Email Aliases Not Functioning Properly in iOS 14 [Update: Possibly Fixed in iOS 14.2 Beta 2]

[MacRumors]

Email aliases in the Mail app don't appear to be functioning correctly in the iOS 14 update, according to multiple customer complaints on the MacRumors forums and the Apple Support Communities.

Affected customers have set up aliases in the Mail app for subscriptions, account signups, and more, as aliases are useful for concealing a primary email address and limiting unwanted messages. Those aliases are not working as intended as of the iOS 14 update, with the Mail app on iPhone and iPad ignoring the preferred alias that's selected when sending an email.

There appears to be no way for affected users to successfully control which alias is selected, leading to emails sent from unwanted addresses. A member of the Apple Support Communities describes the problem:

I have an IMAP account (not gmail) with a few aliases. I have been using this for YEARS and it's always worked fine. Today, I sent my first email from iOS 14 and it changed my from address after I sent the email. Note, the correct address was selected in Mail - it was changed during sending. I then sent some mails from other aliases, and those were also all wrong - never the right address.

I then double checked on my iPad, and the same thing occurs. For now, I have just removed all aliases.

Many of the complaints are from iCloud users who are using aliases with Apple's iCloud mail service, including those who have an older @mac.com or @me.com alias available to use with their @iCloud.com email addresses. Apple's Mail app appears to default to the @iCloud.com email address instead of the properly selected @mac.com that some users prefer. From the MacRumors forums:

One of the few who still uses @mac.com for the email address. After the upgrade I am noticing that the from address defaults to @icloud.com even though the settings still points to @mac.com address. Not sure if anyone here is noticing that.

The problem also affects email aliases associated with non-iCloud accounts, including those set up with Gmail accounts, so there appears to be an issue with all email accounts that have an associated alias that causes the Mail app to pick a random "From" address.

There seems to be no fix or workaround at this time aside from disabling aliases, and as pointed out on the MacRumors forums, the problem continues to persist in the iOS 14.2 update that's in beta testing. We expect iOS 14.2 to be in beta for at least another few weeks (likely until the iPhone 12 models launch) so there's time for Apple to add additional bug fixes.

Update: Early reports suggest that the second iOS 14.2 beta provided to developers on September 29 fixes the email alias bug.

Article Link: Email Aliases Not Functioning Properly in iOS 14 [Update: Possibly Fixed in iOS 14.2 Beta 2]

 

[jav6454]

I haven't found this issue thus far with my @me.com alias so far... not sure if maybe I am reading my settings wrong.

 

[TwoBytes]

I wish they brought back the ability to have aliases for @me or @icloud

 

[kycophpd]

My @Mac is changing to @me once it sends.

 

[jprmercado]

Yikes! Just tried it on my end.

I used an @ me alias, and my default @ mac address showed up when I checked on my other inbox. :/

 

[btrach144]

Apple is getting sloppy as of late

 

[rodedwards]

Since upgrading to iOS 14.0.1, i have one email showing in my in box but there isn't one. It doesn't exist on my other computers. Seems Mac Mail has some issues ...

 

[Zadigre]

my main email address I've been using for 3 years now is an alias to my appleid @icloud email address... and now my emails are going out with my appleid email address when sending from my iPhone.
No very happy about this. At least incoming are fine.

 

[poematik13]

iCloud mail in general has been super buggy in recent weeks. There's constant errors and elements failing to load in the browser version.

 

[xXRainKingXx]

I'm not using iOS 14 yet but I'll be pissed if they take away my @me address.

 

[dontwalkhand]

My @Mac no longer works. @me works and @icloud doesn’t. Lovely.

 

[jprmercado]

I'm not using iOS 14 yet but I'll be pissed if they take away my @me address.

I'd be sad if they took my @ mac and @ me aliases too. But it looks it's just a backend problem, since iOS 14 still shows my aliases in the drop-down list in the compose window.

 

[Powermax]

My @me is the address I use for everything, but all mails get send out using the @icloud address now - very annoying.

 

[progx]

I'm running iOS 14. Just checked on my Mail app, it still defaults to my @me.com alias. However, I noticed my iCloud is on top of my @me.com and @mac.com addresses in the From list if I choose to change aliases.

 

[TheChancellor]

I had the same issue where outgoing me.com were showing up as @icloud.com
I had the beta iOS 14 at the time. After I deleted the beta profile, it seems to have been fixed. Coincidence?

 

[AMTYVLE]

Apple really needs to just scrap this current version of Mail and completely overhaul it. Mail hasn't worked right since iOS 13.

 

[xXRainKingXx]

I'd be sad if they took my @ mac and @ me aliases too. But it looks it's just a backend problem, since iOS 14 still shows my aliases in the drop-down list in the compose window.

That's good to know. @me looks so much better than @icloud.

 

[McKodiak]

I mainly use gmail. Is icloud mail good enough to justify a move?

 

[TVreporter]

Ah well the bugs continue... I'll stay on Mojave for another few months.

Apple has been so sloppy lately.

 

[gbc204]

I haven't found this issue thus far with my @me.com alias so far... not sure if maybe I am reading my settings wrong.

Not having any alias problems, but i constantly have an unread mail alert for my me.com address. It ALWAYS shows one unread email, then when I check it disappears. I hate having unread alerts. Wonder if anyone else is having this issue in iOS 14, and if it is a me.com address issue?

 

[jive turkey]

Email on the phone in general hasn't worked right for me since iOS 7

 

[Apple_Robert]

I tested just now, and my @me alias shows as my actual @me address. Good thing I know about this now. I will have to send from my super secret email address next time. Lol

 

[bankshot]

Appreciate the heads up. I use my own domain for email, giving me unlimited addresses, so I use several aliases to send from depending on my recipient. Thankfully I haven't sent any email from iOS since upgrading last week, and now I'll have to test.

It sounds like someone must have gone in and changed code handling mail sending, and simply grabbed the primary address instead of the selected alias. Probably didn't even realize that aliases were a thing (configuration is pretty buried in Settings), and clearly Apple didn't have a proper regression test case for this feature.

This is frustrating, as Mail is a core feature that needs to be 100% reliable, but it clearly isn't a priority for Apple. Past versions of iOS have always seemed to either break something or made it worse in some small way (refreshing IMAP accounts no longer happens automatically like it used to several versions ago). I don't mind a relative lack of snazzy new user interface features, but for goodness sake, don't go mucking around in the back end code and breaking things every revision!

 

[FSMBP]

Appreciate the heads up. I use my own domain for email, giving me unlimited addresses, so I use several aliases to send from depending on my recipient. Thankfully I haven't sent any email from iOS since upgrading last week, and now I'll have to test.

It sounds like someone must have gone in and changed code handling mail sending, and simply grabbed the primary address instead of the selected alias. Probably didn't even realize that aliases were a thing (configuration is pretty buried in Settings), and clearly Apple didn't have a proper regression test case for this feature.

This is frustrating, as Mail is a core feature that needs to be 100% reliable, but it clearly isn't a priority for Apple. Past versions of iOS have always seemed to either break something or made it worse in some small way (refreshing IMAP accounts no longer happens automatically like it used to several versions ago). I don't mind a relative lack of snazzy new user interface features, but for goodness sake, don't go mucking around in the back end code and breaking things every revision!

I exposed my real email address because of this bug...Oh Apple - you're killing me!

 

[adrianlondon]

This may be fixed in the latest beta. I've only done one test, but a test that failed in 14.2 b1 just worked.

Mail - Can't reliably choose "send from" address

I have a gmail account set up with several aliases that I send from for different purposes (e.g., online vs. personal) with a personal domain. In ios 13 it worked fine for all purposes. I send from, say lebigmac@domain.com or lbmspam@domain.com and the recipient would see the address I chose...

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