Summary
Apple Mail user settings influence email deliverability and spam filtering through various mechanisms. User actions, such as adding senders to contacts or marking emails as 'not spam,' can improve deliverability by signaling trust and training spam filters. However, Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) significantly impacts email tracking accuracy by masking open rates, prompting marketers to prioritize other engagement metrics like click-through rates and conversions. Importantly, Apple Mail client settings primarily affect the Apple Mail client and not necessarily iCloud or other mailbox providers. While encouraging users to add senders to address books has been long-standing advice, its applicability in modern mail servers may be less pronounced. User engagement, in general, remains a critical factor influencing email deliverability, and these settings are similar across multiple email platforms.
Key findings
- Direct Impact on Deliverability: User engagement in Apple Mail, such as adding senders to contacts or marking emails as 'not spam,' can improve deliverability.
- MPP's Impact on Tracking Accuracy: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) significantly inflates open rates, making them unreliable for measuring user engagement.
- Importance of Alternative Metrics: Email marketers need to prioritize other engagement metrics, like click-through rates and conversions, due to MPP.
- Limited Scope of Client Settings: Apple Mail client settings primarily affect the Apple Mail client, not necessarily iCloud or other mailbox providers' spam filters.
- Address Book Addition's Uncertain Impact: The effectiveness of instructing users to add senders to address books might be less pronounced in modern mail servers.
- User Engagement as a Key Factor: User engagement, including marking emails as 'not spam' and moving them to the inbox, remains a key factor in determining email deliverability.
- Cross-Platform User Controls: User controls for spam filtering and deliverability are a common feature across multiple email platforms, including Apple Mail, Gmail and Outlook.
Key considerations
- Encourage Positive Engagement: Encourage recipients to add your sending address to their Apple Mail contacts and mark your emails as 'not spam' to improve deliverability.
- Adapt Tracking Strategies: Re-evaluate and adapt email tracking strategies to rely less on open rates and more on other engagement metrics due to MPP.
- Recognize Scope of Settings: Recognize that Apple Mail client settings primarily affect the Apple Mail client itself and not necessarily iCloud or other providers.
- Implement Best Practices: Continue to implement email marketing best practices, even if their individual impact is uncertain, as they collectively contribute to overall deliverability.
- Educate Users: Educate users on how to use Apple Mail settings to manage their inbox and ensure your messages reach them.
What email marketers say
9 marketer opinions
Apple Mail user settings influence email deliverability and spam filtering in several ways. User actions like adding senders to contacts can improve deliverability by signaling trust. However, Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) significantly impacts email tracking accuracy by masking open rates, forcing marketers to adapt by focusing on alternative engagement metrics like click-through rates and conversions. Importantly, Apple Mail client settings primarily affect the Apple Mail client and not necessarily iCloud or other mailbox providers.
Key opinions
- Direct Impact on Deliverability: User actions within Apple Mail, such as adding senders to contacts, can improve deliverability by signaling sender trustworthiness.
- MPP's Impact on Tracking: Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) inflates open rates, making them unreliable for measuring user engagement.
- Shift in Metrics: Email marketers need to shift focus to other engagement metrics like click-through rates and conversions due to MPP.
- Client Specific Settings: Apple Mail client settings primarily affect the Apple Mail client itself, not necessarily iCloud or other email providers.
Key considerations
- Encourage Contact Addition: Encourage recipients to add your sending address to their Apple Mail contacts to improve deliverability.
- Adapt Tracking Strategies: Re-evaluate and adapt email tracking strategies to rely less on open rates and more on other engagement metrics.
- Client Variation: Recognize that Apple Mail client settings impact deliverability differently compared to iCloud or other providers.
- Authentication Implementation: Implement proper email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to improve sender reputation and deliverability.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks says that the Apple Mail setting only impacts the spam filter of the Apple Mail client and not iCloud or other mailbox providers' spam filters.
15 Mar 2025 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit explains that Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) significantly impacts email marketing by masking open rates, which affects segmentation strategies. Marketers need to adapt by focusing on other engagement metrics.
2 Apr 2023 - Reddit
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
Apple Mail user settings influence email deliverability and spam filtering, though the impact of certain actions, like adding senders to address books, may be less significant than in the past. Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) significantly affects email tracking by inflating open rates, requiring a shift to other engagement metrics. User engagement overall, including marking emails as 'not spam' and moving them to the inbox, plays a crucial role in deliverability, especially within Apple Mail.
Key opinions
- User Engagement Impact: User engagement actions (marking emails as 'not spam,' moving to inbox, adding to contacts) greatly impact deliverability, particularly with Apple Mail.
- MPP Inflation of Open Rates: Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) inflates open rates, making them an unreliable metric for measuring engagement.
- Settings Influence: Apple Mail client settings, such as the ability to allow mail from previous recipients or contacts, directly influence what reaches the user's inbox.
- Address Book Addition Impact: Adding senders to address books may have less impact than in the past, but it can still contribute to positive sender reputation.
Key considerations
- Focus on User Engagement: Prioritize strategies that encourage positive user engagement, such as prompting users to add you to their contacts or mark your emails as 'not spam'.
- Adjust Tracking Strategies: Adapt email tracking strategies to rely less on open rates and more on alternative metrics like click-through rates and conversions due to MPP.
- Implement Best Practices: Continue to implement email marketing best practices, even if their individual impact is uncertain, as they collectively contribute to overall deliverability.
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource explains user engagement (such as marking emails as 'not spam,' moving to inbox, adding to contacts) greatly impacts deliverability, particularly with Apple Mail. Positive actions improve sender reputation; negative actions harm it.
24 Oct 2023 - Spam Resource
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks shares that Apple mail client has a setting to allow mail either from previous recipients or folks in your contact list.
15 Sep 2024 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Apple Mail user settings significantly impact email deliverability and spam filtering by allowing users to customize their mail preferences. These settings, such as blocking senders, marking emails as junk, and managing contacts, directly influence which emails are filtered as spam or reach the inbox. User engagement signals, like marking emails as 'not spam' or moving them to the inbox, are key factors in determining deliverability. These actions help train spam filters, improving their accuracy over time, across different email providers including iCloud, Gmail and Outlook. This user control is a consistent feature across various email platforms.
Key findings
- User Customization: Users can customize mail settings to block senders, mark emails as junk, and manage their contacts, influencing email filtering.
- Direct Influence on Spam Filters: User settings directly train spam filters, improving their accuracy in identifying unwanted emails.
- Importance of User Engagement: User engagement (marking emails as 'not spam,' moving to inbox) is a key factor in determining email deliverability.
- Consistent User Control Across Platforms: User control over spam filtering and deliverability settings is a common feature across major email providers like Apple Mail, Gmail, and Outlook.
Key considerations
- Encourage Positive Engagement: Encourage recipients to take positive actions, such as adding you to their contacts or marking your emails as 'not spam,' to improve deliverability.
- Monitor Deliverability Metrics: Monitor deliverability metrics and adjust strategies based on how users are interacting with your emails.
- Provide Clear Instructions: Provide clear instructions to recipients on how to manage their email settings to ensure your messages reach their inbox.
Technical article
Documentation from Apple Support explains how users can customize mail settings on their Mac to block senders, mark emails as junk, and manage their contacts, influencing what emails are filtered as spam or reach their inbox.
24 Nov 2024 - Apple Support
Technical article
Documentation from Apple explains that iCloud mail uses sophisticated spam filtering techniques. User settings like blocking senders and marking emails as junk directly train iCloud's spam filters, improving accuracy over time.
7 Jun 2023 - Apple
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