PSA: Apple Mail Bugs Can Lead to Data Loss in macOS Catalina

[macmyworld]

At least this explains why mail is a mess in iOS and MacOS. They lost the emails with the bug reports.

After Safari completely locked up my iPad Pro last night and my iPhone rarely showing my email correctly (thank you iOS 13) I am done with the ”upgrades”.

All of this was rushed out. Thanks Apple.

 

[pika2000]

A buggy mail client wouldn’t surprise me (remember Yosemite?)
More reason to wait until a x.2 release.

 

[aandre]

Anyone noticing missing data in the Music app as well? I regret installing Catalina.

 

[ChrisChaval]

Anyone noticing missing data in the Music app as well? I regret installing Catalina.

I have read somewhere here on the forum that artwork was missing for some

 

[NufSaid]

Problems with software become bigger with internet news.
Bugs on release are par for the course in software. Apple in this day and age gets it because the are singularly focused with a fairly simple product line.

Should Apple catch some of these? Sure. Should all those beta testers get with it and test instead of just getting early access to cool stuff? Yes.

 

[jayducharme]

That explains why my e-mails aren't syncing properly across my devices. What a mess! It always amazes me how a company with such resources can take something that previously functioned fine and then break it after months of testing.

 

[BWhaler]

I was thinking about waiting for 10.15.1, but I guess 10.15.2 is starting to seem like a better idea

id wait longer than that this time around. My guess is Apple needs six months to make this solid.

 

[steve62388]

How did so many critical issues get past Apple on this one? Maybe it’s time to start splitting up releases. Mac in the spring, IOS in the fall? Maybe spend more time doing the technology and less time making crappy looking tv shows?

Not a bad idea but often there are new features that require one or the other.

 

[redpandadev]

Apple missed the chance again for a groundbreaking redesign of the old fashioned email concept. No innovation in the main tools we all use everyday like mail, calender, adressbook and browser. This would really be a reason to stay or even switch to an OS. The first competitor who offers this could count me in.

What suggestions do you have? There are dozens of third party options out there in this space. For every one of those there is a developer that would love to here your ideas.

and last but not least: the MacPro. Who should afford this?? Your pricing is a joke.

If you can’t afford it you don’t need it. The standard Mac lineup already offers options that are incredibly powerful and exceed the requirements for nearly everyone. The new Mac Pro isn’t for most people. It is for multi media studios, research universities, engineering firms, etc. it isn’t for individuals. That said it’s not out of reach for many individuals, and it’s VERY competitively priced for the hardware it offers.

 

[NaimNut]

Apple Mail
You get what you pay for.

 

[aandre]

I have read somewhere here on the forum that artwork was missing for some

Thanks. My Artwork has always been a mess, I downloaded much of my Library from CDs and Apple often gets wrong Artwork for them.

 

[CTHarrryH]

I love it - People complain that several OS's had no updates and were a waste - now people are complaining that Apple did too much in the latest release that they shouldn't use it.
I don't understand how these basic email type issues go unnoticed unrepaired in all the internal testing and beta testing that Apple does - and if they are testing correctly they are testing their own client with all sorts of email providers.
There is no excuse for these type of issues in basic product features such as email

 

[TVreporter]

Why do tech companies release programs riddled with bugs and then expect the user to find and report them?

Can you imagine automakers doing the same?
“Oh the brakes don’t work, thanks for letting us know! Sorry for the loss of your husband but the updated model comes out next month.”

My new iMac won’t be getting “updated” with Catalina until the spring at the earliest.

 

[Attirex]

Bugs aside--where did the resizeable columns go in the Mail UI?

 

[steve62388]

Why do tech companies release programs riddled with bugs and then expect the user to find and report them?

Can you imagine automakers doing the same?
“Oh the brakes don’t work, thanks for letting us know! Sorry for the loss of your husband but the updated model comes out next month.”

My new iMac won’t be getting “updated” with Catalina until the spring at the earliest.

What, do you mean like this?

GM Brake Recall Includes 210,000 Cars, SUVs, and Trucks

Consumer Reports has the details of a GM brake recall involving more than 210,000 SUVs and pickup trucks. A faulty brake component could reduce the effectiveness of the rear brakes and raise the risk of a crash.

www.consumerreports.org

Or this?

Faulty brakes prompt big Toyota recall

Parking brake cable can disengage unexpectedly, causing the brakes to stop working properly

www.cbsnews.com

etc etc

 

[Williesleg]

Tim Cooked.

 

[ChrisChaval]

Tim Cooked.

at least he is safe from receiving our e-mails complaining about mail in Catalina

if he upgraded to Catalina that is ...

 

[Machead2012]

Michael Tsai, the developer of EagleFiler and the SpamSieve plug-in for Apple Mail on Mac, has written a blog post warning macOS users about potential data loss in Mail when upgrading to macOS Catalina 10.15.0 (build 19A583).

According to Tsai, he's heard from several users that updating Mail's data store from Mojave to Catalina sometimes says that it has succeeded, when in fact on closer inspection it turns out that large numbers of messages are incomplete or missing entirely.

In addition, users have reported the loss of message content when moving emails between mailboxes. From Tsai's post:
Tsai warns that these issues are particularly pernicious because users may not realize anything's wrong unless they look at affected messages or mailboxes. Since the data is synced to the server, these problems can also propagate to other computers and devices, and relying on backups is difficult because Mail data is continually changing and there's no easy way to merge restored data with messages received since the last backup.

Despite the latter risk, it's still good practice to make backups, but Tsai notes that Apple Support appears to be erroneously advising users that lost Mail data in Catalina can't be recovered from a Time Machine backup made using macOS Mojave.

According to Tsai, this is not the case: Apple Mail's File -> Import Mailboxes... menu bar option can be used to selectively import them into Mail in Catalina as new local mailboxes.

Tsai says he's unsure whether these issues are due to Mail bugs or to other factors such as problems on the Mac or with the mail server. Apple released macOS Catalina 10.15.1 beta to developers on Friday, but it's still unclear if this version resolves the Mail app bugs. Regardless, Tsai's advice to users who rely on Apple Mail is to "hold off on updating to Catalina for now."

Affected readers can find the full breakdown of the issues here. Have you had problems with Mail since updating to Catalina? Let us know in the comments below.

Article Link: PSA: Apple Mail Bugs Can Lead to Data Loss in macOS Catalina

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I haven't used a Windows based operating system in many years but im curious. Does Microsoft have this many issued when a new OS or even an upgraded build is released??? I'm hesitant to do an upgrade on any Apple device 2 year or older.

 

[Bokito]

This only occurs when upgrading. And people who beta test an OS usually don't upgrade their existing machine, because of these reasons. Guess Apple needs to test upgrades more with 'real' data.

 

[Peter_M]

I noticed some of my Smart Mailbox settings didn't work afterwards. The Smart Mailbox entries existed, but the 'Account' was blank. I'll have to do a search to see what else is broken.

I have a separate mail folder for work-related mail. Even though I've applied the necessary rules, the mails (new and old) don't get moved into the work folder. Such a basic function, incredible that it's broken. However, this is in the most recent version of Mojave. Seems the bug has been carried over to Catalina. Where is the QC, Apple?

 

[zorinlynx]

Macrumors readers are in ecstasy. They love negative information.

We just love that our complaints about Apples software QC finally have some mainstream merit.

We've been saying for ages that this release is a bit dodgy but people kept defending it. It feels nice to be solidly proven right

 

[centauratlas]

macOS Catalina is one OS to skip. Never read about so many bugs and other problems with a release of a fresh new macOS.

Photos sync is now buggy as well. Albums inside folders don't sync, and sometimes hang

 

[Showman27]

Michael Tsai, the developer of EagleFiler and the SpamSieve plug-in for Apple Mail on Mac, has written a blog post warning macOS users about potential data loss in Mail when upgrading to macOS Catalina 10.15.0 (build 19A583).

According to Tsai, he's heard from several users that updating Mail's data store from Mojave to Catalina sometimes says that it has succeeded, when in fact on closer inspection it turns out that large numbers of messages are incomplete or missing entirely.

In addition, users have reported the loss of message content when moving emails between mailboxes. From Tsai's post:
Tsai warns that these issues are particularly pernicious because users may not realize anything's wrong unless they look at affected messages or mailboxes. Since the data is synced to the server, these problems can also propagate to other computers and devices, and relying on backups is difficult because Mail data is continually changing and there's no easy way to merge restored data with messages received since the last backup.

Despite the latter risk, it's still good practice to make backups, but Tsai notes that Apple Support appears to be erroneously advising users that lost Mail data in Catalina can't be recovered from a Time Machine backup made using macOS Mojave.

According to Tsai, this is not the case: Apple Mail's File -> Import Mailboxes... menu bar option can be used to selectively import them into Mail in Catalina as new local mailboxes.

Tsai says he's unsure whether these issues are due to Mail bugs or to other factors such as problems on the Mac or with the mail server. Apple released macOS Catalina 10.15.1 beta to developers on Friday, but it's still unclear if this version resolves the Mail app bugs. Regardless, Tsai's advice to users who rely on Apple Mail is to "hold off on updating to Catalina for now."

Affected readers can find the full breakdown of the issues here. Have you had problems with Mail since updating to Catalina? Let us know in the comments below.

Article Link: PSA: Apple Mail Bugs Can Lead to Data Loss in macOS Catalina

I have been experiencing seemingly identical problems for months already in Mojave. It’s been so bad that I no longer try to move a message between mailboxes before without dragging a copy to my desktop first.

 

[PastaPrimav]

Yep. Count me.

In early Catalina beta I was trying to move some mail, and lost untold amounts of older mail. I've yet to even attempt to verify how much because I don't even want to know.

 

[dogslobber]

I sent an email to Tim Cook demanding to know why Apple Mail is losing email. He hasn't responded yet.