The iPhone’s Long-Missing Two-Pane Email Client

Ryan Block recalls that during the iPhone’s Macworld introduction a year ago, the demo showed a two-pane mode for MobileMail, and wishes Apple would bring it back.

MobileMail is a good enough 1.0, but clearly needs a lot of work, especially for users who deal with a significant amount of email. Two-pane mode, though, isn’t it. My guess is that Apple ditched this mode because they tried it and concluded it wasn’t a good idea within the overall UI of Mobile OS X. It just doesn’t fit from a scrolling perspective alone.

★ Monday, 4 February 2008