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Gmail or iCloud Mail?
- Thread starter dmk1974
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whsbuss
macrumors 601
I checked and my Outlook.com account has been moved to the Office 365 infrastructure. So I deleted them on my Mac and iPhone, then re-added with Exchange. But it really worked the same when they were IMAP. Read updates and deletes don't sync to the iPhone from the Mac mail. Even when logged into outlook.live.com mail sync doesn't work. Isn't exchange supposed to work?
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Not using fastmail. iCloud, Outlook, and AOL
I think that for personal use on Mac Platform it's better to use icloud mail and all the platform.
fastbagger
macrumors 6502
My account hasn't been migrated yet, so unfortunately I can't answer that question. All I know is that my Exchange-based work email syncs fine.
PS: I use IMAP with Outlook.com all the time (using Thunderbird though), and that syncs fine too.
Fastmail is pretty reliable. They have been hit with DDOS attack recently and services continued uninterrupted, unlike with other small providers like Zoho, Hushmail, Protonmail...etc.
They are a bit pricey compared to Office 365 and Google apps, but they provide the best sync capabilities for iOS. They use imap with Apple push notifications that actually syncs the badge count for read mail, something even iCloud is currently incapable of.
They are a bit pricey compared to Office 365 and Google apps, but they provide the best sync capabilities for iOS. They use imap with Apple push notifications that actually syncs the badge count for read mail, something even iCloud is currently incapable of.
That's a good question. If you want the freedom of changing providers and keeping your address then get your own domain name. I use my own domain and have changed providers about 3 times the last year do to various technical difficulties my then provider had.
Personally I wouldn't pay for a fastmail.com address.
whsbuss
macrumors 601
IMAP on the Mac works well. Its iOS 9 that it does not auto update. I did verify my outlook.com account on iOS 9 is configured via Exchange (removed it and setup via Exchange in setup). However it does not auto update/sync mail operations. My guess is that outlook.com, even after migration to office365, does not support active sync, a.k.a. EAS
The exchange setup on iOS uses EAS and Outlook.com does support it. Could be that the activesync service is having problems or a new version came out that is having trouble with iOS 9.2.
Has anyone done some tests on an Android device?
I have the old Outlook.com, but could try some tests on an old Android tablet when I get home
Has anyone done some tests on an Android device?
I have the old Outlook.com, but could try some tests on an old Android tablet when I get home
whsbuss
macrumors 601
I hope you are correct. Sync definitely not working on iOS here. Do what you can to see if its iOS related
Update: Since my outlook.com was used under IMAP before and is now on the MS office365 platform, I decided to go to Options->General->Mobile Devices on the webmail site. When I looked at the iPhone listed there, it said the first sync was back in Nov. 2015, probable when I re-added my outlook.com account before. Anyway, I deleted the account from my iPhone, deleted that device from the mobile device settings. Then I restarted the iPhone and added the account. I saw a new iPhone device listed in the webmail settings with current times. It also showed ActiveSync 14.0 listed at the bottom.
However after sending a test email and reading it on the webmail account, the mail badge did not update on the iPhone even after 30 minutes.
[doublepost=1452271557][/doublepost]Hate to overload the forum, but I have some additional info on the outlook.com sync issues on iOS. So I sent a test email at 11:21 and it was received within seconds on my Mac mail, iPhone native mail app, and on the webmail interface. So I go and read it on webmail: iPhone badge not updated, Mac mail badge did update after 45 seconds (although I have that account setting set to check once a minute). 20 minutes later I checked my iPhone and the badge was cleared without receiving any additional email. I checked the Options for mobile device in the webmail and it shows last sync at 11:34
I find that very odd..... who initiated that sync and why so late? I double checked and fetch overall on the iPhone is set to manually.
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iOS devices always use EAS when connecting to an Exchange server (EWS is not supported by iOS). So if you get any connectivity at all, your account supports EAS.
Have you checked the pull/fetch settings in iOS?
EDIT: Just read your second posting: If you have it set to manual fetch, it will of course not update automatically. You have to set it to push or fetch in time intervals.
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whsbuss
macrumors 601
Under Fetch New Data, Push button is set to ON (green) an each account is set to Push; iCloud and Outlook Exchange set to Push, Holiday Calendar set to Fetch. Then under Fetch its set to manually..... why would I need fetch set to 15, 30 or hourly if Outlook Exchange is set to push? EAS should update almost immediately.
I probably misread your post. I was under the impression that you had set everything to manual fetch.
whsbuss
macrumors 601
No problem. Just doesn't update as it should. Would be interesting if someone with an outlook.com account setup as exchange on an android device, if it does the same?
I just done some tests on my iPhone and on a Android tablet. Sent test messages at different time intervals and at first sync didn't work at all unless i opened the mail app. Since I had another account setup as exchange with a provider that uses z-push, I figured that account must be messing things up. I deleted the other account and after that Outlook.com worked flawlessly. Push and badge update worked properly even after a few hours of standby on battery (something that doesn't work properly with z-push). Same results with the android tablet. EAS works as advertised.
Of course all this is tested with the old version of Outlook.com. Don't have the preview version yet, so I can't test it.
Of course all this is tested with the old version of Outlook.com. Don't have the preview version yet, so I can't test it.
whsbuss
macrumors 601
Nice testing. Hopefully someone with a new/exchange outlook.com account will be able to do the same test. I have only iCloud and outlook.com accounts configured on my iPhone6. And only the outlook.com account is setup as exchange.
[doublepost=1452346876][/doublepost]Here's an interesting observation.... I received an email on my outlook.com account. I read it on the Mac and it updated on the webmail interface but not on the iPhone; badge still showed unread. I changed my wifi connection from the 2.4g to 5g (just because I keep my Mac on the 2.4g because its not an 802.11ac device - and keychains causes my iPhone to connect to the last network when I return home).
As soon as it connected to the other network, it sync'd the email on outlook.com - interesting.
whsbuss
macrumors 601
Oh sure. Actually if I open the mail app it syncs all accounts within a few seconds.
whsbuss
macrumors 601
Did another test today with a friend's android phone. Setup my outlook.com account on his phone in exchange and sent an email. Both the iPhone and android got the email within a few seconds. Then I read the message on the iPhone - android did not update. I deleted the email and the android still did not update the account.
So it appears MS Outlook's migration to office365 and even though activesync is listed as being on, it does not sync email in realtime. Hopefully this changes in the future.
So it appears MS Outlook's migration to office365 and even though activesync is listed as being on, it does not sync email in realtime. Hopefully this changes in the future.
The Outlook.com platform transition is not complete yet. Calendaring appears to be receiving the most focus so far, with mail queue updates (fetching, moving, deleting) and synchronization taking place on two different schedules, and people/contacts receiving a lower priority. Also, not everybody has been put on the new platform yet - one of my accounts has been moved (Win 10 Pro) and the second has not (Win 7). I don't know if it's relevant to this point, my Win 10 account is tied to my MS Insider profile, so I might be seeing some future changes that others aren't yet - I'm not on the Fast Track Win 10 update schedule, but I do get emails from the Dev group about platform changes and the SDK.
Also, there were some significant changes to the native Accounts/Mail/Calendar/People apps in Win 10 in the past few weeks - if you're using Win 10, take a look at them. In the Accounts app, I was able to make "deeper" changes to both my Outlook and (surprise!) an iCloud account relative to my synchronization settings, including adjustments to the sync timing, including an additional non-related adjustments to settings. And, in the Win 10 Calendar app, I was very surprised to see my iCloud calendar events and all of my individual calendars - and it wasn't read-only. MS seems to be making some effort to integrate other platforms at the same time as the transition. Tweaks to my settings in the Accounts app have been reflected in my iOS devices and client Outlook 2016 apps (Mac/Win 10).
whsbuss
macrumors 601
So you're saying only calendar syncing is working in realtime. Mail delivery (exchange push) is quite fast but everything else (mail wise) is not. Although is some cases on my iPhone it will sync but after some amount of time, and not a specific timeframe.
Yes, for one of my two accounts; the second is pretty fast, over the same network and on the same devices - the caveat is that my iOS devices are on cellular networks (long live UL data!). I was a bit surprised that my iPhone and iPad synched so quickly on my Win 10-based account as the latency of the cell network is much slower than my wifi networks. I'm tethering to an iPad and iPhone this week as I'm on the road and my Win 10-based account (which seems to be mostly upgraded to the new platform) seems to be real-time except when synching from (not to) Mac Outlook 2016 to Outlook.com.
Also, FWIW, I have two Office 365 accounts with email - one Bus Premium and one Enterprise E3 to compare Outlook.com to. The main difference is the amount of granular control and ability to control synchronization preferences plus, of course, the dozens of Admin settings available in Office 365 Bus/Enterprise. The differences in sync and features in my not-upgraded account seem significant right now - fewer boxes to tick, slower response times, and fewer features - but basically looking like my upgraded account several weeks ago. I can't offer exactly when MS upgraded my main account as I'm on the road - the People and Mail apps were downloaded just last night, so I'm poring through the differences as MS doesn't offer much in the way of "what changed"...
And, FWIW, on my iOS devices, my two O365 accounts sync almost immediately, my main Outlook.com account isn't much slower some of the time but not all of the time, and my secondary Outlook.com account acts like the portal did for two years (when it got around to it...). My paid MS rep related to me last week that Outlook.com should have most of its accounts sorted out by about March-ish, and so far I'm impressed. If I find some magic setting I'll pass it on here. I'm too old to wait too long! 😀
whsbuss
macrumors 601
Very informative. Hope by March-ish EAS works as it should even on the outlook.com accounts. I loved when gmail had that support.
