Mail no longer buries the ‘Select’ button in iOS 26 beta 5

A small but annoying change in iOS 26 beta has been driving Mail app users bananas since June. As of beta 5, however, Apple has reverted that change and avoided making even more people complain.

The issue? iOS 26 beta 1 through 4 required an additional tap before entering select mode to choose multiple emails to mark as read or archive. It doesn’t sound like a big deal when you put it like that, but the feedback was more about a general trend of burying primary controls behind “…” buttons.

As of iOS 26 beta 5, the “Select” button is right back where it should be at the top of the Mail app’s list view.

The “…” button is still there, of course, as it reveals a variety of controls specifically tied to how the Mail app appears. However, it really made no sense to put an actionable control like Select behind a menu that was otherwise dedicated to adjusting the app’s appearance.

Combined with the toggle to change the mode switching swipe direction in the Camera app, iOS 26 beta 5 appears to be a nice update for users who have been providing feedback like this since June.