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
97 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
97 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

MacBook Pro Low Angle Wide Lens

Apple to Launch 'MacBook Ultra' With These Six New Features

Friday April 24, 2026 10:32 am PDT by
While the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro were just updated with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips last month, bigger changes are reportedly around the corner. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the higher-end MacBook Pro models will be receiving a major redesign by early 2027, and he said that Apple might use "MacBook Ultra" branding for them. If so, the MacBook Ultra would likely be a...
Apple TV Thumb 3

Here's What's Coming in the 2026 Apple TV

Thursday April 23, 2026 12:08 pm PDT by
There are a lot of folks waiting for a new version of the Apple TV because the set-top box hasn't been updated since 2022. There is an update coming this year, but people will need to wait a bit longer because Apple is holding the next Apple TV until the new version of Siri comes out this fall. Design Apple TV design updates don't happen often, and that's not changing in 2026. The next...
Apple Maps General

Tim Cook Calls Apple Maps Launch His 'First Really Big Mistake' as CEO

Thursday April 23, 2026 5:29 am PDT by
Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook has named the botched 2012 launch of Apple Maps as his "first really big mistake" in the role, according to a Bloomberg report covering the town hall meeting that was held Tuesday with his recently announced successor, John Ternus. The Maps app launched with mislabeled landmarks, faulty directions, and a user experience that fell well short of Google Maps at the...