Apple Mail vs Thunderbird vs ICloud Mail

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Apple Mail vs Thunderbird vs ICloud Mail

I switched from a Windows PC with Thunderbird to a MacBook Pro, and I'm having a terrible time figuring out what email client to use.

I have an ISP-based account (with an address I've used for probably 30 yrs) and a rarely-used gmail one, and I've been using web access since moving to the Mac, but it's not cutting it. Features are lacking (e.g. flagging mail as important, easy deletion, etc.), and living out in the boonies, the network & hence web-access can be slow.

I'd like to be able to get/ store/ retrieve/ etc. mail from my MacBook, my iPhone & iPad, and potentially a PC. What to do?

Thunderbird has the features I've liked, is fast, and it would be easy (fingers crossed) to migrate my former PC's stored emails to the Mac. But... with a local mail store, there'd be no access from iOS or a PC.
Apple Mail is an unknown to me - I think it probably has features I want I could use mail on the Mac & iOS devices and keep it synced, but what about the PC - is there web (iCloud?) access for it?
iCloud mail - what the heck is this? Is this the same as keeping Apple mail in iCloud?

Thanks for any thoughts or insights you can lend.

Anne

MacBook Pro (M1, 2020)

Posted on Apr 15, 2023 3:20 PM

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Answer 1

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Lucky13

Level 2

201 points

Apr 16, 2023 5:03 AM in response to annekohl

If your email service supports the IMAP protocol, then your messages should be available on all your devices until you choose to delete them. If it supports only the POP version, then once a message is downloaded it becomes a local message.

Apple Mail is a Mac application. It is not a web-based app. iOS devices also run the Mail app. There is no Windows version.

iCloud Mail is a service - offered to Apple customers. It can be accessed from most all mail applications on Mac and PC. On a Mac, the default choice is the Mail app - but one can use other programs as well. iCloud Mail can also be accessed via its own website. The iCloud service also includes calendars, notes, reminders and so forth. Mac computers (and iOS devices) include dedicated apps for these functions. On a PC, it may be feasible to sync this data with other apps, but the best choice may be the iCloud website.

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Answer 2

Jul 13, 2023 8:03 PM in response to annekohl

I'm sick of Apple's bugs that have been happening all over the places for years without being dealt and fixed.

I tried to like its Mail app, but unfortunately it's very buggy.

Here is the list of the most irritating issues:

Search functionality often doesn't work, so you can't find an email in Mail app, even in spite of it being present and can be found via web interface of the email service provider. You can read lots of similar issues on Reddit.
Delete functionality also doesn't work frequently, and deleted emails get restored after being deleted. You can also read lots about this issue in the Internet.

So I vote for Thunderbird.

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Apple Mail vs Thunderbird vs ICloud Mail

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