On-device peer-to-peer eMail sync

Perhaps there is a need for some clarification as to what you are trying to achieve.

POP is an old protocol - but can still be used in a current mac - I have a POP account that has been working now for some two decades, and still works in Ventura.

But POP is not, by definition, a protocol that "syncs" anything.

With POP, you have to battle if you want to replicate the contents of mail in several devices.

You have to make sure that mail is NOT deleted from the server when you download, and then you

have to download to other devices and organize the content to match.

I like to keep my mail in mailboxes stored in my mac - and that is how it works with POP.

But you can do the same with IMAP - just move your messages to mailboxes under "On My Mac" - but that, again, does NOT synce with other devices.

Using IMAP or Exchange, on the other hand, keeps mail on the server and makes syncing trivial - by construction, any client will sync to the server, so they all show the same.

Using Outlook or whatever does not make it so POP is syncing. It isn't.

I have to agree with Bob and Luis. POP is the legacy approach that most email providers grudgingly still support but it has been on the way out for awhile. I also have an ancient POP account still, but everything else we use, including my company's emails, is IMAP.

Your concern about security is understandable but maybe somewhat uninformed. POP email comes in on an email provider's servers, through the OPEN internet through myriad routers, waypoints, etc., none of which are secure. Those servers are instantly mirrored and cached across multiple locations, and are constantly being backed up as well. Those backups are retained for who knows how long. Court cases show that the emails from many years ago can be retrieved when mandated in lawsuits or criminal cases. Those servers and backups are maintained by scores of employees in multiple locations, probably many working at minimum wages. Email is not ordinarily "secure," anyone who thinks that is deluding themself. Emails can be intercepted and viewed by scores of employees working for various companies, severs, waypoints; that's how internet routing works. My company has a policy mandating that any sensitive (which is clearly delineated) material be sent via encrypted email.

If you use IMAP, you don't have to worry about losing a connection to the server or not being able to see emails while on an airplane, off the internet, etc. You can configure your setup to keep a local copy of what is on the server (which is basically what POP does anyway).

If you need security, use encrypted email. Or accept that it is not secure. Or use your own servers -- archive all your POP emails up until now, going forward switch to IMAP on your own email servers. But keep in mind that while that email is traveling between your servers and your clients, those routes are through the open internet and can be intercepted and viewed by scores of people or entities. That's how the internet works.

Yes, you can avoid the "IT maintenance job" by using an email provider, but any such email provider, unless encrypted, is not secure. You basically will get what you pay for.

Your current setup tethers you to a specific platform(s) and specific OS that can run a specific synchronization utility. That makes you vulnerable. A more modern approach is to use software that runs across multiple platforms and uses open standards that work on different hardware and under different OS. What you are doing is like driving a very old car and hoping that someone keeps its obsolete parts in stock. Which I totally understand: my wife's car is 20 years old, she likes and won't let me replace it ... but it is in the shop now, what was a routine 1-hour service turned into 3-days while we wait for a $10 part that it needs to be located and delivered.

Hairless-Bill wrote:

Hi Luis,

Thanks for the very quick reply. My issue is on-device sync over a local network, so no need for imap or iCloud. With (/spit) Outlook, once I've collected the eMail (pop or imap) on one machine, I can use SyncPST or a similar app to bidirectionally sync all of the eMail - both sent, drafts and received - from one machine to another over my local network. I don't need to worry if the pop message has deleted from the server or if the server or Internet is down. I simply can't do this with Apple Mail, probably because it uses the Stone Age caldav/DavMail/LDAP, etc storage that is not relational.

Apple really needs to come up with a method of on-device sync over a local network as it is already two decades behind Microsoft.

If I get my eMail on one of my Android devices, I can seamlessly sync all eMail to my main boxes using a free app; something that you still can't do with an iPhone and MacOS - they don't do sent pop/smtp eMail sync. As for bidirectional sync....

I doubt there is a solution as Apple seems bent on preventing it and forcing users on to imap only. I (and the business) don't like leaving eMail on cloud servers as it's just another vector for intrusion - a vector that is on 24-7. Moving ISPs can also be a trauma if you have 2GB+ of imap eMail to move. Local storage and sync is a no-brainer for security and ease of choice of ISP.

If there is an Apple solution for this, I'd be delighted.

I think most of us know how POP works. It is an old protocol that has been replaced.

May I suggest, as a business, that you run your own email servers configured as you wish. Your web hosting company surely offers an email server with your hosting plan. I think trying to argue the benefits of the POP protocol is long past. IMAP is newer and has been deployed everywhere. There are many reasons to use IMAP, one being that it solves the issue you are experiencing.

If I understand correctly, your syncing relied on a third party program that was made specifically for Outlook.

I do hope that you are not relying on the old pst format - so concerned as you, rightfully, are with security an preserving your data. The thing is, if things are as they were some ten years (let alone thirty) ago, the pst was a SINGLE FILE. One single little corruption and all the mail could be lost - I have seen it happen, and it was a private person whose all mail was a 2GB+ pst file, and poof! For an organization like yours, it would be many many GB.

I am guessing and hoping that this is not the case - but seeing your rant about "relational" or archaic formats, I had to let this off my chest.

All in all, it seems that given the mistrust of third parties, the sensible course of action would be for your organization to have its mail server in-house.

Just for fun, I asked your question to ChatGPT. Here's what the answer was:

To synchronize POP emails across different computers, you will need to follow the steps below:

1. Set up your email account on each computer: Make sure you set up your email account with the same settings on each computer. This includes the incoming server, outgoing server, and port numbers.
2. Enable the option to leave a copy of messages on the server: Most email clients have an option to leave a copy of your messages on the server. This ensures that your messages are not deleted from the server when you download them to one computer. This option can usually be found in the advanced settings of your email account.
3. Set the option to remove messages from the server after a certain period: This option ensures that your email server does not become overloaded with messages. You can set the time period to a week, a month, or any other length of time that works for you.
4. Use IMAP instead of POP: IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) is a better option than POP (Post Office Protocol) for synchronizing emails across multiple computers. With IMAP, your email is stored on the server and can be accessed from any device. This means that any changes you make to your email on one device will be reflected on all other devices.
5. Use a third-party email service: If you want to use POP and still synchronize your emails, you can use a third-party email service. Some email services, like Gmail and Yahoo, allow you to access your POP email and synchronize it across different devices.

By following these steps, you should be able to synchronize your POP emails across different computers.

I'm sorry but it is time for your "business" to step into the 21st century. Why are they using a decades old protocol then trying to make it perform like the newer IMAP protocol that specifically addresses your issue?

As an aside, I run across similar situations where I volunteer. A lot of old retired folks also volunteer there. I often run across this argument when trying to update apps/tools/processes. "Why do we need to change, we've done it this way for 30 years"?