Email photo as attachment, not embedded, in iOS 14

Welcome, Tantalite, to Apple Support Communities!

You can perform the definitive test presented within my message at Email photo as attachment, not embedded, … - Apple Community (checking against the standards, that I linked to, there).

Since the definitive test demonstrates that Apple Mail generates standards compliant emails (specifically following the MIME standards), the only explanation for a very small subset of email clients failing to “do the right thing”™️, with such received emails, is a failure to properly handle such standards compliant emails.

(Actually. Technically speaking. Such misbehavior, by an email client, in not “doing the right thing”™️, with standards compliant received emails, is an allowed behavior. According to the International Internet Standards.

The standards do not require any specific behaviors of such receiving email clients.

Instead, it is up to the users of such clients to determine whether such behavior is acceptable, or not.)

Unfortunately, the email clients known to fall in that very small subset of email clients, have not had substantive updates or upgrades since about 2010, or before.

(Additionally, the company responsible for that very small subset of email clients is all too well known—one could say notorious—for “flaunting” international internet standards.)

As for the assertion that “everything worked fine [prior] to version 14.1”: you appear to be unaware of the many times, in prior versions of iOS, where similar “breakage” of Outlook occurred, over many years.

This is, actually, a very old “battle”.

Unfortunately, the link in my previous email isn’t correct!!!!

Hopefully, the following will be correct: Email photo as attachment, not embedded, … - Apple Community

Just in case, here it is in text:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/251807601?answerId=254806789022#254806789022

Welcome, Jake_de_corgi, to Apple Support Communities!

Whether images, documents, whatever are FORMATTED “as icons” or FORMATTED as “embedded”; regardless, they are ATTACHMENTS: always have been, always will be (barring a change in the MIME standards).

I have sent and received many emails, with various documents, both on Macs and iPads, using Apple Mail, and have never had any problems with any form of document!

I have also verified—using the definitive test [ found at Email photo as attachment, not embedded, … - Apple Community ]—that all Apple Mail included documents are sent as ATTACHMENTS, regardless how they may appear to be FORMATTED!

The only problems I have seen people report, so far, have been when reading any such emails using Outlook, or one of its derivatives.

I’m sorry if the FORMATTING is distracting, to you. I’m sure the intent is to facilitate access, for the recipients (so they can preview the PDF document before fully opening it).

Unfortunately, as we have seen with photos, some, long-not-updated email clients (like Outlook and its derivatives) do seem to have some troubles—and even downright misbehaviors—with some more advanced forms of MIME compliant email content, such as from Apple Mail.

Especially since the MIME standard even allows old email clients to ignore the optional “formatting” directives, such as those used by more modern email clients, such as Apple Mail, I don’t see why Outlook, and its derivatives, would be so problematic.

Unfortunately, until Outlook, and its derivatives, become fully MIME compliant, we will continue to have such issues. (Fortunately, such are a very tiny subset of email clients [in terms of how many programs/apps are involved, even though the market penetration of such poorly programmed apps seems to be disproportionately high].)

Please contact the developers of such problematics email clients, to have them bring their email clients “up to snuff”. (Hopefully sooner, rather than later.)

I also have this issue. I need to send myself pictures to my work email and IOS 14 just completely broke this capability. I might have a temporary solution on the receiving end of things (as many of you are in my situation, i.e. sending to yourself):

• Save the email to HTML format on your computer.
• In the folder where you save it, there will be a subfolder containing the email data, which includes individual files for each picture sent

It's not perfect and still a large inconvenience, but that's the way I found for now... Let's hope it get fixed properly.

Well, as I wrote, fhfoote, there are two (2) possible changes that Apple may have made that may have exposed an issue in Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Outlook:

1. A change from plain-text to rich-text (HTML) default format for authoring emails.
2. A change in the email protocols (Internet standards) used by Apple (since such standards do evolve over time).

In either case, if Microsoft Outlook would properly allow users to download attachments—because that’s what they are and always have been, regardless of how any given email client may render (display) such—whether the email is plain-text or rich-text (HTML), this wouldn’t be an issue.

The fact that merely changing what server is used to send the email from Apple Mail to the Microsoft Exchange server, then to the Microsoft Outlook client, changes the end result at the Outlook client, suggest the problem is not in Apple Mail using rich-text, since any and all email servers will preserve rich-text emails (since the ‘90s, at least).

This suggest that, regardless whether Apple changed the default authoring format, there is an email protocol change that is only causing trouble when a direct Apple Mail to Microsoft Exchange transfer occurs.

Unless anyone has counter evidence for this assessment, of course.

However, text2:

1. Regardless how any given email client may render (display) any given email, the associated files (including photos) are, indeed, attachments: this has been built into the Internet email protocols for as long as one could include attachments to emails!
2. It’s up the the viewing email client how it renders (displays) any given email, regardless whether the email is plain-text or rich-text (which uses HTML, just like a webpage).

There’s simply nothing for Apple to resolve.

As I wrote:

«On the Apple side of the “equation” you could request, by way of Apple Feedback, as [SCamp1575] and others have suggested, that Apple provide users an option to create authored emails as plain-text, as I’ve seen in some email clients. Note: plain-text email has been going the way of the “Dodo” for at least a couple of decades, now.

However, at this time, there is no guarantee that this change will affect a solution, in this matter.

(If there was a change to a newer Internet email standard, Apple will not back out of that change.)

On the other hand, all it would take, to solve this issue—guaranteed—is a long overdue update to Microsoft Outlook, to allow users to perform the same bulk attachment operations, regardless how Outlook may choose to render any given email!»

This same guaranteed answer goes for any and all other email clients that, similarly, «disallow you, the user, from performing a bulk-save of your attachments (pictures).»

Welcome, 15david, to Apple Support Communities!

Apple is not here. This is a users helping other users, like yourself, community.

Some questions for you:

1. Do you send your authored emails, from Apple Mail, directly to a Microsoft Exchange email server (using SMTP)?
2. Do you use Microsoft Outlook to view your received emails?
3. Is your principle issue about being able to bulk-save the attached files (images, photos, etc.), once you receive them?

This is what Lawrence Finch and I have been telling y’all for quite some time:

Regardless how any given email client may choose to render (display) your received email, all files associated with your email are attachments! Pure and simple.

This is a very old part of the email Internet standards, and is highly unlikely to be changed in the future!

Additionally, as has been well demonstrated—including by way of workarounds—the problem is strictly in any email clients (Microsoft Outlook is the only one that has been demonstrated to have the issue, as far as I know) that refuse to allow you, the user, to perform bulk attachment operations simply because of how the email client has chosen to render (display) your received email.

Sure. There was a change in either the default way Apple Mail formats authored emails, or in the implementation of a newer version of the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Internet standard used to transfer email from Apple Mail to your chosen SMTP email server (going to a Microsoft Exchange email server seems to be the only troublesome link, here), or both; that seems to have triggered the issue that already existed in Microsoft Outlook.

You are, of course, encouraged to contact Apple and provide your Feedback, such as requesting that you be able to choose plain-text as a default email authoring format, within Apple Mail.

However, there is simply no guarantee that changing the default authoring format, in Apple Mail, will actually solve the issue.

It might, but no guarantee!

(As for Apple changing the implementation of a newer version of the SMTP Internet standard, I highly doubt that Apple will back-out of such a change, simply because Microsoft hasn’t made the transition, yet.)

Welcome, Mystified-OZ, to Apple Support Communities!

Apple is not here. This is a users helping other users, like yourself, community.

Some questions for you:

1. Do you send your authored emails, from Apple Mail, directly to a Microsoft Exchange email server (using SMTP)?
2. Do you use Microsoft Outlook to view your received emails?
3. Is your principle issue about being able to bulk-save the attached files (images, photos, etc.), once you receive them?

This is what Lawrence Finch and I have been telling y’all for quite some time:

Regardless how any given email client may choose to render (display) your received email, all files associated with your email are attachments! Pure and simple.

This is a very old part of the email Internet standards, and is highly unlikely to be changed in the future!

Additionally, as has been well demonstrated—including by way of workarounds—the problem is strictly in any email clients (Microsoft Outlook is the only one that has been demonstrated to have the issue, as far as I know) that refuse to allow you, the user, to perform bulk attachment operations simply because of how the email client has chosen to render (display) your received email.

Sure. There was a change in either the default way Apple Mail formats authored emails, or in the implementation of a newer version of the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Internet standard used to transfer email from Apple Mail to your chosen SMTP email server (going to a Microsoft Exchange email server seems to be the only troublesome link, here), or both; that seems to have triggered the issue that already existed in Microsoft Outlook.

You are, of course, encouraged to contact Apple and provide your Feedback, such as requesting that you be able to choose plain-text as a default email authoring format, within Apple Mail.

However, there is simply no guarantee that changing the default authoring format, in Apple Mail, will actually solve the issue.

It might, but no guarantee!

(As for Apple changing the implementation of a newer version of the SMTP Internet standard, I highly doubt that Apple will back-out of such a change, simply because Microsoft hasn’t made the transition, yet.)

Solution

Easiest way to save multiple embedded photos as follows:

1. Attach as many photos as you'd like through iphone email,
2. Send the email to yourself containing all the embedded images,
3. Open the email from outlook,
4. Save the email as HTML to your desired folder
5. Open the folder and you will see all images are saved as separate attachments, labelled, no need to save all photos individually

Quality will be as how you emailed e.g. medium, large

Hope this helps

For iOS (and iPadOS), carynfor, there simply was no change in «attachment’s option», since regardless how any particular email client may choose to display (render) any given email, files are always attached to the email: this is a very old part of the email Internet standard, and is highly unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

The only problems are:

1. An apparent change in the interaction between Apple Mail vs. Microsoft Exchange servers over the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP): if the transfer of email uses just about any other route, the “issue” seems to be avoided.
2. An apparent change in the default formatting of authored emails in Apple Mail. However, there has been, absolutely, no change in the way files are attached to such emails.
3. The simple fact that Microsoft Outlook prevents users from performing bulk operations on attachments (such as bulk-saves), purely based upon the way Outlook chooses to format (render) a received email: no other email client seems to have this problem!

The first item, if there was an actual change in the SMTP, it would have only been in accordance with the SMTP Internet standard, which gets updated, now and then, and, unlike Microsoft, Apple, and others, tend to stay current with such standards.

Eventually, Microsoft will “get with the program”, as they usually do, even though they tend to “drag their feet”.

The third item will only be fixed if people properly complain to Microsoft, about how Outlook is improperly interfering in their use of email attachments.

The second item is the only one that y’all may be able to talk Apple into changing: they could provide an option to change the default email authoring format to the (very old and “dying”) plain-text format.

Be aware that the old plain-text email format was going “extinct” even back in the ‘90s!

Likewise, due to the issues with Microsoft software, there is simply no guarantee that such a change will actually solve the Outlook issue. It might, but there’s simply no guarantee.

(The only affect that the plain-text format has on email attachments, is that there is no way to render [display] email attachments “inline” with the email text, since it cannot contain any formatting, whatsoever.)

Halliday, let me humbly suggest that you give up and stop following this thread. There are many new posts that need attention where your expertise might actually be appreciated, and it will be better for your serenity.

Unfortunately, to stop following is not easy due to a bug in the forum software, but it is possible:

1. Click Following at the top of this page; it will change to Follow
2. Redraw the page; it will probably change back to Following
3. Go to 1 and repeat until it no longer changes back to following.

You will have to repeat the loop roughly the number of times you have posted to the thread.

This is exactly what I’m talking about.

• You select photo from your camera roll.
• You send them via email from there.

before it was sending them as attachment

now it’s sending them embedded in the email. If you want to save them on your computer you now have to right click them one by one, rename and save them. This is cumbersome.

What I’m saying as «other ways to do it» is that you can send an iClould link or vis text message but thesw method requires many click and are slow.

Mystified-OZ wrote:

Your just wasting time here . Post complaints on Reddit , Consumer reports , computer magazine sites etc

While such will get more exposure, such is still not the best advice.

The best route is to provide Apple direct Feedback, through their provided Feedback mechanisms.

In this case, it would be Feedback on Apple Mail, which is a component of the Operating System (OS).

It will also help if y’all will actually ask for changes that will make sense to the technical people involved:

1. Asking that files (or photos, specifically) be attached will get you nowhere, since they already are.
2. Asking that Apple make changes to compensate for flaws in Microsoft Outlook and/or Microsoft Exchange will help provide the right sorts of changes, but is unlikely to motivate Apple business or technical people.
3. Asking Apple to “back out” of Internet standards is unlikely to get anywhere.
4. Being anything but completely explicit about what you are trying to accomplish, using their software, will be less than effective. (However, this is likely to obtain the [probably unseen/unheard by y’all] response that y’all are using the wrong tool for your desired purposes.)

This is bullshit isn't?. Now I didn't want to go through 28 pages of flames arrogance and chest beating. Reading one or two pages was enough.

Here is my workaround that may help out.

I take the photos I want to get to my computer and send them through WhatsApp to my partners WhatsApp. I then open WhatsApp on my laptop and save the pictures I sent my partner. Then "Delete images for all".

Yes I lose a **** of a lot of quality, however I get my pictures in an easy to work with format.

I wanted to comment here for two reasons:

1. If this helps just one person from ripping there hair out - job done
2. When Apple gets their **** together someone will undoubtedly post something here and I will be notified.

When this occurs the world will be put back on it's correct axis, and we will all start feeling good again instead of Apple believing they have the right to change the worlds axis; and we shall all be able to get back on with our lives and concentrate on bigger things like finding a vaccine for Corona that doesn't have people go into anaphylactic fits.

Have a great day people. I trust this helps just one person.

RichardTS wrote:

… BTW embedding is NOT the same as attaching.

Actually, they are the same, fundamentally. They only appear different, due to the way they are rendered (displayed).

This is why the distinction between appearances vs. functionality is so vitally important.

I have yet to find a single person, for whom the entirety of the issue is appearance.

It always “boils down” to functionality.

It’s just that people have been “conditioned” by the way a certain email client changes its functionality based only upon the way it chooses to display (render) your received emails.

Just think about what you are saying. You basically saying “you don’t need two ways because we figured it all out for you. You just need to shut up and get with the program”.

In addition to the “conditioned” response to appearances, that a certain email client has instilled in so many, there are further aspects to be considered:

1. The old plain-text (text/plain) email authoring format was going “extinct” even back in the ‘90s.
2. By the Internet email standards, all files (pictures, images, PDFs, music, movies, etc.) are attached to emails. This has been true since email attachments were first standardized, and is unlikely to change, in the foreseeable future.
3. Since all files are sent as attachments, there is no excuse for any email client to disallow bulk attachment operations (such as bulk-saves), based only upon how said email client chooses to render (display) any given received email.
4. So long as there is an email client that violates 3, above, trying to get that email client to “do the right thing”™️, by way of any other email client, is doomed to be extremely fragile: subject to being easily broken by any tiny changes in the web of interactions in the process of transferring emails.
5. (One most do not seem to want to consider.) Using email as a tool for transferring (potentially large numbers of) pictures from a remote camera (such as your phone) to a remote computer (including other phones) is a case of trying to use a tool that was not created for your intended purpose: This, inevitably, leads to conflicts between your use case vs. the (consensus) purpose of the tool y’all are using: for email, the (consensus) purpose of the tool is human-to-human communication, where files, such as photos, are simply a part of said human-to-human communication. As a result, email formats that incorporate files, such as pictures, inline with the rest of the email document—the way word processing documents, and webpages do—is the norm, far from the exception.

Such are the realities, whether y’all wish to admit such, or not.

I’m sorry I’m the bearer of such unwanted news.