See mobile inboxes and emails on real devices
Latest posts | By Mark Brownlow | 6 Comments | Licence this content
Confession time: I only own one mobile phone and one laptop. And neither is made by Apple.
I believe this makes me uncool at best and “old and uncool” at worst (or so my kids tell me).
With all the talk about mobile email, how nice it would be to see how emails look on the various devices and systems out there.
Step forward design preview tools, like those offered by Litmus, EmailReach, Return Path and others.
But how about looking over someone’s shoulder as they fiddle with a mobile inbox?
Step forward YouTube.
Video reviews of new phones and tablets often contain detailed coverage of the device’s email application. So if you want to see email on an iPad 2 or a BlackBerry Bold or an HTC Sensation, videos are a slightly cheaper alternative to the real thing.
Here are videos for some of the newer mobile devices. They bring home some key lessons across mobile email, like:
- Just how important will the from line become? Sometimes that’s often the only thing that really stands out in the inbox
- Look at how big those fingers appear. Are your links large enough and discrete enough to allow easy touchscreen clicking? Can people scroll, pinch etc. without inadvertently triggering a click?
- Inbox previews: watch the HTC Sensation video. What text will show up there for your emails?
What lessons do you take away?
iPad 2
Blackberry PlayBook
iPhone 4
BlackBerry Bold 9900
Samsung Droid Charge
HTC Sensation
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6 comments on “See mobile inboxes and emails on real devices”
One interesting difference between iPad/iPhone mail and the Gmail app on the Droid phone is the way they prioritize the sender vs. the subject line.
On the iPad and iPhone, the “from” name appears above the subject line, and in large, bold text. The subject line certainly isn’t hidden, but it’s pretty clear that Apple views WHO a message is from as more important than WHAT a message is about.
On the Droid, the reverse is true. The subject line appears at the top and is bolded, while the sender appears in smaller text beneath it.
(Interesting that HTC’s Sensation prioritizes the sender over the subject as well… so it’s not a simple question of iOS versus Android.)
Justin, yep, I think this speaks to how mobile is mixing things up for marketers. The priority given to subject/sender is pretty similar across major desktop clients. Not so in mobile.
As email consumption migrates more towards mobile devices, with their various OS and rendering characteristics it creates new and more diverse challenges for those elements of your email that foster recognition of you as the sender (From Name/Line & from email address).
IMO it also promotes the case for brevity in content (as per your previous posts Mark) – as the TLDR reflex is much more hair trigger for mobile consumption.
But I am sure we all agree – no one size fits all.
I have found the following helpful.
a) Email platform reporting which displays which browaser & OS an email has been viewed in (and then updating the record in your email DB, natch!).
b) Asking within a preference centre or within a sign up form “what device would you like us to optimize your content for?”
c) Putting a poll style question in the content of one of your emails regading mobile optimization. Or better still, “launch” a mobile optimized version of your emails with a preference center signup. As long as you actually have one.
It really seems that you are focused on delivering value.
Thanks for the always insightful points Robin.
I’m also curious as to how mobile consumption will change.
At the moment, you can broadly say the content should be short and snappy…review, read, move on as quickly as possible…primarily saving the detailed stuff for back on the desktop.
What happens when there is no desktop: when the mobile device is the only viewing environment?
BTW, “old and uncool” gets converted by my HTC Googlesnoop phone to appear as “knowledgeable”, somehow.
For me, the greatest insights are coming from the emerging markets in South America, (& India & Africa less so) where internet penetration compound growth rates exceed 20% (like 1998 all over again!) – almost entirely attributable to wireless access and therefore predominantly mobile devices.
I think, thankfully, that when there are no more desktops, no more wired access, and no more dark fibre we will be considering other things…
But what do I know?
Seems to get harder and harder to deliver consistent presentation in the multitude of different formats