iPhone can't forward messages with attachments

I am having the exact same issues and I have tried it from 3 different email providers and forwarded emails from several people who do not use the same email provider. I have contacted Apple support a week ago and cannot get an answer as to why this happens. First they said who I was using for email provider but since I tried 3 different ones, not the problem. The tech has sent this to an engineer for further review but still no solution. The engineer said he hasn't heard of this problem but from reading this forum I see I am not the only one having the issues. Hopefully it will be corrected soon. I like you can see the downloaded images when I am forwarding but the receiving person never sees them. I also select "include" when I am forwarding (another question to me from the engineer) so the answer is yes I select "include" and they still don't forward. I have updated all the software even the newest from October 8, 2009. Still didn't fix it.

YES, and here's the response from Email Sig Pro... we're basically screwed and it's up to Apple to get their email program more robust.

Thanks for the detailed information, your analysis is spot on. We were
able to reproduce this problem as you described.

Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about this issue, as we can only
launch Apple Mail, not control it. It appears there are some issues with
email attachments in 3.0 (e.g.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2191457&tstart=0 and
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2150702)

However, that doesn't help you, so if your feel you can't make full use of
Email Signature Pro, you can contact Apple to get a refund, or if you have
problems getting the refund via Apple, please let us know, and we will
send you a refund directly (via paypal).

This thread has been active for a very long time with no Apple input.

All these forums are user to user only and there is never any Apple input, nor any liklihood they will ever read them given the huge volume of messages. To bring issues to Apple's attention you need to use the feedback channel which they do read:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

I use yahoo for email, I can't forward attachments either. They are picture files. When I choose to forward the email, then touch send, the screen turns black for a second then I get bumped back to the main/home screen, not the mail screen. Seems like a bug or it resets itself?

I have the same problem, and it is a shameful shortcoming of an expensive, over-hyped smartphone that already has more than its share of shortcomings. Fix this, Apple.

Message was edited by: ratbatblue

aschefter wrote:
My problem is when I receive an email with an attachment I can view the attachment but can't forward the attachment. Example, I receive an email with pictures. I can view all pictures in the email but when I try to forward the email the person that gets the email only gets the text portion. The pictures do not forward. The received email shows where the pictures should be but only small question marks appear. Why does this happen? How can this be fixed?... Yes, I am including attachments from original message.
This is even more of a problem when I send from an iPhone to another iPhone.

When I forward an email with an attachment using the built in mail app I get a dialog asking if I want the attachment forwarded or not. If I say "include" then the attachment is sent successfully.

I just started having this problem as well. Worked find until a couple of days ago, now no one gets the forwarded attachements. I can send pics from my gallery without a problem, it only effects emails with attachements or embedded images that I forward. I agree this needs to be fixed, I payed a lot for this phone, and the additional monthly fee's to AT&T. FIX THIS!!!

Lawrence Finch wrote:

aschefter wrote:
My problem is when I receive an email with an attachment I can view the attachment but can't forward the attachment. Example, I receive an email with pictures. I can view all pictures in the email but when I try to forward the email the person that gets the email only gets the text portion. The pictures do not forward. The received email shows where the pictures should be but only small question marks appear. Why does this happen? How can this be fixed?... Yes, I am including attachments from original message.
This is even more of a problem when I send from an iPhone to another iPhone.

When I forward an email with an attachment using the built in mail app I get a dialog asking if I want the attachment forwarded or not. If I say "include" then the attachment is sent successfully.

This doesn't work - even when you press "include attachments", the pics are still missing when receiver gets it.

Same problem here forwarding email with photos. However, when I cc or bcc myself on the email, I do see the photos on the new email I receive, but others on iPhones or Desktops don't. Seems odd that I would see them on the forwarded email cc. iPhone must correlate the original photos from the original email to the new email on my phone. If not, it really makes no sense that I can see them on the new email, but no one else can.

It worked for me. I took a picture with the iPhone's camera. Then opened the Photos app and selected the picture, and emailed it from one of my IMAP accounts to my gmail (also IMAP) account. When it showed up in the gmail inbox (on my iPhone), I forwarded it to my yahoo mail account (choosing the "inlcude attachments" option). When that showed up on my iPhone's yahoo inbox, the picture was there just as it should be.

So I guess the next thing would be to try it with non-iPhone pictures to see if it is a problem with image size or something. I have some 6-megapixel images in iPhoto I can try (taken as RAW/DEC format pictures with my dSLR).

Just tried it sending a Photo from my computer's iPhoto library - picture is 728KB, 2272x1704 jpeg. I emailed it to my gmail account, and it showed up on the iPhone just fine. Then I forwarded that to my yahoo account and again, it showed up just fine on both the iPhone and reading my yahoo mail via the web page.

Don't know what to say - I don't mean this to be just another "works for me" post. I was hoping to see something maybe depending on the size and origin of the picture.

By the way, my 3GS shipped with 3.0.1 on it, and I've updated it via iTunes normally to 3.1.1 and currently 3.1.2. Sorry I don't have anything constructive to add.

Michael,

What you're describing works for everyone else as well. I believe the issue is when YOU RECEIVE an email with an attachment already in it and then FORWARD it to someone else, it doesn't work. If you build the attachments yourself within the Photo app, camera roll, etc. it works fine. It's when forwarding an email that already has an attachment.

Please let me know if I'm missing something.

Well, as I said, I also emailed a photo from my iPhoto library (an image shot on my Nikon D50 in RAW format) to one of my accounts from my computer, and then forwarded that to my yahoo mail. That also worked just fine. That message arrived on my iPhone and the image was displayed (and resized) just fine. When I forwarded it on, it also arrived in my yahoo inbox just fine (viewed on my iPhone or via yahoo's web mail app on my computer).

And yes (don't ask why), I do have over a half dozen or so email accounts so non of this sending or forwarding was from the same account to itself.

just to be clear:

iPhoto image, sent from my own domain-name IMAP account using Apple mail on my computer, to my gmail IMAP account on my iPhone - image appears fine on iPhone. Forward that message on iPhone to my yahoo (free web mail) account - again, image appears fine on iPhone and in yahoo's web mail app.

This is the same problem
I'm having with my 3GS. I can not foward
pictures or attchments. I have even
gotten a different email ....still not able
to forward pictures or attchments from
my iphone. Took iPhone to apple made
sure it is up to date. They thought it might
be a yahoomail problem. So I got gmail and
livemail . Same problem. ??? What can
be done to fix this.

Michael, I think what you are describing is different from what I am describing.
I may not be presenting it clearly, but the problem I am describing doesn't involve initiating an email from the iPhone using a stored picture, but receiving an email from an outside source with an attachment such as an imbedded photo and then forwarding it from the iPhone to others. When sent this way, my phone is not attaching the pictures that came to the phone with the original email on the email others receive. They are visible on the iPhone when I view the original email to me, and even on the copy I send back to myself from the iPhone when I forward it. The pictures simply aren't going with the email to any other email accounts including pulling the cc'd one up on my home computer. I can forward the same email, on the same account, from my home computer and it is fine as long as the forward initiates from somewhere other than the iPhone. Hope I have been clearer on the problem I am encountering. Have reported it to Apple, but no response. I also have a 3GS with the latest 3.1.2 software updated from ITunes.

As I said though I did indeed forward a picture received by email:

iPhoto image, sent from my own domain-name IMAP account using Apple mail on my computer, to my gmail IMAP account on my iPhone - image appears fine on iPhone. Forward that message on iPhone to my yahoo (free web mail) account - again, image appears fine on iPhone and in yahoo's web mail app.

The original iPhoto image was taken with a 6MP digital SLR and uploaded onto my computer a couple of years ago. It had never been sync'd with the iPhone and only appeared on the iPhone as an attachment to the email I sent myself from my computer. I've since forwarded that picture from my iPhone to two other people with iPhones (one 3G and one 3GS, father and son duo I know), and they received it fine and one even forwarded it back to me.