Mail

[AppleIntelRock]

currently mail is checking for messages every one minute, is there any way to change that to... every 5 or 10 seconds?

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Inpatient?

Use IM if one minute is too long an interval... 🙄

 

[mkrishnan]

Well, the setting in the preferences appears to only go down to every one minute. I'm sure you're the darling child of server administrators everywhere. 😉

I guess the IM thing is actually not a bad idea... or else something like Google Notifier or something equivalent for your mail service if it has one.

Or else...if this involves something like eBay, then perhaps look into the iGarage Sale type of applications that can manage this for you....

I think the reason there is no option for every 5 seconds is that it typically takes more than 5 seconds to log in, check the box, and get the messages....

The other thing is to experiment with IMAP if you're using POP. IMAP is more like a mailbox-on-server model, and it might actually be faster. IMAP messages seem to show up as new even in between checks (although for me I'm at 5 minutes).

 

[freakonguitar]

I think 1 minute is as low as mail goes!! if you want sooner start using msn more 😛. If you need to check constantly then click get mail constantly. Mail is for messages, not for instant messaging like msn, or other. If you are using mail the way any mail program is designed 1 minute is fine!

 

[AppleIntelRock]

Inpatient?

Use IM if one minute is too long an interval... 🙄

I think an "I don't know" would have sufficed.

Well, the setting in the preferences appears to only go down to every one minute. I'm sure you're the darling child of server administrators everywhere. 😉

I guess the IM thing is actually not a bad idea... or else something like Google Notifier or something equivalent for your mail service if it has one.

Or else...if this involves something like eBay, then perhaps look into the iGarage Sale type of applications that can manage this for you....

I think the reason there is no option for every 5 seconds is that it typically takes more than 5 seconds to log in, check the box, and get the messages....

The other thing is to experiment with IMAP if you're using POP. IMAP is more like a mailbox-on-server model, and it might actually be faster. IMAP messages seem to show up as new even in between checks (although for me I'm at 5 minutes).

Thanks, all I can say is, there is nothing wrong with someone wanting push-esque email on an email client. If I want to check my EMAIL every 30 seconds, thats my choice. Telling me to use IM, is pointless. Email and IM are not the same thing, and I use them both- thank you very much. Overall though, thanks for the tips, you did answer some of my questoins.

 

[mkrishnan]

Overall though, thanks for the tips, you did answer some of my questoins.

Sure -- any time. The thing about push mail though is that it has to be designed into the protocol. I'm not kidding when I say that POP over the internet is just not fast enough for you to check it every five seconds.

But good luck. There must be some solution -- certainly things like Groupwise and Exchange clients do it....

 

[mkrishnan]

Oh, I did a little searching cuz I was curious and didn't see any utilities that address this issue. However, since it is an option in Mail (just not with an acceptable setting), if you're *really* adventurous, get a plist editor and dig into com.apple.mail.plist and see if you can't change the setting yourself. 😀

 

[AppleIntelRock]

Oh, I did a little searching cuz I was curious and didn't see any utilities that address this issue. However, since it is an option in Mail (just not with an acceptable setting), if you're *really* adventurous, get a plist editor and dig into com.apple.mail.plist and see if you can't change the setting yourself. 😀

Great idea!
I'm doing that now 😎

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

I think an "I don't know" would have sufficed.

Oh, but I do know... 😉

If you set "PollTime" in the mail preference file to a value below 1, like 0.1, Mail will disregard it and go into manual mail check mode... 🙂

And either way. I don't see any valid reasons for checking mail more often than at 1 minutes intervals. That is what IM is for. Mail servers would kneel if a number of people tried checking it every couple of seconds. They're simply not build for that. IM servers are.

 

[AppleIntelRock]

ENOUGH WITH THE IM. One minute could mean the difference between me seeing an email- now, or when I wake up- I'd say 6 hours IS a big difference. Just because you don't want instant email, doesn't mean others can't want it!

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Then manually click "Get Mail" as the last thing you do before going to bed. That will get whatever is on the server at that exact point and you won't miss any mail... 🙄

 

[DeSnousa]

I'm sorry but I'm lost as well, why would you need to check your mail so regularly 😕 Do you get like an email every second or something? Or do you hate waiting an extra 50 seconds when you receive a message.

Just put it on the 1 minute preference and I'm sure you won't notice the difference 😉

 

[2ndPath]

I also don't know, whether the interval can be set to a shorter time by the user. However I do know, that some e-mail-providers will block an account for a couple of minutes, if there are too frequent requests.

 

[miles01110]

ENOUGH WITH THE IM. One minute could mean the difference between me seeing an email- now, or when I wake up- I'd say 6 hours IS a big difference. Just because you don't want instant email, doesn't mean others can't want it!

Maybe you need a Blackberry.