Email slow after iOS 26.1 update

I have an iPhone 15 that was "updated" a few weeks ago with ios 26.1. Is there any possible way to go back to another version? I'm sure this has been brought up before but the mail app on this version is horrible. It takes hours before my mail is updated. It seems that my mail is not updated unless I open the app, so now I get mail that is hours old. This is a problem when emails are crucial. It is also important when sites are verifying your identity by sending you an email. This was never a problem in the past versions of the ios but this one is garbage. I see that the "developers" added lots of cute features but someone should tell them that most of us don't us our phone to look at the new transparent screen features, we need to get our email, as soon as possible. Someone should have put a message out before the phones were updated to tell people that your screen will now look cute but your email will be delayed.

If there is anyone out there who knows how to get this thing back to getting my mail on time please let me know.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Slooooooooooow email with ios 26.1

iPhone 15, iOS 26

Posted on Jan 12, 2026 3:07 PM

Top-ranking reply

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

63,380 points

Posted on Jan 21, 2026 12:12 PM

joeinAnaheim wrote:

Hi Mac Jim,

I just rechecked and my accounts are set to "Fetch" and "Automatically". I did notice that under the "Fetch" settings when it is set to "Automatically" it says "Your iPhone will fetch new data in the background only when on power and Wi-Fi. So does this mean that it will only get my email when I am connected to power and when I am connected to a Wi-Fi system? I do not recall this being the case before. I'd get my emails pretty much all day long.

Yes that has always been the case for fetching emails with the Automatic setting. Here is a screenshot going back to iOS 11 where it is the same. You can change it to 15 minutes to fetch emails manually, but that does come at a minor expense of increase battery usage.

I don't think there has been a change in the Background Refresh option for Mail, but you may want to check at Settings > General > Background App Refresh > Background App Refresh, and make sure it is set to Wifi & Cellular. And finally make sure you are not using Low Power Mode where your Battery indicator on the top of the phone will be Yellow. This will stop Mail Fetch. If your Battery indicator is yellow, turn Off Low Power Mode at Settings > Battery.

Use Low Power Mode to save battery life on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

If you are only seeing the fetching of the emails being slow after opening the Mail app on WiFi, then that could indicate a router issue where restarting the router may provide a solution. A good test is to see if the same slow response occurs on cellular too.

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