User Guide

Nulogo@3x

  1. Introduction
  2. The Groups Page
  3. Group Members
  4. Adding Contacts
    1. Adding individual contacts from your address book
    2. Adding multiple contacts using a checklist
    3. Importing a group from the address book
    4. Importing a MailShot contact group
    5. Manually entering a contact address
    6. Pasting a string of contact details
  5. Sending email, and adding attachments
  6. Mailshot Settings

Introduction

Welcome to MailShot, which makes it easy to send email to groups of contacts from your iPhone or iPad, in several different ways.

This guide is split into sections, all accessible from the index. For any problems, including answers to the most often-asked user questions, please see our MailShot Support Page.

If you can’t find the answer, please email from the “Support” button on the title page of the app, answering the questions about your problem and how you addressed your email. If you can’t start the app, email support@solubleapps.com, but using that Support button enables us to help more efficiently in most cases.

Really Brief Instructions:

  • Create a group, and add addresses to it using “+” or “Import”. Tap “Update” to finish
  • You can edit a group using the group icon to the right of the name
  • To create an email select the group in MailShot, then tap “Bcc” or “To”.
  • To forward an email, select the group in MailShot and tap “Copy to Clipboard”. Then switch to the Mail app and paste to the address line of your forwarded email.
  • To share a document or photo from another app to a MailShot group, use the Share button in that app, and select the MailShot icon.

You may find this Walkthrough video helpful:

Read more about sending email from MailShot on 5: Sending Email

On to 2: The Groups Page

69 thoughts on “User Guide”

  1. I got the app and created two groups. Impressive,
    But how do i attach them to an email?
    Secondly, would you have a pdf maual to dload to my iPad?
    Thanks

    Reply

    1. Hi , I assume you are asking how you send email to those groups?

      MailShot creates a contact in your address book for each group when you tap the “UPDATE” button. In Mail, or similar app, you use that contact in the to:, cc:, or bcc: lines of your email by tapping the blue ‘+’ icon and selecting it from “all contacts”, and your mail will be sent to the group.

      If you are asking how you send those groups to other iOS users by email- you would do this by selecting the contact MailShot created for you in the Contacts app, tapping ‘share’ in that app, and then addressing the email it creates to the person, or persons, you wished to share your group with. MailShot contacts can be shared between your own devices using iTunes contact sync.

      We have a comprehensive online User Guide which can help you with questions like this. (We used to also produce a PDF version, but found very few people used it and it was difficult to keep fully up to date. We have only had one or two requests since we stopped providing it over a year ago.)

      Reply

    1. Hi Diana

      You share the contacts MailShot creates between your iOS devices using any contact sync method, such as iTunes or iCloud Contact Sync. (And often with Exchange too, though that depends on your contact synch service)

      Only one device can manage your groups, however, so if you install MailShot on a second you will not see the groups managed by the first (although either device can still send email to all the groups you create.)

      Reply

      1. So how do you exclude a specific individual when sending an email from a device for which MailShot is not installed? The group name is in the address book but since MailShot is not installed on the second device there is no way to go ion and remove the check next to the person’s name. Solution?

        Reply

    1. Hi Ellen.

      To be certain which version you are running, look at the title page of MailShot-

      1. if you just see a logo you are running “MailShot”
      2. if you see “Upgraded” then the in-app purchase has been applied to MailShot
      3. if you see “Pro” then you are running “MailShot Pro”

      The icons for “MailShot” and “MailShot Pro” also differ, the envelope is cream for MailShot and gold for MailShot Pro.

      Note that “MailShot” and “MailShot Pro” are considered as separate apps on the App Store. Do not purchase both, or you will be charged for each one.

      MailShot’s title page includes a button to “restore purchases” (and also uses iCloud to upgrade your other devices automatically from an in-app purchase)

      Cheers

      Peter
      Soluble Apps

      Reply

  7. When I send an email to the group fromy iPhone, it works perfectly.
    When I use the Mail app on my MAC, I select the group the same way. It show the address in the TO field. I can even click the address to see all the addresses. But when I send it only sends the message to the first person from the group list.

    Again – iPhone fine
    MAC- only first address in group

    Reply

    1. Hi Frank

      Although MailShot is intended primarily to bring group email to many thousands of iOS apps which don’t have it, you can also use the special contacts it creates from mail on the mac. Please see this link on our support page for instructions.

      Please drop me a line if you need further assistance, using the “support” button on the title page of MailShot.

      Peter

      Reply

    1. Thanks Malon

      We used to do a downloadable PDF, but it is time-consuming to convert, and difficult to keep up-to-date.

      We have had 3 or fewer requests for one since we withdrew it nearly a year ago, so I’m afraid that we don’t have plans to produce one currently. (You could use a service such as http://www.web2pdfconvert.com to capture the manual pages if you really need to use them offline.)

      We will be happy to do it the long way if there is enough demand, so if you are reading this and would find a PDF (or iBooks?) version useful, please do drop us a line.

      Reply

  9. Congratulations I wanted to create groups on my iPhone for years. This is simple an easy to use app and is the way to go. I upgraded right away so as I could make larger groups. What’s the difference between upgrade and pro?

    Reply

    1. Thanks for your kind comments, Peter

      There’s no difference in abilities, it is simply an alternative way to purchase.

      Do stick with whichever method you choose, as they are charged separately by the App Store.

      Peter
      Soluble

      Reply

  10. How can I edit an email in a group? When I try to edit, it does not let me type to change the mistake.
    Hope

    Reply

  11. This app is great for group emails, but I seem to be having problems sending out calendar invites using contacts created on Mailshot..I get an error message response stating that the format is incorrect…I am using this on my company iPad…any ideas on how to work around this?

    Reply

    1. Thanks for your kind comments.

      MailShot works for tens of thousands of different apps that use standard Mail-compatible code, including the Mail app itself.

      Unfortunately Calendar does not use this standard method, and rejects the long address strings that MailShot uses (probably because it wants to be able to track all contacts it invites). I don’t believe any group email solution available on the App Store can be used from Calendar.

      Reply

  14. I can’t get it to work. Keeps saying my privacy settings need changing. I’ve changed them to allow access but still getting same message and won’t work. I don’t have parental controls. Device is io6.

    Reply

  16. How many email addresses can I had to a group? My wife wants a goup list of approx 125 folks. Should I break into small groups? Great app thanks.

    Reply

    1. Hi Wayne, thanks for your kind words, I am glad you are finding it useful.

      The limit depends on your email provider. See this link for more info. 100 contacts is the most common limit per email.

      Some contact synchronisation services, such as Google, may limit the group size (to about 20 or so) but this can be avoided by storing your MailShot groups in iCloud instead. (see this link)

      If you need help, drop me a line from the Support button in the app.

      Reply

  17. In my iPad contacts the same group I made here shows up three times. When I check mail pro I only see it once. I’m afraid one of the groups with the same name doesn’t have all the same contacts and am not sure which one to use as I have added and deleted names.

    Reply

    1. Hi Wendy,

      This can occasionally happen if your contact synchronisation service gets confused. (It basically loses track of which is the correct version, so it keeps hold of all of them.)

      When this happens, the best solution we’ve found is usually to delete all duplicates using the Contacts app, and then slightly rename your group in MailShot. (To rename a group, tap “edit” on the page that lists your groups, then tap the group name.)

      I hope this helps.
      Peter

      Reply

  18. This is great for Apple products and I love the program. We are taking a Samsung Galaxy Note overseas and was wondering if you are providing a app for the Android system?

    Reply

    1. Thanks for your kind comments.

      We don’t plan an Android version, but if you save the MailShot group to your Google address book, and your group is smaller than 20 or so contacts (or 35-40, if you turn contact names off in Settings) you can probably send to the group from your android device.

      Do test it before you leave, though. Email support from your device, or check our support page, if you need help with changing where your contacts are stored.

      Peter
      Soluble

      Reply

  19. My emails are not going out. There is no blue + on the apple mail on MacBook or iMac … The is on the iPad mail..so I’ve just been typing in the group name, which I think is the problem. Suggestions…

    Reply

  20. Is it possible to import an existing Mail group into a new MailShot group, without doing each address individually?

    Reply

  21. In finding myself whilst setting up I in error made two group lists. I have successfully completed my list but am wanting to delete the second list as it is incomplete and not required. I have managed to delete the contents of the list but wish to erase the title as well. Please can you help?

    Reply

  22. I am NOT a marketer but do belong to several large clubs – ie – Gardening, Antique & Recipe Clubs – my question is what is the maximum number of contacts per group? Is there a max for me overall. Also what is the difference between your 2 Mail Shot app’s?

    Thank You
    Gwen

    Reply

    1. Hi Gwen

      The limit per email depends on your email provider- a 100 contacts per email limit is common with many free accounts such as Gmail or iCloud.com (If you are not sure, you can check with your email provider)

      “MailShot” is free, and can only create 3 groups of 5 contacts each. It can be upgraded with an in-app purchase to remove those restrictions. “MailShot Pro” is a paid app, with those restrictions removed from the start. They are regarded as separate apps by the App Store.

      Peter

      Reply

  25. This app is so helpful.
    Is there any way that only the title of the group created would show when sending to a group without listing the actual emails of group? So when someone reading it, only title of group showing. I want to hide email address without using Bcc.
    Thanks

    Reply

    1. If you wish to hide email addresses from the rest of the group, place your MailShot group in the BCC line of the email.

      I am afraid there is no other way of doing this within the international standard email specification.

      Peter

      Reply

  27. I have a group with over 350 email addresses in it. Some of the email address are red, some black. What does it mean when the email address is red?

    Reply

  29. Peter,
    I may have missed this going through the responses, but how do you change the default sender if you have more than one email address listed.

    Reply

  30. Hi. In 5.3.04 in iPhone, when I make a new group and click Update, should this create the group in my Contacts (formerly Address Book) application — for use elsewhere etc — or am I misunderstanding. In a previous question on this page you write (“MailShot creates a contact in your address book for each group when you tap the “UPDATE” button.”) Can you clarify if there’s a way to ‘export’ the list to Contacts etc. I have successfully sent a group email from MailShot Pro, and it’s a great little app. I’m just hoping that the new group I’ve created can be incorporated into my Contacts (and thereby synced with my desktop machine via iCloud etc). Many thanks for any info you can offer.

    Reply

    1. Mailshot used to use “group contacts” saved to your address book, but that was no longer possible in iOS 9, so we introduced several different ways of sending group email instead.

      To ask MailShot to create those contacts again when you tap “Update”, enable “Create Group Contacts” on the MailShot page of the Settings app. They can then be used to start an email on a mac, by tapping the blue envelope icon in Contacts, or by copying the string from the contact and pasting it to the address line of an email.

      (These tips are covered on our support page.

      I hope this helps.

      Reply

  31. Sometimes I forget to hit the send button and later that day I wonder if I sent it or not. Any way to check what was sent earlier? Thanks.

    Reply

    1. Sure. Everything you send is placed in the Sent folder, accessible from the mail app.

      (note: we recommend that if you are going to pause editing for a while, you tap “Cancel”, then tap “Save to drafts”)

      Reply

  32. I have an iPhone se. I have no trouble creating lists, saving to clipboard, and pasting the list into the yahoo TO box. My problem is that the SEND button on the email fades and will not let me send my email.

    Also, when I try to email through your app for help, it will not let me send the email. What stupid thing am I doing wrong. I feel like screaming.

    Reply

  33. The app seems like a fantastic idea, but I know there is a way to make this work to send messages to phones and not email addresses. How do I do this

    We have had an app called Textshot which does this for text messages on the store until recently, but a current issue in iOS means this doesn’t work as well as we think it should, so we have withdrawn the app until Apple fix their bug.

    Reply

  34. Hi. Your app is great for sending groups emails!

    I need to permanently remove someone from a group. How do I do that?

    Reply

    1. Hi- simply tap the group icon (two heads) to the right of the groups name to edit, you will see the contacts in the group. Now swipe from right to left across the person you want to remove from the group, and tap “Delete” when it appears.

      Reply

    1. The limit depends on your email provider, Mailshot does not impose a limit.

      A common limit is 100 contacts, but some allow 50 or fewer (and although Gmail has a hard limit of 100, it may sometimes delay or block email at lower levels if it believes you might be sending spam.)

      We usually recommend iCloud.com account as the best, as that allows several hundred contacts per group.

      If you have several email accounts on your device, you can tell MailShot which one to use for sending, you can read email to multiple accounts easily in the mail app.

      Reply

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