iOS 9 finally allows you to save attachments from an email to iCloud Drive or add attachments to an email from iCloud Drive in the Mail app.
Similar to the way iOS currently lets you save email attachments to third-party services such as Dropbox or Google Drive, this new feature takes advantage of the Share extension, bringing a new Save Attachment icon for easy sharing to your iCloud Drive.
If you wanted to add any other type of file as an attachment to an email, then you had to do it using the app that was used to create or edit it, which was quite cumbersome.
How to save any attachments in the Mail app
- Open the email with the attachment.
- Tap to download the file, if it has not been downloaded automatically.
- Tap and hold on the attachment. It will open the Share sheet.
- Swipe to the right on the bottom row of icons to access Save Attachment icon (next to the Quick Look icon). Tap on the icon.
- It will open iCloud Drive document picker. You can select the folder you want to save the email attachment and then tap on Move to this Location at the bottom to save the file to iCloud Drive.
- You also have the option to change the Locations (an option available at the top left corner). This allows you to save the files directly to third-party storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive etc. You can also save the file directly to your OS X server. At the moment, third-party integration doesn’t seem to be working as Dropbox and Google Drive say “Doesn’t support moving files yetâ€, which suggests that third-party app developers will have to add support using a new iOS 9 API to add support. The ability to save attachments directly to Dropbox, Google Drive etc. within the iCloud Document picker, instead of using the “Open in†option will be more intuitive.
