(As in earlier versions of iOS, Mail automatically checks for new messages whenever you open the Mail app and whenever you open a mailbox.)

Some of our favorite new Mail features are the kinds of little things you could easily miss. For example, if you tap-hold Mail's new-message button, you get a convenient screen for choosing one of your saved drafts; tap a message to continue working on it, or tap New Message to start a brand-new message.

When viewing a message, it's now easier to mark it as unread, and to apply or remove a flag, thanks to a dedicated Flag button in the toolbar at the bottom (on an iPhone or iPod touch) or top (on an iPad) of the screen. In iOS 5, this functionality was hidden behind a Mark link located in the message headers--and that link was itself hidden unless you'd chosen to view the full header details.

Speaking of headers, another minor useful tweak is that you can now see--in small, gray characters--the recipients of a message, even if you've chosen to hide header details. In addition to being helpful when viewing sent messages, this is also useful for incoming messages by letting you see whether you were the primary recipient or a CC or BCC recipient.