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What is the most private focused email provider I can use with the Apple Mail app?

FuturePilot said:
Yes, like I said it bypasses the 2FA but it still allows you to access your account from a mail client that doesn’t support that service’s 2FA system.
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So just so I understand...the app password is used in the case where the email provider requires 2FA but you want to access emails using Mail? If the provider doesn't require 2FA then there is no reason or advantage to use an app password with Mail? Thanks.
 
mac_in_tosh said:
So just so I understand...the app password is used in the case where the email provider requires 2FA but you want to access emails using Mail? If the provider doesn't require 2FA then there is no reason or advantage to use an app password with Mail? Thanks.
Click to expand...
That is correct.

Sign in to apps with your Apple Account using app-specific passwords - Apple Support

App-specific passwords allow you to securely use your Apple Account to sign in to apps made by developers other than Apple.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
I'm interested in shifting away from google as well and thinking of going to iCloud, it seems the safest choice, as Apple has been fighting for privacy across multiple fronts. One concern though is the web client, which is quite poor compared to google's, so I'd have to rely heavily on iOS and macOS clients.

Has anyone moved to icloud from gmail, and what considerations should one have?
 
mac_in_tosh said:
So just so I understand...the app password is used in the case where the email provider requires 2FA but you want to access emails using Mail? If the provider doesn't require 2FA then there is no reason or advantage to use an app password with Mail? Thanks.
Click to expand...
App specific passwords are only used in cases where 2FA is enabled. If the service doesn’t offer 2FA or it’s not enabled you can’t use or even generate an app specific password.
 
trifid said:
I'm interested in shifting away from google as well and thinking of going to iCloud, it seems the safest choice, as Apple has been fighting for privacy across multiple fronts. One concern though is the web client, which is quite poor compared to google's, so I'd have to rely heavily on iOS and macOS clients.

Has anyone moved to icloud from gmail, and what considerations should one have?
Click to expand...
I find Gmail has one thing going for it that Apple us weak on - spam. But with Google you really want to delete all the history it maintains and learns about you, except they only offer a Pause setting, can also be set to delete after 30 days. Everything that you do online, that goes into Google search and email, what you bought etc.

Using a generated password is not conditioned on MF or 2FA. When it asks for password, you use the one generated, not your iCloud account. Can be one generated years ago, it doesn't expire.
 
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One aspect of app-specific passwords is there is a private record of them with the provider, but there isn't usually a customer-facing interface to see what they are after they are generated. So, I have a secure note in Bitwarden where I can record and annotate them in real-time while they are still in the clipboard. This has saved my bacon more than once, as I routinely evaluate software for later customer recommendations.

Proud user of Fastmail. Oh, since they're based in Australia, I've found you need to use a credit card (made for international use) and not a debit card (which will get blocked by the fraud department instantly).
 
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ignatius345 said:
Same here. I replaced Google Maps with Apple Maps, Google Drive with iCloud Drive and a little bit of Dropbox, and moved all my non-personal email to iCloud. Now I'm going to take the plunge...


... and migrate back to Fastmail. I used them years ago (early 2000s) and they were always awesome. The prospect of all that free Google storage space and Gmail's other perks drew me in -- and over the years Gmail kind of became a lot of people's default email. It's getting harder and harder for me to justify using it given how incredibly horrible of a company Google has become. I'm at the point where I don't mind paying a little for email service, knowing that mining my email isn't a source of revenue for anyone.
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Tangent, but for someone who is currently tied into Gmail and wants to wean themselves off of it, what do you recommend?

I have many years' worth of emails stored on their servers.

Is there a best/most efficient way to back that up and mirror it?

Any other considerations?

I need to use Gmail suite for some work clients (no way around that), and I have a shared calendar through Google related to my child's activities (open to alternatives there).

Thank you!
 
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analog guy said:
Tangent, but for someone who is currently tied into Gmail and wants to wean themselves off of it, what do you recommend?

I have many years' worth of emails stored on their servers.

Is there a best/most efficient way to back that up and mirror it?

Any other considerations?

I need to use Gmail suite for some work clients (no way around that), and I have a shared calendar through Google related to my child's activities (open to alternatives there).

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Your email is on Gmail's servers right now. If you were to use an email client like em Client, you could with the right settings (not the default) download all of your email, contacts and calendars as a local copy on your computer. Then you could login to your new email provider in eM Client. Then recreate new folders corresponding to what you have on Gmail. Select all of your email per label and move it to the appropriate new folder. Anything not in a label is in your Gmail All Mail folder and that would go into your new Archive folder.

Contacts and Calendars could be exported, or selected and moved in the same fashion.

Be careful and thorough. Don't work fast and double check your work often.

EDIT: Gmail has a weird IMAP setup and I've found eM Client works well with it. All of your Gmail is really only in the All Mail folder.
 
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analog guy said:
Tangent, but for someone who is currently tied into Gmail and wants to wean themselves off of it, what do you recommend?

I have many years' worth of emails stored on their servers.

Is there a best/most efficient way to back that up and mirror it?

Any other considerations?

I need to use Gmail suite for some work clients (no way around that), and I have a shared calendar through Google related to my child's activities (open to alternatives there).

Thank you!
Click to expand...

On Apple mail, if you have both email accounts, in my case gmail and icloud emails, just drag and drop the emails from one account to the other, they will get moved, not copied which is what we want. I recommend transferring in batches (lets say 500-1000 emails at a time), and check as you go.
 
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trifid said:
On Apple mail, if you have both email accounts, in my case gmail and icloud emails, just drag and drop the emails from one account to the other, they will get moved, not copied which is what we want. I recommend transferring in batches (lets say 500-1000 emails at a time), and check as you go.
Click to expand...
Yup you can copy or move. Also on Fastmail they have a migrate tool that will move all your gmail emails/contacts/cals onto there servers works great.
 
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I saw where the Proton mail beta can import from other sources.
Might want to look into.
 
sgtaylor5 said:
One aspect of app-specific passwords is there is a private record of them with the provider, but there isn't usually a customer-facing interface to see what they are after they are generated. So, I have a secure note in Bitwarden where I can record and annotate them in real-time while they are still in the clipboard. This has saved my bacon more than once, as I routinely evaluate software for later customer recommendations.

Proud user of Fastmail. Oh, since they're based in Australia, I've found you need to use a credit card (made for international use) and not a debit card (which will get blocked by the fraud department instantly).
Click to expand...

Or you can use PayPal if you have that setup. When I signed up for ProtonVPN w/ ProtonMail I used my debit card and got an instant email to call the fraud department. My card was blocked but once I provided proof it was my card, it was enabled again. So I then used PayPal and it went through.

:apple:
 
I have used MxRoute as my mail hosting service for a couple years and have been pleased with it. I can use any email client of my choosing with their service.
 
rovostrov said:
I've been using GMX for several years and really love it. They have an app if you want but it also
works well with Apple's Mail app

Unique email address @GMX.com: Free & feature-packed | GMX

Discover convenient email and powerful organizing tools ➤ Completely free ➤ Mail collector ➤ Spam filters ➤ Mobile app ➤ GMX.
www.gmx.com www.gmx.com
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Probably the worst email provider in existence, next to web.de
Clutter of "sponsored" messages in your email in box and those sneaky "subscribe to premium" windows with a misleading button when you login from the website. no thanks

There is even a warning from the "Verbraucherzentrale" about their shady model:
 
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Nobody who cares about security would willingly use webmail.

Web browsers are the biggest network security hole on anyone's system. The most responsible way of accessing e-mail is to use a standalone mail client, one where the mail account credentials aren't stored on a third-party server.

GMX (and the plethora of domains they own) is a passable free webmail provider and is acceptable if you only access it via a standalone mail client.

This is pretty much the same with any free e-mail service including Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail/Live/Outlook/[whatever Microsoft calls it next]. People who don't care about security view their mail messages in a web browser.

If you must view webmail (to configure settings, set up filters, etc.), use a content blocker: not for ad blocking but specifically for security reasons. The latter stance is unassailable. Then log out and blow away your browser's entire history (cookies, etc.).
 
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contacos said:
Probably the worst email provider in existence, next to web.de
Clutter of "sponsored" messages in your email in box and those sneaky "subscribe to premium" windows with a misleading button when you login from the website. no thanks

There is even a warning from the "Verbraucherzentrale" about their shady model:
Click to expand...
I have never seen these "sponsored" messages in my inbox. Unless you're talking about ads in the webmail interface which I don't see anyway because I use an adblocker. But I almost never access it from the web interface anyway. I just use a mail client.
 
I am in the same decision currently as the OP. I currently use a Windows laptop and use my iCloud email via icloud.com. It works but is very bare bones and appears very dated.

I want to keep my iCloud email and related calendar but is there a better alternative I can run these through online that is secure? Was thinking maybe Outlook online...?
 
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Glennster said:
I am in the same decision currently as the OP. I currently use a Windows laptop and use my iCloud email via icloud.com. It works but is very bare bones and appears very dated.

I want to keep my iCloud email and related calendar but is there a better alternative I can run these through online that is secure? Was thinking maybe Outlook online...?
Click to expand...
Take a look at Canary Mail. Its not free but, it is a pretty good app that has good security.
 
scapegoat81 said:
As in macOS Mail app or iOS ?
Click to expand...
I can use it within Apple mail in macOS. In iOS you have to use the Protonmail App. It's a bit annoying right now but after I complete the switch (away from G-scanseveryemailnoprivacy-Mail) over to Proton, the App will be all I need.
 
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trifid said:
I'm interested in shifting away from google as well and thinking of going to iCloud, it seems the safest choice, as Apple has been fighting for privacy across multiple fronts. One concern though is the web client, which is quite poor compared to google's, so I'd have to rely heavily on iOS and macOS clients.

Has anyone moved to icloud from gmail, and what considerations should one have?
Click to expand...
I have used both side by side for some time. iCloud's web client is definitely pretty anemic compared to Gmail's. Once you're accessing your mail through a mail client (I use Mail, but anything that supports IMAP should work) it kind of evens out. iCloud Mail pushes new messages a lot more quickly to the Mac and iOS Mail clients, as you might imagine.
 
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Protonmail is very secure!
GMX wants you to log out and will let YOU know if you failed to!
but a good free email.
 
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