Mail changes not coming down to iPhone until I open it's mail client

[mailerdaemon]

After a bit of swearing, I got MobileMe going a couple of days ago. I couldn't get my contacts (Mac Address Book) to sync up to the cloud from a restricted user account, only from my admin account. But that's another story (that I also can't find mentioned here).

Anyway, I've been reading and searching here for the last couple of hours, but haven't really found an answer to the following problem...

If someone sends me an email, I get it pretty much instantly - on both my iPhone and MacBook Pro. Sweet.

However, if I work away reading, moving and deleting emails on my MacBook Pro (Apple mail) those changes don't go to my iPhone until I open up it's mail application (and wait for all changes to happen).

Is this how it's supposed to work?

At first I thought that it maybe because I use WiFi when I'm at home, so switched that off and went back to 3G, but that didn't help. I also turned push off then back on again on the phone which also didn't work.

What's the go?

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

After a bit of swearing, I got MobileMe going a couple of days ago. I couldn't get my contacts (Mac Address Book) to sync up to the cloud from a restricted user account, only from my admin account. But that's another story (that I also can't find mentioned here).

Anyway, I've been reading and searching here for the last couple of hours, but haven't really found an answer to the following problem...

If someone sends me an email, I get it pretty much instantly - on both my iPhone and MacBook Pro. Sweet.

However, if I work away reading, moving and deleting emails on my MacBook Pro (Apple mail) those changes don't go to my iPhone until I open up it's mail application (and wait for all changes to happen).

Is this how it's supposed to work?

At first I thought that it maybe because I use WiFi when I'm at home, so switched that off and went back to 3G, but that didn't help. I also turned push off then back on again on the phone which also didn't work.

What's the go?

In your Settings, do you have "Fetch New Data" it set to Fetch or Push?

 

[profetto]

Been having same problem.

If I read a new email on my iMac, the email doesn't get updated as read to my iPhone until I actually open it.

Its all set to Push with my MobileMe account.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

Been having same problem.

If I read a new email on my iMac, the email doesn't get updated as read to my iPhone until I actually open it.

Its all set to Push with my MobileMe account.

The setting I'm talking about is on your iPhone's main Settings screen, not in your email settings or the me.com.

 

[profetto]

The setting I'm talking about is on your iPhone's main Settings screen, not in your email settings or the me.com.

Sorry, should've clarified, I meant that my iPhone is all set up to Push with my MobileMe account.

Its weird. Just now I had an unread email on my phone that I had deleted on my iMac a few hours ago, as soon as I opened up mail on the iPhone it realized it wasn't a new email.

 

[mailerdaemon]

My iPhone's set to 'push' and as I said, I will receive email sent to me on it immediately - it's just that any mail changes I make on my MacBook Pro don't get sent to the iPhone until I actually open my mail app on the phone (like the above case).

I wouldn't have thought that this is the way it's supposed to work. I would have thought that my phone's mail should be updated with any changes I make on my computer without me having to open the phones' mail app.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

My iPhone's set to 'push' and as I said, I will receive email sent to me on it immediately - it's just that any mail changes I make on my MacBook Pro don't get sent to the iPhone until I actually open my mail app on the phone (like the above case).

I wouldn't have thought that this is the way it's supposed to work. I would have thought that my phone's mail should be updated with any changes I make on my computer without me having to open the phones' mail app.

There is no "push" from a Mac to MobileMe or an iPhone, as detailed here. Perhaps you're just not waiting long enough?

 

[Mindflux]

There is no "push" from a Mac to MobileMe or an iPhone, as detailed here. Perhaps you're just not waiting long enough?

No there most certainly is push between MM and iPhone.

The scenarios that have push right now:

MM to Phone
iPhone to MM
MM to Mac (this works for some and not others).

There is currently only SYNC from Mac to MM.

 

[mailerdaemon]

There is no "push" from a Mac to MobileMe or an iPhone, as detailed here. Perhaps you're just not waiting long enough?

I've checked my phone over an hour later and the changes I made on my Mac are not there.

They come down (I wait for them) as soon as I open the mail app on the phone - so that tells me that the changes have gone from my Mac to the 'cloud' (I've waited long enough) but don't get 'pushed' from the 'cloud' to my iPhone until I open the iPhone's mail app.

The question is:

Are you or anyone else seeing changes made to your mail on your Mac coming down to your iPhone without having to open the mail app on your iPhone and wait for them each time?

 

[mailerdaemon]

It appears that this is normal, for the moment...

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1795

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

No there most certainly is push between MM and iPhone.

The scenarios that have push right now:

MM to Phone
iPhone to MM
MM to Mac (this works for some and not others).

There is currently only SYNC from Mac to MM.

I never said there wasn't push from MobileMe to the iPhone. I said there wasn't push from a Mac to MobileMe or an iPhone, meaning from a Mac to either of those things.

 

[chris3g]

I never said there wasn't push from MobileMe to the iPhone. I said there wasn't push from a Mac to MobileMe or an iPhone, meaning from a Mac to either of those things.

that's true but has nothing to do with this issue, mail isn't synced in the same way as calendars and address book.

for now, the way it is working for you is as intended. It's annoying but it can also help save battery life. If you set up an exchange activesync account, it will constantly keep your mail updated like you are looking for, but it also sucks down battery at much faster rate than mobileme mail.

 

[d21mike]

If you set up an exchange activesync account, it will constantly keep your mail updated like you are looking for, but it also sucks down battery at much faster rate than mobileme mail.

Do you have confirmation of this? I was thinking that this might be true but have not read anything on this to be sure. I was considering the Exchange Solution but decided the MobileMe Family Pack would be my best financial option if Apple can get it working smoothly (hoping they will soon).

 

[chris3g]

Do you have confirmation of this? I was thinking that this might be true but have not read anything on this to be sure. I was considering the Exchange Solution but decided the MobileMe Family Pack would be my best financial option if Apple can get it working smoothly (hoping they will soon).

yes i have both, actually i am using a hosted zimbra account rather than an actual exchange account, but it uses exchange activesync to function with the iphone.

i don't think the convenience of having the mail icon updated at all times is worth the extra battery drain, but what is worth it though is that the service is actually reliable and allows you to use email at your own domain, which i need. Zimbra is also able to sync with ical and address book so it is actually capable of being a complete replacement for mobileme on the mac.

 

[d21mike]

yes i have both, actually i am using a hosted zimbra account rather than an actual exchange account, but it uses exchange activesync to function with the iphone.

i don't think the convenience of having the mail icon updated at all times is worth the extra battery drain, but what is worth it though is that the service is actually reliable and allows you to use email at your own domain, which i need. Zimbra is also able to sync with ical and address book so it is actually capable of being a complete replacement for mobileme on the mac.

Thanks for the information. I went to their site and was confused about the pricing. Can you confirm? It appears that I would need the Professional Edition but can't see where you can purchase for less then a 25 seat package. Also, it appears the Mobile (needed for iPhone) is another $500 per year. Is this not really for people that only need a few mail boxes and iPhone support?

Also, does it not really use Exchange on the backend? Could that be a reason for the battery life problem? Or do you think it is because it has a TCPIP Connection always open?

Back to MobileMe. My Push is updating within seconds so I am not what you mean by "mail icon updated at all times". If you mean that if I delete on Outlook when does it show on my iPhone. Then that is not instant but I as soon as I use my iPhone it is updated. Not sure that is a problem because I don't use my iPhone and Outlook at the same time anyway.

 

[chris3g]

Thanks for the information. I went to their site and was confused about the pricing. Can you confirm? It appears that I would need the Professional Edition but can't see where you can purchase for less then a 25 seat package. Also, it appears the Mobile (needed for iPhone) is another $500 per year. Is this not really for people that only need a few mail boxes and iPhone support?

Also, does it not really use Exchange on the backend? Could that be a reason for the battery life problem? Or do you think it is because it has a TCPIP Connection always open?

Back to MobileMe. My Push is updating within seconds so I am not what you mean by "mail icon updated at all times". If you mean that if I delete on Outlook when does it show on my iPhone. Then that is not instant but I as soon as I use my iPhone it is updated. Not sure that is a problem because I don't use my iPhone and Outlook at the same time anyway.

mobileme push mail only updates the inbox when new mail is received. So as you have seen, if you read a new mail on a desktop, the iphone does not update to reflect that until you enter the mail program, or receive an additional new mail. activesync keeps the inbox and also subfolders updated at all times. So obviously you can see how this would cause more draw on the battery. And yes, the Zimbra implementation of activesync support for the iphone is still being worked on and improved so hopefully they will be able reduce battery drain, but a normal exchange account still uses more battery than mobileme's p-imap.

As far as using zimbra, you want to find a service provider, not buy the software, just like you could buy exchange from microsoft for ~$1000 and install it on your own server, or you can find a provider for a single account. 01.com is $50/ year for 1 mailbox with 2GB storage and activesync support.

 

[d21mike]

mobileme push mail only updates the inbox when new mail is received. So as you have seen, if you read a new mail on a desktop, the iphone does not update to reflect that until you enter the mail program, or receive an additional new mail. activesync keeps the inbox and also subfolders updated at all times. So obviously you can see how this would cause more draw on the battery. And yes, the Zimbra implementation of activesync support for the iphone is still being worked on and improved so hopefully they will be able reduce battery drain, but a normal exchange account still uses more battery than mobileme's p-imap.

As far as using zimbra, you want to find a service provider, not buy the software, just like you could buy exchange from microsoft for ~$1000 and install it on your own server, or you can find a provider for a single account. 01.com is $50/ year for 1 mailbox with 2GB storage and activesync support.

Thanks. Very Helpful.

Another queston about FOLDER SYNC. Someone else (on this forum) said that ActiveSync only Pushes the InBox and not the other folders (to the iPhone). It sounds like you are saying that all folders push (you see which folders have mail). This is pretty important too me. I had been using Yahoo Push and it only Pushed InBox. Had to manually check the others. And MobileMe does not have InBox Rules so can't even test that.

 

[chris3g]

Thanks. Very Helpful.

Another queston about FOLDER SYNC. Someone else (on this forum) said that ActiveSync only Pushes the InBox and not the other folders (to the iPhone). It sounds like you are saying that all folders push (you see which folders have mail). This is pretty important too me. I had been using Yahoo Push and it only Pushed InBox. Had to manually check the others. And MobileMe does not have InBox Rules so can't even test that.

according to this post http://www.zimbra.com/forums/zimbra-mobile/20269-iphone-mail-sub-directories-sync.html on the zimbra forums, it does. I just tried it though, and from what i can see, sub folders are not updated until you open that particular folder, so i'm not sure what the deal with that is.

Also, the iphone's mail badge only shows the unread count of the inbox, so if you wanted to see a count of unread messages in other folders on the home screen you won't be able to do that, and that would be something that apple would have to provide an option for like they do in the full mail.app

 

[wlh99]

Do you have confirmation of this? I was thinking that this might be true but have not read anything on this to be sure. I was considering the Exchange Solution but decided the MobileMe Family Pack would be my best financial option if Apple can get it working smoothly (hoping they will soon).

I can second the confirmation. I have an exchange account (I'm the admin for it at work) and push works great in all situations. Believe it or not, I sometimes get email on my iPhone a second or so before it appears in Outlook.

Battery life is reduced a bit. When I had both Mobile Me and Active sync it was much worse. Now that I canceled MM and just have Activesync it isn't so bad.

When I have more time I'm going to look into battery life more. My exchange logs are complaining about the ping interval being too short, and Apple has some deployment and configuration information I haven't read yet.

 

[i_B_rickjames]

I can second the confirmation. I have an exchange account (I'm the admin for it at work) and push works great in all situations. Believe it or not, I sometimes get email on my iPhone a second or so before it appears in Outlook.

Battery life is reduced a bit. When I had both Mobile Me and Active sync it was much worse. Now that I canceled MM and just have Activesync it isn't so bad.

When I have more time I'm going to look into battery life more. My exchange logs are complaining about the ping interval being too short, and Apple has some deployment and configuration information I haven't read yet.

 

[i_B_rickjames]

Just wanted to be sure that you were not using an Archive folder in your mail client. As the archive folders cannot be synced to your iPhone or iPad, only the Inbox and folders within the inbox structure can sync, but need to be manually selected on the iPhone. Ran into this same issue, changed the rules on my outlook client to move the messages to folders below my inbox and it started working the way I want. You see before, I had all my rules setup to just move the message to an archive folder, but it started going straight to my inbox on my iPhone. Which meant a ton of mail on my iphone. That is, until I opened up my outlook client on my machine, then the emails would disappear from the iPhone. So just adjust your rules to move the messages to folders below your inbox and this just fix your issue. Just be sure to check the box to "sync" the folders. Hope that helps!