How do I restore the classic Mail look in iOS after the update?

To turn off the icons, go to Settings > Apps > Mail > Show Contact Photos, and turn off. To turn off the mail categories, open the Mail app > tap the three dots in the top right corner > then select List View. You also aren’t speaking to Apple, we are a user-to-user forum.

Good grief man, chill out. And yes, users wanted this by submitting feedback to Apple. Apple also conducts user surveys and focus groups to find out what features are wanted. Just because YOU don’t like it doesn't mean the entire world doesn’t like it either. There are now 2 billion Apple device users around the world and you are just one of them.

First with the Mail App open tap the ⋯⃝ more options icon at the top right of the screen and select List View. That disables the categorizing feature.

Now go to the Settings App->Apps->Mail->and turn off Show Contact Photos. That disables the big icons and you’re back to what it was. The contact photos feature shows the photo of someone in your contact list, if available, when you receive an email from them, letting you know exactly who is emailing you.

No problem. Realize we’re all users like you. Apple Support is not here and does not monitor these forums. No one here is an Apple employee or Apple contractor. We just try to help each other as best we can. We have varying experience levels in different areas of tech like networking, internet and WiFi routers, etc. Some of us are settlings/options junkies who like to explore every detail when a new update is released.

Glad we could help.

I felt the same way! How about they make the changes available, but don’t apply them across the board.

Im glad you asked how to fix it. I was struggling with mine as well. The update also turned off my notifications so that upset me too. I was counting on the notification alerts .

Great answer to the issue of categorizing emails. and so easy to go back and forth depending on current needs. Thank you. I forgot about ... at the top of the screen.

Your solution worked finer and restored our phones to the old look. Thank you. It was insulting, though. You make it sound like all 2 billion users get heard. That’s far from reality.