Tiny font using mail in iOS 10

Same here. I'll give them a chance because I like the way Apple's apps integrate across platforms. But... This issue has to be resolved quickly. I use the phone for work and it is unusable at this point. I haven't had my iPhone 7+ for a year yet but if it isn't resolved quickly I'll have to get a phone that works.

I noticed that in my previous comment where I shared my bug report with Apple, that there was a THIRD failure mode for the native mail app. Others have mentioned it too. If you get up the energy to submit a bug report, and with all modesty, you could simply copy and paste my updated report below that includes all three cases. There is no question that the more folks who submit a bug report to Apple the more traction this issue will have. Here is the updated report with the addition of "Case 3:"

Area:

Accessibility

Summary:

There is a problem with the size of text in the body of emails when using Apple's native email app. Please refer to Apple Discussion Thread at (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7667124?answerId=31678318022#31678318022&start=0&tstart=0). This is just one of many discussions online where thousands of users lament the small size of text in the body of emails in the native email app.

Please compare this problem with Apple's native email app to other email clients, such as Microsoft's Outlook for iOS. The text in the body of emails using Microsoft's Outlook for iOS is consistent and much larger than what Apple's native email app can generate. Users could switch to Outlook, but they want the advantages that come with using the native email app.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Steps to Reproduce:

Case 1) General --> Accessibility --> Turn Larger Text "ON" --> The text size does scale linearly in the HEADER of an email as you move the Dynamic Type text size slider. But, the text in the BODY of the email remains incredibly small. IF you move the Dynamic Type text size slider two notches past the midpoint, THEN the text in the body of the email will start to increase in size. But, it is HUGE!

Case 2) General --> Accessibility --> Turn Larger Text "OFF" --> The text size does scale linearly in the HEADER of an email as you move the Dynamic Type text size slider. The text in the BODY of the email does NOT change at all in size. It remains unacceptably small throughout the entire range of the Dynamic Type text size slider.

Case 3) Viewing email in Portrait mode --> Text size in BODY of email very small (rough estimate, 6 point font) --> Rotate to Landscape Mode --> Text size DOES increase slightly in size. Maybe to 8 pt. font. Still too small, but readable. --> Rotate Back to Portrait Mode --> Text size REMAINS at roughly 8 point font from Landscape mode. BUT, REFLOW functionality is LOST --> You now need to Pan to view the contents of the email --> This is a bug that has been reported by others in discussion threads.

Expected Results:

I expect the size of the text in the body of emails to scale linearly throughout the entire range of the text size slider with both Larger text "OFF" and Larger text "ON." I expect to not lose Reflow functionality when shifting from Landscape to Portrait Mode.

Actual Results:

See above in "Steps to reproduce."

Version:

Version: iOS 10.3.1(14E304)

Configuration:

Configuration: iPhone 6s+ and iPhone 6s, Verizon

Hi everyone - all of a sudden the text is small again! I didn't update anything. I have Version 10.3.1. Everything has been fine since the last fix, but today all text is small again and it doesn't respond to the text size slider. Anyone else having this issue?

Hi dclearyea,

Many of us suffered this demise of functionality with the release of 10.3. You are "lucky" to have survived till now! The only way I have found to enlarge the text in the native mail app is to go into settings and do the following.

General-->Accessibility-->Larger Text-->Larger Accessibility Sizes set to ON-->You MUST set text size slider TWO positions to the right past mid-point.

If you do not turn Larger Accessibility Sizes to ON and place the text size slider two places to the Right of the mid-point nothing happens. The text size slider does NOT work if Larger Text Sizes is off. This set-up should work for you although one commenter has said even this does not help. Other commenters do not like this resolution because it makes the text TOO large! Pick your poison. :-)

Personally, I have abandoned the native mail app on my iPhone and now use Microsoft's Outlook mail app. It renders all text in the body of emails at a nice readable size. There are drawbacks. 1) Outlook is not native. So Siri refuses to play with it. 2) It's not native. So when you are in any app and "send an email" from that app it will take you to the native email app. 3) You have to learn Outlook's way of doing things. It's not crazy different than the native email app, but it is different and there is a learning curve. But Outlook renders my Gmail, iCloud, and Exchange emails at such a consistently comfortable text size I found the effort worth it.

We have this issue (again) after updating to iOS 10.3 or 10.3.1.

For me, it appears to happen when there is a wide image or table in the email or thread. That then causes the email font to be very small.

Not sure if it is a clue, but this is corporate email coming in through an activesync infrastructure.

A real CRAP!! Does not work at all. Do they learn lessons?

But Stan.Long and jfranche pointed it right: the screen adapt at the width of the image or table, making font often tiny. Any way to remove those pics or tables for the mail at receipt? If not, I definitely go for Outlook.😠😠

The tiny font dilemma does occur when a table or chart accompanies an email. But, that is not the only trigger of the problem. For example, I have several colleagues at work who use 12 point Calibri and their emails also render in minuscule size. Having said that, I stand behind the "fix" I posted earlier...Settings-->General-->Accessibility-->Larger Text-->Larger Text Sizes turned ON-->Set Slider TWO notches to the right of the mid-point. My experience is this works in most cases. But you MUST set the slider at least two notches to the right of the mid-point. I have tried it on 6 different iPhones-works on all. Note: One commenter in this thread said it did not work for him.

I understand this solution is not acceptable for some because it makes the text size too large. But too large is better than too small, IMO. This series of settings will even take that Lilliputian 12 point Calibri text of my colleagues and make it quite lovely and readable.

Yes, that corrects "my" texts going out but not the texts I receive. Many of them are still very small and when I try to enlarge them, they do not stay within the screen and I have to move the text back and forth to read them. Very frustrating.

Hi All,

just updated with the latest IOS and still doesn't work.

I have raised the bug to via the Apple Support apps (that you can download from the apps store).

Apple support didn't seem to have that issue in their data base...

i would recommand that you all download the apps and raise the issue.

Hope they will hear us...

Mr Luigi, which font Calibri is rendered in on on your screen? Is it still Times New Roman instead of San Fransisco?

I hope the guys who developed the San Fransisco font are also using iOS products and can reach out to those at Apple who screwed the mail up to tell them all they think about them! I can't do the same here because (i) Apple doesn't seem to care about what we think, (ii)

Apple doesn't seem to care about what we think, (iii) if I start I would be banned forever!

Hi elyar1 !

My evil colleagues who use Calibri use it at the 11 pt. size. (I may have said 12 pt. earlier). When it renders on my iPhone with the native email app, it is rendered as Times New Roman. If I do NOT set the accessibility settings as I have shown in the screenshot in my earlier email, it is unreadably small. If I DO set my accessibility settings as I have shown in the screenshot in my earlier email, it is comfortably large.

If I view the 11 pt. Calibri emails on the Outlook email app, it is quite readable. It is not as large at the rendering in the native email app using the accessibility settings as shown in that screenshot.

My work email is an Exchange account using Outlook.

If all 1865 people who have checked that they have this problem with the native email app, submitted a feedback report and/or contacted Apple Support using the Apple Support app I believe we would be much closer to a resolution of this problem. There has to be some algorithm that sets off an "alarm" when the number of folks reporting a problem exceeds a certain level. I believe every iPhone has this bug. Unfortunately, I don't think many users identify it as a problem...or don't know how to notify Apple of the problem.

So, the responsibility lies with us. Perhaps if Steve Jobs were still alive today he would also call us...THE CRAZY ONES.

Thank you again. I just submitted the feedback. Everyone in here needs to do the same. I cannot use a 3rd party email app since my company uses an encryption service (MobileIron) that wouldn't allow us to use one. So frustrated since the majority of my phone use is email.

Hi FJ022, You bring up a point that others have stated...and it's very disturbing. What are the folks working on the Apple Support app doing with their conversations with users!? I have had two conversations. During the second conversation, they said they had no record of the issue. I asked what happened to my first conversation, where the issue was discussed in stark, clear terms. I essentially received a "blank stare." At the end of the second conversation, taking no chances, I asked if the issue would be noted in some report. The answer was, essentially, another "blank stare" indicating that there was no protocol for moving an unresolved issue up the chain of attention on the Apple Support App. Then I said, "Doesn't that explain why you folks keep saying you had not idea this problem existed?" I requested that the problem with email be reported to engineering. He said I could do that on the feedback site. I said I had already done that. I told him I was asking HIM to do it so that the issue could get some traction. Sheesh.

On a more positive note, I did get a response from Apple Engineering about my Bug Report and they request logs to help with the diagnosis. That's a little time consuming, so I haven't followed through yet. But I will.

Cheers, Mr. L

Well done!

Got the same reaction... "this is the first time..." "don't find anything on our database..." 😠

I even told them about the 13 pages blog on discussions.apple.com, but they don't take it into account.

It is very surprising.

I guess our last hope is that a journalist or a Blogger has the same issue and start talking about this issue!