Freezing Mail App

[BLtheP]

15 Pro Max
iOS 17.5.1

iCloud email and 365 work email both set up to stock Mail app, however the 365 is disabled for the time being as a test (and the problem still persists).

I don't recall when this started, but probably 4-5 months ago. It doesn't seem to be related to a specific iOS version, but it's possible I guess.

The issue is that (seemingly) randomly, opening emails on my phone results in the Mail app freezing for 3-4 seconds before showing me the new email. This is when opening the new email from a notification, whether that is lock screen from waking, lock screen from notification center, or from the banner as the email arrives. When the Mail app freezes, it seems to show the last email I had visited while its frozen, then all of a sudden the new email appears (after the 3-4 seconds). I can not press back to get the list of the emails, I can not do anything besides exit the app or wait the few seconds. It is quite annoying.

It is difficult for me to repeat. It seems like it happens every time I open an email without thinking about the problem, yet when I try to make it occur by sending myself a test email from my work account, nothing happens, and everything opens as normal.

I updated to the 17.6 release candidate this afternoon and the issue has persisted. It's certainly not beta related.

Any ideas? Anyone else? I'd really prefer to not erase and set back up my phone if possible, especially if it is an iOS issue that comes back up as soon as my phone is set back up. I have reached out to some relatives and nobody else seems to notice this problem. So figured I'd ask here.

I do have an iPad Pro and I haven't noticed the issue there, but I don't use it all that much, not enough to tell if there is a problem.

Thanks.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I haven’t seen the issue myself - but there isn’t much that can cause this sort of problem in iOS. If you’re using a VPN, delete it (don’t just “disable” it; completely DELETE) and see if that helps the issue. Profiles installed by your employer could do it, too.

 

[gwang73]

I have both iCloud and 365 email accounts setup and haven't experienced any freezes. Outlook is setup as Exchange and with Push.

Sometimes, a corrupted email can cause issues. This has happened to my with Calendar appointments in the past. Instead of disabling the account, have you tried to remove both email accounts, reboot and add them back again?

 

[BLtheP]

I haven’t seen the issue myself - but there isn’t much that can cause this sort of problem in iOS. If you’re using a VPN, delete it (don’t just “disable” it; completely DELETE) and see if that helps the issue. Profiles installed by your employer could do it, too.

I have had VPNs installed before this with no trouble, but I don’t use them anymore so deleting sounds like a good idea. One of them is for my Unifi network so I’d like to keep it but I could delete it temporarily for testing.

Thankfully 0 employer control over this phone, I am simply logged into my account as Exchange for email/calendar access.

 

[BLtheP]

I have both iCloud and 365 email accounts setup and haven't experienced any freezes. Outlook is setup as Exchange and with Push.

Sometimes, a corrupted email can cause issues. This has happened to my with Calendar appointments in the past. Instead of disabling the account, have you tried to remove both email accounts, reboot and add them back again?

Good to hear you’re set up the same with no trouble. That gives some hope. I have had some weird corrupted calendar events in the past, nothing that made my incoming emails freeze the mail app but anything is possible. I have not deleted, because I am still using the calendar (I prefer stock calendar over Outlook app). I probably should try deleting the account fully.

 

[gwang73]

Good to hear you’re set up the same with no trouble. That gives some hope. I have had some weird corrupted calendar events in the past, nothing that made my incoming emails freeze the mail app but anything is possible. I have not deleted, because I am still using the calendar (I prefer stock calendar over Outlook app). I probably should try deleting the account fully.

I'm also using the stock Calendar app. Your appointments should be stored in the cloud per account so when adding the account back on the device, they will reload back in the Calendar app.

If after deleting the account and re-adding it and you still have freezes, you'll need to try and fine the email(s) that may cause the freezing issue. I'd start by looking at emails with attachments first and work your way from there.

Good luck!

 

[BLtheP]

So, I was wrong about the iPad. It DOES have the same issue, I just didn't use Mail enough to find it. It has the same 2 email accounts signed in as the phone does, and I just received an email on it (the Exchange account) that didn't come through on my phone since I deleted that account. It froze the iPad Mail app. So I know it's something common between the two at least. Going to continue experimenting with the phone, the Exchange account is completely deleted currently, we will see if the issue persists.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Thankfully 0 employer control over this phone, I am simply logged into my account as Exchange for email/calendar access.

Exchange profiles can exert control over the phone. If the issue is only occurring when Exchange is set up… that’s a pretty likely scenario.