Why is Apple Mail so awkward ?

[Micka88]

Being the main email client for Apple, I wonder why it is so badly made and nobody seems to care. Just randomly:

1) It constantly keeps creating some endless "windows" occupying 2/3 of your dock. You can't close them all at once (jus one by one). And when you look at them - it is just nonsense : empty mails, part of the mail you have sent half year ago etc etc. You finally close them one by one and in few days you have the same garbage of these "windows" again. So annoying.

2) When you set "sort by conversation" - if you have longer conversation, you can't really read older mails. The window is filled by lines and you see just one letter left

3) when "sort by conversation", one would naturally expect to have a conversation by the same subject AND the same person sorted together. But Apple Mail puts together in one conversation all other emails from different addresses and dates - just having the same subject - which is total nonsense.

4) Autofill email address works only for recent email addresses , not for slightly older ones. Those you have to look for manually. Don't write to a certain address for few months and you will not able to autofill it. Is it serious?

5) You can't customise swipe function (for example to assign "move to spam" etc.) Incredibly foolish.

6) You can keep moving some emails to spam or junk, yet next time they again delivered to you to the inbox (the same subject and sender). What is then the point moving them to spam ? On the other hand - regular emails that you often normally receive are suddenly label as "spam" (spam low, spam medium etc.)

7) Searching in Mail in iOS works in very limited way (not like is OSX)

8) Replying in iOS and wanting to change the email address by copy/paste unables you to send this email (send button remains inactive - you have to do it on your Macbook

9) In iOS mail you have "all inboxes" but not "all sent" (like in OSX Mail) - you have to search for Sent in each separate account

10) When having the mail sorted by conversation, it is often impossible to find the attachments ... (especially when it starts creating those stupid lines as shown above)

etc. etc.

Quite unbelievable how the prime Apple Mail client can act like this.

I tried some alternatives (airmail etc.) but they have another issues ...

 

[Unsupported]

You've posted this in macOS Big Sur but you're also talking about Mail in iOS.

I don't really use Mail in iOS, but in Big Sur I have none of the problems you claim to be suffering from, specially the "endless "windows" occupying 2/3 of your dock." 🤔

 

[Micka88]

You've posted this in macOS Big Sur but you're also talking about Mail in iOS.

I don't really use Mail in iOS, but in Big Sur I have none of the problems you claim to be suffering from, specially the "endless "windows" occupying 2/3 of your dock." 🤔

Oh, so you can easily assign chosen function to swipe, you can easily read to the very end of long conversation, it is sorted only by subject and address (not only by subject irrespective of address), it autofills even very old email address etc etc ? Right? Lucky man! Since all this keeps happening on various devices and various osx for years and I did not receive a special customised version of Mail, I would say it is just normal.

 

[mollyc]

I don't really have the knowledge to help you with your issues. I don't sort by conversation, so can neither confirm nor deny that behavior.

But i have never, ever, had the dock problem you have with all the windows. That seems like you are just minimizing the emails, rather than closing them. You can cmmd-w or use the red button to close the single email without closing all of Mail (that requires Quit). If you are using the yellow button or cmmd-m then individual emails will load up in your dock.

 

[Micka88]

I don't really have the knowledge to help you with your issues. I don't sort by conversation, so can neither confirm nor deny that behavior.

But i have never, ever, had the dock problem you have with all the windows. That seems like you are just minimizing the emails, rather than closing them. You can cmmd-w or use the red button to close the single email without closing all of Mail (that requires Quit). If you are using the yellow button or cmmd-m then individual emails will load up in your dock.

When clicking to the menu Window, there are also so many items listed (most of them just empty, not started emails, parts of text of emails sent long time ago etc.). And the same appears in dock. You cannot close all of them, not even just clicking at the icon and close. Only open fully and close one by one. And even if you do it, in no time you have these "windows" back again. I am never minimising anything ...

 

[Unsupported]

Oh, so you can easily assign chosen function to swipe, you can easily read to the very end of long conversation, it is sorted only by subject and address (not only by subject irrespective of address), it autofills even very old email address etc etc ? Right? Lucky man!

Like I said, I don't really use Mail in iOS, so I don't swipe. And yes, I have no problem either with autofilling old email addresses, as long as the messages are in Mail or Contacts.

There is without doubt something not normal with the behaviour you describe.

 

[Micka88]

Like I said, I don't really use Mail in iOS, so I don't swipe. And yes, I have no problem either with autofilling old email addresses, as long as the messages are in Mail or Contacts.

There is without doubt something not normal with the behaviour you describe.

The same swipe is also in OSX (but you can't customise it). And for sure - if there are are older email addresses (like last year or older) where I already wrote the emails, their address does not autofill when trying to write a new email (tried just now). Only recently used do.

 

[mollyc]

Have you tried to rebuild Mail?

Rebuild mailboxes in Mail on Mac

In Mail on your Mac, if messages are missing or garbled, you may need to rebuild a mailbox to update the list of emails it contains.

support.apple.com

 

[Unsupported]

And for sure - if there are are older email addresses (like last year or older) where I already wrote the emails, their address does not autofill when trying to write a new email (tried just now). Only recently used do.

How is your "Smart Addresses" setting here?

 

[Micka88]

But I have not changed anything there ... it is default?

 

[mollyc]

You might also uncheck "include related messages" for Conversations. That will likely help you with #3 from your OP.

 

[colourfastt]

The same swipe is also in OSX (but you can't customise it). And for sure - if there are are older email addresses (like last year or older) where I already wrote the emails, their address does not autofill when trying to write a new email (tried just now). Only recently used do.

How in bloody hell does one swipe with a mouse?

 

[mollyc]

How in bloody hell does one swipe with a mouse?

the magic mouse allows for gestures

 

[colourfastt]

the magic mouse allows for gestures

Some of us prefer ergonomic mice ..... that disaster of a mouse that Apple in no way qualifies as ergonomic.

 

[mollyc]

Some of us prefer ergonomic mice ..... that disaster of a mouse that Apple in no way qualifies as ergonomic.

okay, but i was was giving the literal answer to what you asked. 🙄

 

[jmoore5196]

Compared to Windows corollaries, I find Apple Mail a model of clarity and ease of use.

 

[matrix07]

I don't have any issue the OP had.

 

[Unsupported]

And for sure - if there are are older email addresses (like last year or older) where I already wrote the emails, their address does not autofill when trying to write a new email (tried just now). Only recently used do.

What do you see as Previous Recipients here, in the Window menu?

 

[Bazza1]

It's clunky and shows signs of being routinely ignored by Apple - for well over a decade - in favour of other Apple apps that offer sparkly 'Squirrel!' moments to users or monitization to the Company - but it mostly works. If your expectations are low and don't do more than basic email. And maybe that's enough, as email itself falls out of fashion.

Still, even the most minor things show a lack of care and interest - like having a Trash location / icon in Mail, yet removing an email to Trash you 'Delete' it - rather than 'Move to Trash' and to manually empty the location, you are offered 'Erase Deleted Mail', rather than, say 'Empty Trash' - echoing the terminology the app itself sets up.
Super minor detail, but the devil is in the details. And I suspect - given Apple's more recent history - that rather than do the work themselves, they'll simply buy a company that (mostly) gets it right, then gut the app, put the buggered version up as their own, and hope that covers it.