POP and MoblieMe Syncing

[Fabienne]

I just got MobileMe and am pretty happy with it. I noticed that it does not sync the e-mail if you have a POP account. My e-mail is a POP account. Is there any other program which will sync POP e-mails, or is there some other step I can go through so I can sync my e-mails using either MobileMe or some other program?

 

[miles01110]

Huh? With POP mail accounts any message is downloaded from the server to your local machine. There's nothing to "sync" between the local machine and the server, because there's nothing on the server...

You need an IMAP account.

 

[aristobrat]

Yup, what miles said. The POP3 protocol wasn't designed to keep things in sync, like with IMAP.

You can probably set your POP account to automatically forward all email to an account you can keep in sync, like the email account that came with your MobileMe, or a gmail account (which supports IMAP).

I'm confused about your OP, though. MobileMe doesn't really do anything with your other non-MobileMe email accounts. What do you mean when you say MobileMe won't sync the email in a POP account?

 

[Fabienne]

OK, so it looks like I should get my POP e-mail forwarded to a GMail account and then MobileMe could use it just fine, right?

I do think that MobileMe is a cloud and that it does not change my mailboxes in other places, no. No wonder you were confused, but I didn't say that. I was just wanting to know what would and would not work with MobileMe, and how to make that happen.

 

[aristobrat]

OK, so it looks like I should get my POP e-mail forwarded to a GMail account and then MobileMe could use it just fine, right?

It depends on what your goal is.

Your MobileMe subscription came with a MobileMe email account (@me.com). That's the only account that MobileMe will keep synced, and push to your devices.

If your want emails from your POP3 account synced and pushed to your devices, then you need to forward them over to your MobileMe email account (@me.com).

After you set that up, you can check your MobileMe email account, and see emails forwarded from your POP3 account, as well as any emails sent directly to your @me.com address.

What gets confusing is when you go to reply to emails that were forwarded from your POP3 account. You're using your MobileMe email account to compose and send the reply, so normally that email would go out with your "@me.com" email address on it instead of your POP3 email address. That can be confusing.

It looks like Apple has done some work in regards to making that easier, but it only appears to work with some email hosts.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4222

 

[miles01110]

OK, so it looks like I should get my POP e-mail forwarded to a GMail account and then MobileMe could use it just fine, right?

Yes, or abandon your outdated POP e-mail account for an IMAP e-mail account.

I do think that MobileMe is a cloud and that it does not change my mailboxes in other places, no.

MobileMe being "in the cloud" doesn't matter at all. "Cloud" is not a protocol that dictates how things function on a network, POP is. Real things like POP take precedence over buzzwords like "cloud computing."

 

[Fabienne]

Thanks for the good advice. It does look like I can make it work with a POP account but would be wiser to use an IMAP and am thinking about changing to Google GMAIL and not have any other things interfere.

After I read what you wrote, aristobrat, I took a more detailed look at the mail section and came across the following point that you helped me look for. I just found that you can send messages with aliases, so they have gone pretty far on that score:

"Send email using an alias, a POP, or an external account

You can set up MobileMe Mail to send messages from an email alias you create or from a POP or an external account.

For example, you can use your main MobileMe Mail address with friends and family only and use an email alias for online registrations, purchasing products, joining mailing lists, and so on. This makes it easier to monitor the sources of unwanted messages."

So it looks like I should give that a try. If it works, great, if not, well get an IMAP account and switch my things over.

OK, Miles, I had to laugh. When you said "...your outdated POP account." Please please please don't think I am clinging to that thing because I love it or I am scared to get a new and better e-mail system. It's my ISP which does some amazingly outmoded things. Cincinnati Bell. I used them because I really had no reason to change the set up until now.