How to Receive Unique Alerts for VIP Emails on iPhone and iPad - MacRumors
Skip to Content

How to Receive Unique Alerts for VIP Emails on iPhone and iPad

by

ios 11 mail icon pn e1543485132148If you use the VIP feature in the iOS Mail app then you'll already know how they can help you keep track of important messages from your key contacts amid the daily torrent of incoming emails.

Keeping on top of VIP emails can be made even easier by ensuring you receive a specific sound or vibration alert whenever one comes through on your iPhone or iPad. That way you'll know if a new message justifies your immediate attention before you've even looked at your iOS device. Here's how to set them up.

  1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap Mail in the list.
    how to assign a sound alert to VIP emails01

  3. Tap Notifications.
  4. Tap VIP.
  5. Tap Sounds.
    how to assign a sound alert to VIP emails02

  6. Choose a unique sound from the list or tap Vibration to select a special vibration. The default sound alert is Ding (Classic), so be sure to choose something different.

With that done, the next time you receive an email from one of your VIPs, you'll get the unique notification alert and immediately know it's an important message.

Top Rated Comments

chino-rican Avatar
99 months ago
This assumes the following is activated: Settings > Passwords & Accounts > Fetch New Data > Push > ON; Change the desired email account to Fetch.

Otherwise, you will only get the alert if you open the Mail app and download new emails.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
johnnyturbouk Avatar
99 months ago
This is all very well but I tend to have my phone on silent a lot, as I work with patients. What would be an elegant and really useful feature would be if apple adopted a filter system like sanebox. Using smart machine learning to recognise the difference btwn random crap from group-on and amazon reporting offers, to say receipts. I currently have my gmail as my professional email account, me.com for family and yahoo for signing up with companies that I know willl then spam my email.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iphone 16e usb c feature

Apple Begins Selling a $419 iPhone

Monday July 6, 2026 6:29 am PDT by
Apple recently added the iPhone 16e to its refurbished store, with U.S. pricing starting as low as $419 for a model with 128GB of storage. Originally released in February 2025, the iPhone 16e is a lower-end device with a 6.1-inch OLED display, an A18 chip with 8GB of RAM for Apple Intelligence support, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, a 12-megapixel front camera, a USB-C port, an Action...
iphone 17 ceramic shield

iPhone 18 With 9GB RAM Still Won't Support Two New iOS 27 Features

Friday July 3, 2026 12:10 pm PDT by
The lower-end iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e will be equipped with 9GB of RAM, up from 8GB in the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17e, according to supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a social media post, Kuo said the 1GB increase in RAM will ensure that Apple Intelligence features continue to run smoothly on the pair of devices. The higher-end iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and foldable "iPhone Ultra...
iPhone X 2022 Upload

'iPhone Ultra' Likely to 'Repeat the iPhone X Story' With Delayed Launch

Sunday July 5, 2026 10:28 am PDT by
Apple will likely "repeat the iPhone X story" by unveiling its foldable iPhone at the same time as the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, but starting foldable iPhone pre-orders at a later date, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Kuo today said manufacturing challenges have limited early production of the foldable iPhone, which will reportedly be named iPhone Ultra. As a result, he...