Gmail might be one of the most popular ways to send messages to friends and family but Apple is about to offer iPhone owners a much-improved way to keep in touch.

The US technology giant has just announced the launch of its all-new operating system – called iOS 18 – which comes packed with upgrades including an update to the Mail app.

When iOS 18 launches later this year it will introduce a bunch of bonus extras to this platform aimed at making it easier to keep on top of your inbox and find your most important messages faster.

Apple says that the new Mail will introduce improved ways for users to manage their inboxes and stay up to date.

Perhaps the biggest change is on-device categorisation which automatically organises and sorts incoming emails. These include options such as Primary for personal and time-sensitive emails, Transactions for confirmations and receipts, Updates for news and social notifications, and Promotions for marketing emails and coupons.

This should make it much easier to sort through those barrage of emails that flood inboxes 24 hours a day.

There’s also a useful new priority view that shows you emails that might be most relevant at a given time. A good example of this is when you are heading to the airport to catch a flight. The priority summary will instantly put the flight booking confirmation at the top of your inbox so you don’t have to go digging through endless messages to find it.

Mail also features a new digest view that pulls together all of the relevant emails from a business, allowing users to quickly scan for what’s important in the moment.

Along with cleaning up your inbox, Apple is also adding more smart features via Apple Intelligence. This will allow users of compatible iPhones to rewrite emails in different styles. For example, if you want a message to sound more professional, AI will sort it for you.

You can also ask it to automatically add summary bullet points to the top of a long email so the recipient can get a quick idea of what’s included. Then there’s an upgrade to the Siri personal assistant which can help search emails for information.

Say your mum sent you an email weeks ago about her flight details. All you have to do is ask “Siri, when does mum’s flight land today?” and you’ll automatically be shown full information without having to dig through your inbox.

iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence will launch later this year – there is a way to try it before anyone else – find out how here.