iOS 9 Users Having Issues With POP Email Accounts and Attachments

[AllieNeko]

*dons flame-resistant suit* Frankly, to be totally honest, Apple really should just pull support for POP accounts entirely. I know, I know... some of you love it. But the reality is that POP was never meant to work in a multi-device environment. It was created when the idea of a smartphone was sci-fi. Rather than attempting it, and getting angry users when it fails - as it is bound to - they should just pull support entirely.

What about the 0.00001% of people who rely on POP because their email provider doesn't offer IMAP, you ask? Well, obviously they need a new email provider. But having the service not work on iPhones would also give the provider an incentive to upgrade their ancient system. Remember the ubiquity of Flash until Apple pulled support?

 

[kschles]

Several folks on the Apple Forums thread have reported talking to reps or emailing Apple support about this issue. They've been assured that Apple will continue to support POP email accounts and knows that IOS 9.1 didn't fix the issue. Supposedly they are working on it. I use Verizon FIOS for my ISP and cell phone provider. They only offer POP. Everything was fine with my email until IOS 9. I get that many folks think POP is ancient and we should all use IMAP. It's not possible for some of us. Apple needs to fix this. Guess I don't understand why, when I "download" an email message to my iPad, it's not physically downloaded. I got a 64 GB iPad for a reason.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

*dons flame-resistant suit* Frankly, to be totally honest, Apple really should just pull support for POP accounts entirely. I know, I know... some of you love it. But the reality is that POP was never meant to work in a multi-device environment. It was created when the idea of a smartphone was sci-fi. Rather than attempting it, and getting angry users when it fails - as it is bound to - they should just pull support entirely.

What about the 0.00001% of people who rely on POP because their email provider doesn't offer IMAP, you ask? Well, obviously they need a new email provider. But having the service not work on iPhones would also give the provider an incentive to upgrade their ancient system. Remember the ubiquity of Flash until Apple pulled support?

Put on two suits with that thought process.

 

[AllieNeko]

Several folks on the Apple Forums thread have reported talking to reps or emailing Apple support about this issue. They've been assured that Apple will continue to support POP email accounts and knows that IOS 9.1 didn't fix the issue. Supposedly they are working on it. I use Verizon FIOS for my ISP and cell phone provider. They only offer POP. Everything was fine with my email until IOS 9. I get that many folks think POP is ancient and we should all use IMAP. It's not possible for some of us. Apple needs to fix this. Guess I don't understand why, when I "download" an email message to my iPad, it's not physically downloaded. I got a 64 GB iPad for a reason.

Why are you using your ISPs email? Frankly, that's a really, really bad idea - because it lets your ISP lock you in by holding your email address hostage, preventing you from easily changing ISPs. Always use third party email services, and ideally with your own domain.

 

[kschles]

Why are you using your ISPs email? Frankly, that's a really, really bad idea - because it lets your ISP lock you in by holding your email address hostage, preventing you from easily changing ISPs. Always use third party email services, and ideally with your own domain.

Thanks for the advice, which is probably good. However, I've had my current address for a long time, and it would be a pain to change it (old, dog, new tricks). Hoping Apple just fixes the problem so I can get on with my life.

 

[bmusgrove]

​

I have to throw the BS Flag. I did not have this issue until I installed 9.x on my iPhone 5s. It started immediately after the iOS 9x update. Everything before the update is unreadable with the "Message not downloaded" error. Everything after the update (even the server has been cleared ) is available and viewable on my phone.

For several years I use my iPhone for POP email, and once every couple of months I will go to my PC and download all of my emails of the POP server. I have never had any problem viewing past emails after clearing the POP Server.

As another user stated, my mail app storage numbers continue to increase over time. If its not soaring the emails, why is the anoint of storage being used increasing?

 

[Popster]

There seems to be some confusion regarding POP vs IMAP. IMAP requires a constant and reliable internet connection, POP does not. For example, if travelling around for work and access to previous mail is required in areas with no internet, then POP is the protocol to use. The suggestion that POP is outdated is just plain wrong.

 

[Popster]

Put on two suits with that thought process.

There seems to be some confusion regarding POP vs IMAP. IMAP requires a constant and reliable internet connection, POP does not. For example, if travelling around for work and access to previous mail is required in areas with no internet, then POP is the protocol to use. The suggestion that POP is outdated is just plain wrong.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

...The suggestion that POP is outdated is just plain wrong.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[cryan738]

That's what you get for still using pop3 email...

 

[cryan738]

Why the smartass comment? Verizon fios, for example, doesn't support imap, so if using Verizon server, pop is only option. BESIDES, it is irrelevant....problem was created with ios9 update. Why?

 

[cryan738]

Maybe this is Apple trying to get everybody off of POP and onto IMAP. I mean, who uses POP nowadays? More importantly, why use POP these days?

Verizon, that's who!

 

[Popster]

Why is this so hard to understand? IMAP is not an upgraded version of POP, they work differently and individual needs will determine which protocol to use.
If you require access to mail from last week, last month etc, and you are away from an internet connection, then POP will be the best protocol as all mail is stored on your device. IMAP is useless in these circumstances as old mail cannot be read when off line as mail is stored on the server and not on your device.
If you always have an internet connection or dont need access to previous mail when off-line , go ahead and use IMAP.
For those with a wifi only IPAD or patchy cellular service, then POP is a valid option, or it was until IOS9 screwed it up.

 

[Stevegibbs5]

What is with all of the slamming of pop email? Is not the idea of this forum to help one another? And those who say pop is unreliable, there are millions of other users past and present who would disagree. Maybe the unreliability some have faced in the past using pop was down to faults their ISP's, devices, or network connectivity. Why are we still using 20 or 30 year old satellites for our planetary communications instead of using the latest most up to date tech? Because when used properly, they are reliable and they work.

If you don't use pop email, then fine. Each to their own as there are better services around. But if you're not using pop, then you're reading the wrong thread and shouldn't be replying to anyone in the first place.

 

[Stevegibbs5]

To all those who say "pop email. Why?" The answer is quite simple. Using an existing pop email account, and account that has been used for a long time, is easier than contacting all of the businesses and contacts that has the pop email details (which could be in the hundreds, maybe a couple of thousand), and changing the details for a new account on each and every contact or website.

Fact is, it's an old a simple setup, but it works well (when a tech company allows it to in their devices). The fact that there are still hundreds of thousands of people (maybe more) still using pop, and that the fact that many platforms still allow people to use it goes to show that it is still a popular service. Apple needs to pull their socks up and get this sorted. The latest iOS update did fix the issue and it was working again for myself FOR ALL OF 3 WEEKS until I started getting the "Cannot download from server" message again. This alone says that it is an Apple issue and not something else.

The sooner these people who say "lol, you still
Use pop email?" become less short sighted and realise that just because they don't use it, doesn't mean that others are not happy to do so, and the sooner Apple get this thing sorted once and for all, the happier the many thousands of existing pop email users will be.

 

[ftr1950]

Has anyone found a working solution to the glitch with Gmail and El Capitan? I agree with Apple mail not being robust enough and neither are Horde, Squirrel Mail, etc. I'm so sorry I accepted the upgrade to El Capitan - should have know better when the Beta version crashed my son's laptop. We were assured by the Genius Bar that the actual version didn't have any bugs.

 

[class77]

As of Nov. 7, I'm still getting the notification "This message has not been downloaded from the server" on my iPad Air 2 running the latest 9.XX software. This is totally frustrating if you need to get the content of message when on the road!

 

[AllieNeko]

Thanks for the advice, which is probably good. However, I've had my current address for a long time, and it would be a pain to change it (old, dog, new tricks). Hoping Apple just fixes the problem so I can get on with my life.

Frankly, they shouldn't fix it - POP shouldn't be used on mobile devices. I'd suggest changing email now, it'll always be more pain tomorrow than it is today. Get it over with, and then when you move, or get a good deal on a new ISP, etc... it won't be a sudden forced change on you.

 

[AllieNeko]

There seems to be some confusion regarding POP vs IMAP. IMAP requires a constant and reliable internet connection, POP does not. For example, if travelling around for work and access to previous mail is required in areas with no internet, then POP is the protocol to use. The suggestion that POP is outdated is just plain wrong.

IMAP can cache messages just as easily, that's not protocol related. The fact Apple doesn't let you adjust this is not IMAP's fault.

 

[gslrider]

Maybe this is Apple trying to get everybody off of POP and onto IMAP. I mean, who uses POP nowadays? More importantly, why use POP these days?

Well, considering there's a bunch of complaints about this issue, to answer your question "I mean, who uses POP nowadays?"...a whole lot of people. That's who. There is no issue with using POP, unless something like this happens. But that's on Apple's end. The question is, why does Apple force feed us what they want us to have, and "recommends" us to use what they are offering instead. When in reality, they are really saying, use what we give you or you're SOL. This is the Cook Apple. Gone are the days of Jobs Apple. Jobs' ideals, innovation, and genius of creating products that we will like, has been squashed by the almighty dollar. Apple isn't the same anymore, and for me, the change are steps in the wrong direction for old school power users (been a Mac guy for 25 years).
[doublepost=1455910347][/doublepost]

IMAP can cache messages just as easily, that's not protocol related. The fact Apple doesn't let you adjust this is not IMAP's fault.

And that is one of the reasons why many still use POP. Blame Apple for this issue. They are giving us what they think we want, and telling us it's WHAT WE WANT. Back in the Jobs days, Apple products just worked out of the box. It was very user friendly. Now Apple products feel like Microsoft products. Things that just worked on them, you now require third party software to get them back. 2 steps do things on your Mac, now require 4. Backwards isn't the smart way to go for a tech company.

 

[Black Magic]

Well, considering there's a bunch of complaints about this issue, to answer your question "I mean, who uses POP nowadays?"...a whole lot of people. That's who. There is no issue with using POP, unless something like this happens. But that's on Apple's end. The question is, why does Apple force feed us what they want us to have, and "recommends" us to use what they are offering instead. When in reality, they are really saying, use what we give you or you're SOL. This is the Cook Apple. Gone are the days of Jobs Apple. Jobs' ideals, innovation, and genius of creating products that we will like, has been squashed by the almighty dollar. Apple isn't the same anymore, and for me, the change are steps in the wrong direction for old school power users (been a Mac guy for 25 years).
[doublepost=1455910347][/doublepost]

And that is one of the reasons why many still use POP. Blame Apple for this issue. They are giving us what they think we want, and telling us it's WHAT WE WANT. Back in the Jobs days, Apple products just worked out of the box. It was very user friendly. Now Apple products feel like Microsoft products. Things that just worked on them, you now require third party software to get them back. 2 steps do things on your Mac, now require 4. Backwards isn't the smart way to go for a tech company.

Ultimately I think Apple is just pushing change and want folks to adopt better technologies so they deprecate older ones. This is how innovation works.

I'm not taking sides BTW.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Well, considering there's a bunch of complaints about this issue, to answer your question "I mean, who uses POP nowadays?"...a whole lot of people. That's who. There is no issue with using POP, unless something like this happens. But that's on Apple's end. The question is, why does Apple force feed us what they want us to have, and "recommends" us to use what they are offering instead. When in reality, they are really saying, use what we give you or you're SOL. This is the Cook Apple. Gone are the days of Jobs Apple. Jobs' ideals, innovation, and genius of creating products that we will like, has been squashed by the almighty dollar. Apple isn't the same anymore, and for me, the change are steps in the wrong direction for old school power users (been a Mac guy for 25 years).
[doublepost=1455910347][/doublepost]

And that is one of the reasons why many still use POP. Blame Apple for this issue. They are giving us what they think we want, and telling us it's WHAT WE WANT. Back in the Jobs days, Apple products just worked out of the box. It was very user friendly. Now Apple products feel like Microsoft products. Things that just worked on them, you now require third party software to get them back. 2 steps do things on your Mac, now require 4. Backwards isn't the smart way to go for a tech company.

POP is a slow, chatty, unreliable protocol that was not designed for using the same account on multiple devices.
It doesn't support multiple mailboxes and –of course– it doesn't synchronize your Sent Items folder.
It was great during the Dial-up days, when emails were small in size and quantity.

If your ISP does not support IMAP, dump it; it must be a crappy server without any regards for your data.

IMAP is now the standard, so this may be the time for you to move on!
Actually, I hope Apple dumps POP support from all their devices so the lazy ISPs will start enabling IMAP instead.

 

[gslrider]

Ultimately I think Apple is just pushing change and want folks to adopt better technologies so they deprecate older ones. This is how innovation works.

I'm not taking sides BTW.

I get that. My problem is, is that what they are pushing isn't that innovative, and at the same time, becomes more of an inconvenience than anything else. I'm all for innovation, but when I feel like I have to jump through hoops, and go some place else other than Apple to get something to work as it should, there is definitely an issue to how their "innovation" is being done.
[doublepost=1455916660][/doublepost]

POP is a slow, chatty, unreliable protocol that was not designed for using the same account on multiple devices.
It doesn't support multiple mailboxes and –of course– it doesn't synchronize your Sent Items folder.
It was great during the Dial-up days, when emails were small in size and quantity.

If your ISP does not support IMAP, dump it; it must be a crappy server without any regards for your data.

IMAP is now the standard, so this may be the time for you to move on!
Actually, I hope Apple dumps POP support from all their devices so the lazy ISPs will start enabling IMAP instead.

Well, IMAP isn't the standard. Both are still being used. POP is obviously still popular with people like me. There is enough of a user base to keep it around since 1984. And depending on what you are looking for in an email protocol, POP could be better for you, or IMAP can be better for you. I've tried IMAP, and I went back to POP. POP hasn't been eliminated, so why not keep supporting it. Oh, and btw, I did set up my Hotmail account as IMAP with my current ISP, and my email issues remain the same. Again, no issues on my old 5S running 8.3. Not until I upgraded to the 6S running 9.2. So it's not POP or IMAP, it's on Apple's end and how the Mail app is handling the protocols. One of the suggested temp fixes online, is to use a different email client/app. Some have said this fixed their issues. But what's the point of Apple having a Mail app, when it doesn't work. They are pushing others to third party apps. Which I guess would be par for their course. lol

Here's a link for those who don't know the difference between POP and IMAP. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/pop-vs-imap/ It's all about choices. Having both doesn't affect the performance of the iPhone, and no sweat off of Apple's back. Unless you look at it that Apple gives you what THEY WANT to give you. Twisting your arm behind your back, and patting you on the back at the same time. ;-) Make no mistake, they are a corporation. Profit is higher in their priority than customer satisfaction. And because there are many Apple "fanboys", and normal users who just like their Apple products, they aren't worried about losing any fans. They've already established themselves (thanks to Jobs and his way of doing things). I would wager if Apple made the iPhone into a "brick", they'd still make a ton of money. lol As long as there a few new features in it that people "can't live without", they'll sell a crap load of "bricks".

I got hooked on the iPhone starting with the 3GS. The number one reason...the camera. At the time, it took the best pics and video of any phone on the market. Even now, I still think it has the best camera on the market. Competitors are getting closer, but still not as good in my eyes. Put it this way, if...say Samsung...came out with a new phone that blew away the quality of pictures and videos of the iPhone, I would switch over. The iPhone has always been my go to camera. You know the saying, "the best camera is the one you carry with you all the time". My point and shoot is collecting dust on the self, my DSLR gets used, but only on certain occasions. The quality of the camera suits my needs and my work. So that's what I use. What may be good for some, is certainly not as good for others. Different needs, different requirements. Apple used to cater to everyone. Now it caters to the regular joe that wants to take selfies and post on social media. No more power users.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

I get that. My problem is, is that what they are pushing isn't that innovative, and at the same time, becomes more of an inconvenience than anything else. I'm all for innovation, but when I feel like I have to jump through hoops, and go some place else other than Apple to get something to work as it should, there is definitely an issue to how their "innovation" is being done.
[doublepost=1455916660][/doublepost]

Well, IMAP isn't the standard. Both are still being used. POP is obviously still popular with people like me. There is enough of a user base to keep it around since 1984. And depending on what you are looking for in an email protocol, POP could be better for you, or IMAP can be better for you. I've tried IMAP, and I went back to POP. POP hasn't been eliminated, so why not keep supporting it. Oh, and btw, I did set up my Hotmail account as IMAP with my current ISP, and my email issues remain the same. Again, no issues on my old 5S running 8.3. Not until I upgraded to the 6S running 9.2. So it's not POP or IMAP, it's on Apple's end and how the Mail app is handling the protocols. One of the suggested temp fixes online, is to use a different email client/app. Some have said this fixed their issues. But what's the point of Apple having a Mail app, when it doesn't work. They are pushing others to third party apps. Which I guess would be par for their course. lol

Here's a link for those who don't know the difference between POP and IMAP. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/pop-vs-imap/ It's all about choices. Having both doesn't affect the performance of the iPhone, and no sweat off of Apple's back. Unless you look at it that Apple gives you what THEY WANT to give you. Twisting your arm behind your back, and patting you on the back at the same time. ;-) Make no mistake, they are a corporation. Profit is higher in their priority than customer satisfaction. And because there are many Apple "fanboys", and normal users who just like their Apple products, they aren't worried about losing any fans. They've already established themselves (thanks to Jobs and his way of doing things). I would wager if Apple made the iPhone into a "brick", they'd still make a ton of money. lol As long as there a few new features in it that people "can't live without", they'll sell a crap load of "bricks".

I got hooked on the iPhone starting with the 3GS. The number one reason...the camera. At the time, it took the best pics and video of any phone on the market. Even now, I still think it has the best camera on the market. Competitors are getting closer, but still not as good in my eyes. Put it this way, if...say Samsung...came out with a new phone that blew away the quality of pictures and videos of the iPhone, I would switch over. The iPhone has always been my go to camera. You know the saying, "the best camera is the one you carry with you all the time". My point and shoot is collecting dust on the self, my DSLR gets used, but only on certain occasions. The quality of the camera suits my needs and my work. So that's what I use. What may be good for some, is certainly not as good for others. Different needs, different requirements. Apple used to cater to everyone. Now it caters to the regular joe that wants to take selfies and post on social media. No more power users.

That old link from 2012 you provided above is somewhat inaccurate. I'm sure other MR members could confirm.

Here's a recent link from an impartial source: http://businesshelp.comcast.com/help-and-support/email/differences-between-mapi-pop-imap

If IMAP is not the standard, then please tell me what it is... And don't say POP, because it's not. It may be common because of the amount of people still using it because they are afraid to move on.

The more emails you have in your POP account, the longer it may take to figure out what to download.
And it just takes one single mistake configuring a device for all your messages downloading and getting deleted from the server.

For your information, Apple didn't invent IMAP:

1. 
   Quote from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
   "Mark Reed Crispin (born July 19, 1956, in Camden, New Jersey; died December 28, 2012 in Poulsbo, Washington) is best known as the father of the IMAP protocol, having invented it in 1985 during his time at the Stanford Knowledge Systems Laboratory."

FYI, I dumped POP as soon as my ISP started offering IMAP. And that's years before the iPhone appeared. As far as I remember it was near 2001-2002 when I had my HP iPaq PocketPC.
And since then, I pushed all my clients to use either IMAP, MAPI or EAS instead of POP.

And it's very childish to be using words like "fanboys" and trashing people and companies left and right.
Please don't do that, or people may start calling you a "Trumpboy" as you are kind of following his steps.

 

[satcomer]

Has anyone found a working solution to the glitch with Gmail and El Capitan? I agree with Apple mail not being robust enough and neither are Horde, Squirrel Mail, etc. I'm so sorry I accepted the upgrade to El Capitan - should have know better when the Beta version crashed my son's laptop. We were assured by the Genius Bar that the actual version didn't have any bugs.

The problem with GMail is people are use to keeping all there email in the INBOX! Apple wants INBOX ZERO so that is why Apple email programs have problem with Apple Mail connecting to a Gmail Servers. Plus Google likes changing there email servers all the time.