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Sent from my iPhone 12

“Sent from my iPhone” is a line of text that I am seeing on an increasing number of emails in my inbox. The line is also on a large number of emails that I send out. What does this short piece of text mean?

When you get a new iPhone the default signature for outgoing email is “Sent from my iPhone.” From Apple’s perspective this is a viral tactic to increase product awareness. It is a free advertisement. BlackBerry devices attach something like “Sent via BlackBerry from AT&T”, and a large majority of users leave this default signature.

It is extremely easy to change the default signature on the iPhone. In fact, most people have already created signatures on their web and desktop email clients. Are they leaving the default signature because they do not know how to change it; or are they attaching it to every outgoing email for a reason?

I can only think of two logical reasons for keeping the default signature:

  1. They want to show off that they have an iPhone
  2. They want to be excused for typos or short sentences

Let’s be honest. “Sent from my iPhone” really means “I’m not going to bother to proofread and correct this because it would take me an extra 30 seconds.” Matt from 37signals

What are your thoughts on mobile email signatures?

—

Sent from my iPhone

Some comments...

  • What does this mean?

    Hungrybear9562 says:

  • Hmm. Interesting. I have a Nexus One and I did add a signature to emails sent from it. For me it's more to let people understand that it's just a brief reply rather than a 'full' email. If I'm on the go and I just want to let someone know I got the message, they'll know I sent it from my phone.

    Tim Fletcher says:

  • I added a similar note on my Android phone. Two reasons: 1. an excuse for writing short messages only, 2. a note to let people know that I probably won't be able to look at any attachments they may send to me.

    In short, I think there are good and valid reasons.

    knip says:

  • The default signatures on mobile devices have definitely helped explain the lack of quality in responses/emails I've received.

    On this subject, I'd rather get a read receipt that would say if it was read on an iPhone or BlackBerry. That way I would know for sure that no more than 2% of the message was absorbed while someone scrolled through it, looking busy and important.

    RN says:

  • First, it means "I am on the go and although I have a device that allows me to tap out a quick response, I can not do anything seriously technical to help you right now (I'm a website administrator among other things)." Second, it means "I have an iPhone and I think you should too." Third, it is the default and I don't feel the need to change it for the reasons stated above. I do not subscribe to the typo excuse. I try to use decent grammar at all times and the iPhone makes it pretty easy. Excusing short sentences is a plus. I think desktop e-mails should be short too.

    Patrick says:

  • Didn't know I could change it

    norealname says:

  • I'm with Fletch. I like people to know that there's a reason why the response may be more brief than usual. Also, a small part of me probably still thinks it's cool to be using an iPhone.

    micah says:

  • I leave my 'sent from iPad' on my signature to excuse the poor formatting of the emails, lack of text formatting/coloring, and not so much that I don't proofread.

    Not to say that I really proofread that much regardless of what device I'm on. I usually brain dump and go, but that's usually what my email audience wants regardless of how they get it.

    RampidByter says:

  • I agree with all of the above, but since my normal mail client says "Sent from my iPod Shuffle", to mock those mobile users, I changed my iPod to say "Sent from my iPod Touch, this time for real!"

    The Shuffle joke was inspired by a tweet from @timwhitlock mentioning something like this with an even more obscure device.

    Would be nice though if one could dictate a message into VoiceOver on the Shuffle.

    Pepijn de Vos says:

  • I'd have to argue if you're replying to a client or any other professional, you shouldn't bother replying if you're not going to format or spell-check properly.

    Unless the case may be of urgency, and you reply saying: "ill look into this asap when i get back to the office - sent from mobile..."

    So, for me personally, I'm usually put off by people that send me responses of poor grammar or spelling, even if their signature is "Sent from..."

    Spelling and poor grammar should be left to space limited mediums such as Twitter or SMS, not email.

    My two cents.

    Michael says:

  • I agree that just because you're sending email from a phone doesn't mean you shouldn't care about grammar. You should *definitely* check what you're sending. I just think it's okay to have a "sent from..." signature to let someone know that you're replying from a somewhat restricted device, thus you might be more terse than normal.

    Tim Fletcher says:

  • I did some consulting work for a company that had rather strict policy towards email sigs. Explicitly stated in that policy was that any company emails sent from a mobile device (iPhone, Blackberry, etc) had to include "sent from my [mobile device]" in the sig. I never asked about the reasoning behind this, though I found it amusing at the time. Removing that line was one of the first things I changed when I browsed through my iPhone's settings for the first time.

    Donald Livingston says:

Sorry, comments now closed :(