Gadgetory

with the release of iOS 8 Apple has added new features that look to improve the default mail app on the iPhone and iPad I'm Dan Graziano and in today's how to we're going to check out three of the main features in the updated app the first is thread email alerts you could previously mark a contact as a VIP to receive specialized alerts when the contacts sent you an email with iOS 8 however you can now set alerts for specific email threads regardless of who is involved in the conversation the easiest way to enable these alerts is by tapping the flag icon in the lower left hand corner of the screen and selecting notify me alerts can be customized by going to settings click on notifications followed by mail next up gestures with the update app you can now swipe from left to right to mark a message read or unread swiping in the opposite direction will still give you the option to archive the message while partial swipe will reveal a flag and a more button swipe actions can be customized by going to settings click on mail contacts and calendars and selecting swipe options and finally one of the pains of using the old mail app was that you are unable to quickly hide the compose window if you needed another piece of information when writing an email you had to save the email to drafts close the email copy the information you needed and reopen the draft with mail and iOS 8 you can now swipe down from the top of the screen when writing an email this will place the compose window along the bottom of the app when you are ready to write the email simply click new message and the window will reappear for more tips and tricks like these be sure to check out how to cnet com you can also reach out to me on Twitter with any questions or comments i'm dan graziano cnet thanks for watching