Tech Tips

by Curtis Chong

From the Editor: Having a draft mode for writing email is splendid when one realizes the quality of what is being written isn't quite up to the inspiration to communicate. Curtis explains how to write a message, save it as a draft, and return to it when ready to produce a finished product. This piece is taken from the Blind Coloradan, the newsletter/blog of the NFB of Colorado. Here is the way the article was introduced:

From the aggregator: We frequently feature tech tips from our guru Curtis Chong. We were happy to receive this note just before posting this blog.

Drafts have been a feature in the iOS Mail app for a while, but many users aren't aware of this hidden gem. The feature (like its macOS Mail counterpart) allows users to stop composing an email, save it, and then return to the message later to send it. Let's see what's involved in using the drafts feature in all versions of iOS.

First, compose an email by performing these steps.

1. Open Mail.

2. Select (double tap for VoiceOver users) the Compose button.

3. Start to fill out the subject and body of the message.

4. To save the message as a draft, tap (double tap for VoiceOver users) the Cancel button, and then tap (double tap for VoiceOver users) Save Draft in the pop-up that appears. The message will disappear, but it will be saved in the Drafts folder.

To open a saved draft, tap and hold (single-finger triple tap for VoiceOver users) on the new message's Compose button in the toolbar (the same one you tapped to create a new message). A Drafts pop-up will appear.

In this view, you will see a listing of all available drafts that can be continued. To continue a draft, tap it (VoiceOver users, double tap it), and a new Compose view will open that has all of the message details filled in as you left them when saving. When you're finished composing the draft, select (double tap on) the Send button as normal to send the message to the recipient.