already. (And yes, I know about the $12 third-party plug in for Apple Mail called "SendLater" but this should be integral to the email client.)

These new features in Yosemite email are just gimmicks compared to the usefulness of scheduling email delivery.

Couldn't agree more - that's the function I've been hoping for too. And some of us just don't have time to sign up for and test betas. Shouldn't need to either; in an increasingly large business world, where technology means geography is no longer the barrier it once was, all email packages should acknowledge time differences. It's not just geography either - things like press release embargos are much easier with delayed email sending.

 

[Timelordprime]

Upgraded to OSX Yosemite & Mail app crashes

Upgraded to OSX 10.10 and the mail app crashes almost as soon as it opens. Seems to be some issue with IMAP. The error seems to be:
"
Application Specific Information:
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInternalInconsistencyException', reason: 'Require mailbox name to create IMAPMailbox for (null)'
abort() called
terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException"

Any ideas of a workaround?

 

[MyopicPaideia]

Seems like they have simply integrated the Preview app editing toolbar directly into the Mail app. Pretty good idea.

Mail drop looks promising as well.

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Upgraded to OSX 10.10 and the mail app crashes almost as soon as it opens. Seems to be some issue with IMAP. The error seems to be:
"
Application Specific Information:
*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInternalInconsistencyException', reason: 'Require mailbox name to create IMAPMailbox for (null)'
abort() called
terminating with uncaught exception of type NSException"

Any ideas of a workaround?

Looks like you may have to delete and recreate mail accounts???

 

[urbanslaughter1997]

I have been using an iPad app for signing PDFs for a while now. I was very excited for this to be implemented directly into mail. It would just simplify things . . . or so I thought. Wow, is it poorly implemented. To add a signature you sign in a box. HOWEVER, the pen (your finger) "starts" in the middle of the box and if you try to move the pen to the left side of the box so that you can use the full space allotted it leaves a mark. So you really just have half the space to write your signature. I am a big fan of Apple, but this is so badly done that I don't expect I'll ever use it. It will be so much easier to just pull out my iPad and use an app that does it right.

 

[mdelvecchio]

Mail Drop and Markup are nice additions, but not ones I would use very often, if at all.

i used Markup the day it was released. annotating screenshots w/o a third-party tool is great.

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what a hideous confusing UI

are you talking about Windows?

dunno about you but I've used markup already. it wasnt terribly difficult.

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I agree.

so you've used it?

 

[nt5672]

Like Pay?

Apple Pay sounds nice, but I wonder if the implementation was done by the same team that created iCloud/Core Data. If so, I want no part of it. Storing core data in iCloud has not worked well since it was introduced. Now as part of iOS 8/Xcode 6, they dropped all support for Xcode 5/iOS 7 ubiquity containers, all the while indicating no changes in the Core Data/iCloud developer videos.

 

[powers74]

I tried guessing an eleven-letter swear word starting with c. All I could come up with was cabbageworm.

Lol. Well I decided to do the update. I am pretty impressed. Everything is just buttery smooth on my poor old '09 MP.

 

[octothorpe8]

These are features designed to hook people on Apple's crappy mail app.

Crappy compared to what? Mail does everything I want it to and is tightly integrated into OS X. I can add contacts and events to my calendar right from the interface, and search is so fast I can pull up locally stored emails faster than through the Gmail interface. As many hours a week I spend on email, I'm glad to have a good app to do it with.

 

[RussOniMac]

Doesn't work for me

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


OS X Yosemite has brought some major changes to Apple's Mail app, and those changes aren't limited to a simple visual overhaul. Mail may have a new look, but it also has several new features like Mail Drop and Markup.

With Markup, you can annotate images and PDFs from directly within the Mail app. For example, when composing an email message and attaching a PDF, it's possible to use various tools to add signatures, emphasis, and more. The same is possible with an image -- simply attach a file in a message that's being composed and right click on it, selecting Markup.

Markup has a set of tools at the top that allow users to create shapes, write text words, and insert signatures. There are different brushes that can be used, along with a color palette and various font options.

Image​

Users can enter various shapes, such as stars, circles, squares, speech bubbles and more, and there's a magnifying glass that will magnify sections of text or photos. A crop tool also allows for simple image edits, and there's a pen tool for free-handed writing or drawing.

Markup's neatest feature is a signature tool that lets users insert a signature using the trackpad of a MacBook or a camera. With the trackpad, clicking begin and then signing a name with a finger on the trackpad will create a signature that's automatically entered into a document.

Image​

There's also an option that allows users to write a signature on a white piece of paper and use a Mac's FaceTime camera to import it into the document. It's a little bit finicky getting the camera to recognize the signature, but once it's lined up properly, the feature works well.

Image​

Along with Markup, Mail has a new feature called Mail Drop that lets users send large file attachments of up to 5GB using iCloud. Composing an email message and attaching a file that would normally be too large to send will prompt Mail to ask a user if they would like to use Mail Drop to deliver the message.

Image​

When the Mail Drop option is selected, the person receiving the email will receive the file attachment as normal if they're using Mail, while non-Mail users will receive a message with a download link that allows them to download the file directly from iCloud. Files are stored in iCloud for several days before being deleted.

Image​

MacRumors did not experience any issues getting Mail Drop to function with files ranging in size from 10MB to over 1GB, but some users on the Apple Support forums have been having trouble with the feature. Because Mail Drop works based on a sender's file size limits rather than a receiver's, users have run into an issue where they can send a file that is below their own maximum file size threshold, but above a receiver's file size limits.

For example, sending a 10MB message from an email account that has a 30MB file size limit to an email account that has a 6MB file size limit will not activate Mail Drop and turn the file into a clickable link that can be downloaded from iCloud. Therefore, the person sending the message will get a bounce back reply that the user can't accept a message of that size, even if the receiver also has Mail Drop.

According to Apple, Mail Drop can only be used to send files that "exceed the maximum size allowed by the provider of your email account," which means there is no way for a user to select a custom file size threshold to activate Mail Drop to avoid the above situation. It is not clear if Apple has plans to implement manual size controls for Mail Drop, but for the time being, it appears that Mail Drop may not be useful for all users in certain situations.

Released to the public yesterday, OS X Yosemite can be downloaded from the Mac App Store at no cost. It runs on all machines that were capable of running OS X Mountain Lion and OS X Mavericks, and it requires 8GB of storage space and 2GB of RAM. [Direct Link]

Article Link: OS X Yosemite: An In-Depth Look at Markup and Mail Drop in the Mail App

Those features look so COOL, but I can't get Markup to work or Maildrop, please advise

 

[sero]

Dear Apple, I will finally update my iMac from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 when you finally implement scheduled email sending in Apple Mail.

Until then I'll stay with Eudora which has had that feature over 15 years already. (And yes, I know about the $12 third-party plug in for Apple Mail called "SendLater" but this should be integral to the email client.)

These new features in Yosemite email are just gimmicks compared to the usefulness of scheduling email delivery.

Or you could learn how to use your computer a bit instead of whining about the mail GUI.

sleep 60; echo "bye"|mail -s "hi" macomatic@mac.com

 

[RussOniMac]

Or you could learn how to use your computer a bit instead of whining about the mail GUI.

sleep 60; echo "bye"|mail -s "hi" macomatic@mac.com

I second that, stop complaining use the message board for something constructive. Say I can't get Markup to work, I don't even see the tools everyone seems to be talking about. Not sure Maildrop works too.

 

[jhwalker]

Dear Apple, I will finally update my iMac from Snow Leopard 10.6.8 when you finally implement scheduled email sending in Apple Mail.

Until then I'll stay with Eudora which has had that feature over 15 years already. (And yes, I know about the $12 third-party plug in for Apple Mail called "SendLater" but this should be integral to the email client.)

These new features in Yosemite email are just gimmicks compared to the usefulness of scheduling email delivery.

Truly curious: what possible usefulness is "scheduled email sending"? Why would you choose to pre-compose and then send an email at a later time?

Unless you're a spammer of some sort, I don't see the utility (and really don't see it then) - must be a very niche usage case.

 

[gyang333]

Signature has been a feature since Lion

 

[cgc]

Didn’t Federighi say that they would focus on ‘the basics’ of Mail in Yosemite? So far the only changes I can see are the features he demonstrated during the keynote. Mail Drop and Markup are nice additions, but not ones I would use very often, if at all. I still miss features like the swipe gestures, tagging, better folder management, new e-mail rules, better spam filtering, native PGP support and so on.

Not sure...couldn't stop staring at his ridiculous eyebrows...

 

[mikecorp]

mail drop doesn't work

mail drop doesn't work

 

[kenwallace]

Signature Feature

Preview has had a signature mark-up feature for a long time as part of the Annotation features. Open a PDF in Preview, use the Annotate feature to add a signature using the camera, then save the PDF and send it back as an attached file. Photoshop isn't required--the white of the BG paper isn't retained. I don't have Yosemite yet, but my guess is they just integrated the Preview features into the Mail App.

I think I guessed it...

Cluster f u * k

What do I win?!

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Yup, apple give an entire operating system away for free.
People still complain...

They just can't win!

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And all in just 6 easy steps that also requires Photoshop and a scanner! /s

 

[Bobonze]

But still no attachment icon

I still don't understand why there can't be an option to send files as normal attachments without relying on a 3rd party plugin for Mail. A lot of the recipients don't want the images showing up embedded into their email.

That aside, the mark-up feature will definitely come in handy for work.

 

[AlecZ]

Looks kinda cool, but I don't feel like updating. Wake me up if Xcode 7 comes out and doesn't work for Mavericks...

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People still use email?

Uh yeah, actually every single person I know does. If there is an alternative, nobody is aware of it.

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Ahaha, this reminds me of the time I set up a mail server with a 6GB message size limit so my mom could send me stuff in a way she understands. Well, it worked. I was able to send and receive huge attachments, but Mail was loading them all into RAM when sending and receiving, which caused some problems.

 

[ErikGrim]

Can I just say how much I LOVE this icon? A perfect throwback to what made the original Macintosh so friendly: the smiley mac.

 

[dafgag]

You mean 6MB, right? Because with 6GB that whole paragraph would make no sense...

 

[KALLT]

I still don't understand why there can't be an option to send files as normal attachments without relying on a 3rd party plugin for Mail. A lot of the recipients don't want the images showing up embedded into their email.

Not sure whether I understand you. Whether or not images show up in your e-mails depends on your e-mail client. You do attach an image file after all, so I don’t know what you mean with ’normal attachment’. You could compress them into a ZIP archive first if you don’t want to attach them as images directly.

 

[michelepri]

I hoper we solve some of the recurring problems of previous OS X versions. I'm a little tired of seeing things stop working occasionally. For now buying a brand new Mac is not a guarantee that everything will work, including internet.

 

[Wordman]

Truly curious: what possible usefulness is "scheduled email sending"? Why would you choose to pre-compose and then send an email at a later time?

Unless you're a spammer of some sort, I don't see the utility (and really don't see it then) - must be a very niche usage case.

Quite a few business uses actually. For example, those people who are starting small to medium businesses up tend to work all kinds of long hours, so they may finish a piece of work for a client early in the morning, or on a weekend. Let's say it's a graphic designer, and they don't want to send then, as the time could look less than professional to some people. That designer has a hectic Monday morning, and doesn't want to risk forgetting to send the email then. Scheduled sending means it's all taken care of in advance, and they don't have to worry about it.

Press release embargos are another good example. Rather than send a press release early and hope the press stick to the embargo, scheduled emailing can mean greater control over the time of a release for a busy press office.

Or a company working for an international client with a time difference may wish to schedule an email to send while they're sleeping, and their client is awake. There are many legitimate uses, which is why third parties produce add-ons for Apple's mail system to execute scheduling. I know a lot - a lot - of people who use scheduling in other mail packages, so it's not niche. The poster is just saying it'd be nice to have it as standard, as it's something he really could use.

 

[ulyssesric]

I wonder what the security of mail drop is? I'm guessing that since it is easy to use, it must not have any security as that would make it complicated.

Most mail servers still use legacy SMTP to transmit your mail, which is not encrypted in the whole transaction. If you need better privacy, your best bet is encrypting your files with dedicated tools such as PGP before sending them via email.

 

[chrismcfet]

Nope. Only one side needs to use Apple Mail. I sent a 190MB file via Mail Drop to my brother's Gmail account and he just got a link that was expiring in 30 days.

I didn't try sending from my Gmail account, but I think it would work. Apple Mail is probably the key to Mail Drop, not the email provider.

I've been a member of the public beta for some time. From what I gather an iCloud email account is needed for MailDrop to work. It's a pity because iCloud is not my primary mail provider, I find it too limited. Several times I attempted to send large files via Gmail in the Mail app - it told me the attachment was too large, even when enabling the Mail Drop feature in Mails settings and 'use with this email account'. Has anybody figured out a work around to this?