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jcman01

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 19, 2022
3
1
Still somewhat new to Macs and am wondering if people use Apple’s iCloud mail for email. I’ve always used my gmail but I’ve wondered if there’s any advantage to just using iCloud.

Th.
 
I was using icloud for eons

I'm transitioning over to Protonmail, not strictly for privacy (proton is very privacy minded) but also for the features it offered. I was getting lazy in using my email and I gave out my icloud email far too many times and now its just rife with spam. I don't think apple does a particularly great job at spam filtering. It doesn't do a bad job, but others including google do a better job
 
I don't with the exception of the hide my email feature. The main reason is my iCloud email is permanently attached to my Apple account and I can't change it so I don't want it bombarded with spam.

If Apple gave us an easy way to make a non permanent second email address then I might use it. I don't mean like the disposible hide my email feature because that's just linked to one account and is a weird looking email. I mean if I could make something like russell at washingtonapple dotcom or even keep the icloud domain but a different email.

What I use is a mixture of Yahoo and Gmail email for non financial emails. Everything that's finance goes to fastmail. I feel that reduces the possibility of phishing emails, and keeps at least some of my important data private.
 
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Yes. It has the best spam fighting of any email I’ve ever used. My inbox is always squeaky clean.

I don't with the exception of the hide my email feature. The main reason is my iCloud email is permanently attached to my Apple account and I can't change it so I don't want it bombarded with spam.

If Apple gave us an easy way to make a non permanent second email address then I might use it. I don't mean like the disposible hide my email feature because that's just linked to one account and is a weird looking email. I mean if I could make something like russell at washingtonapple dotcom or even keep the icloud domain but a different email.

What I use is a mixture of Yahoo and Gmail email for non financial emails. Everything that's finance goes to fastmail. I feel that reduces the possibility of phishing emails, and keeps at least some of my important data private.
You can create several @icloud.com emails for whatever you need as well as using a custom domain.
 
I use iCloud for friends and family, then a webmail for all and sundry.
keeps the spam down in my iClou.
 
Still somewhat new to Macs and am wondering if people use Apple’s iCloud mail for email. I’ve always used my gmail but I’ve wondered if there’s any advantage to just using iCloud.

Th.
I started using iCloud Mail last week after having used Gmail since 2008. Also migrated calendars and contacts. All works well, but Apple Mail doesn’t seem to sync read emails across logged in devices. A red badge lingers on my iPhone although I’ve already read the email on my mac. The Gmail app syncs this perfectly.
 
Yes. It has the best spam fighting of any email I’ve ever used. My inbox is always squeaky clean.
I found the spam filtering to be overzealous, and there is no way to explicitly and permanently whitelist senders (at least not on iOS and the web version).
 
I started using iCloud Mail last week after having used Gmail since 2008. Also migrated calendars and contacts. All works well, but Apple Mail doesn’t seem to sync read emails across logged in devices. A red badge lingers on my iPhone although I’ve already read the email on my mac. The Gmail app syncs this perfectly.
Even on the same device, the red badge takes a minute or so to update. This started a couple of iOS versions ago. It’s ridiculous. Though more a problem of the Mail app than of iCloud Mail specifically.
 
I've been using it more. I've been transitioning away from Gmail. At this point, I only use Gmail for online shopping, and more "serious" things are tied to my iCloud.
 
Yes. It has the best spam fighting of any email I’ve ever used. My inbox is always squeaky clean.


You can create several @icloud.com emails for whatever you need as well as using a custom domain.
Don't you have to purchase a custom domain from a third-party or something like that? I've heard of this, but it seemed really complicated. Maybe I need to take a look at that.
 
I've had my @mac.com email address since the iTools days. It's my primary personal email address, although anything of importance I host on Google Workspace instances with custom domains.

There's nothing wrong with using iCloud for email. It had some horrific stability issues in the past, and its spam filtering is just "ok," but it's free and (these days) stable and performant. That you can now tie an iCloud account to a custom domain is a very welcome addition, but it has some important restrictions in how it works and isn't nearly as configurable as a standard domain account with email you might get from Microsoft or Google's similar offerings (or any one of a million other options available out there from other companies. ProtonMail, etc). Rather than using Apple's narrow simple box, there's some value to pulling up your boots and learning how the domain and MX mail record system works so you can bend it to your advantage.

But for personal, everyday email? Totally fine. For most folks it will be interchangeable with any other common free email: GMail, etc.
 
Don't you have to purchase a custom domain from a third-party or something like that? I've heard of this, but it seemed really complicated. Maybe I need to take a look at that.
Yes, you do. And it's not complicated. I buy my domains from Namecheap. When you want to set up the purchased domain, Apple will email a list of the settings you need to change on Namecheap (or whatever registrar you go with) so that all the mail will go to your Apple mail. You can make up to 3 aliases with your custom domain (you can also make 3 additional @iCloud.com emails if you want to go that route).
 
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Don't you have to purchase a custom domain from a third-party or something like that?
Yes, but the benefit is that the domain is yours and not Apple’s. I’d encourage everyone to buy your own domain, it’s not complicated. It allows you to switch email providers without changing your email address, and it allows you to have an unlimited number of email addresses under the domain.
 
I have never and will never use "cloud" anything. People concerned about privacy should be aware that big tech providers (Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook in particular) share data amongst themselves. So anything you type in your Yahoo e-mail is shared with Google and Facebook. I wouldn't doubt Apple is among the sharers.
 
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