Unable to block email in Apple Mail after iOS 26.4 update

j wfromtorrance wrote:

What you’re suggesting is unblock what you’ve already blocked so you can block others. That makes no sense. Of course I’m assuming that deleting blocked contacts WILL then make them no longer blocked. Seems logical. Are you saying they remain blocked even if deleted from the list?

There's really very little point in blocking spam email addresses or phone numbers. If they're not spoofed, they're reused so quickly that you're never going to get spam from the same one twice. Blocking makes sense if it's your annoying ex, your brother-in-law who keeps asking you for money, but it doesn't really do much good for spam.

j wfromtorrance wrote:

What you’re suggesting is unblock what you’ve already blocked so you can block others. That makes no sense. Of course I’m assuming that deleting blocked contacts WILL then make them no longer blocked. Seems logical. Are you saying they remain blocked even if deleted from the list?

It makes total sense, because the one’s you’ve already blocked are never going to contact you again. Actually, it was pointless to block them in the first place, because they are never going to use the same address again. And if you want to block everything its hopeless. The app Nomorobo, which is on my iPhone is currently blocking 14 million phone numbers, and some still get through.

Blocking spam numbers may make it feel like you are fighting back, but all you are doing is wasting your time and using iPhone storage.

The real purpose of the blocking feature is to block people, not spam bots.

j wfromtorrance wrote:

I don’t understand why you keep saying that. Yes spammers use different email addresses and people would block each one which is how one gets to the long list and up against Apple’s new limitation.

Because the spammers never use the same address or phone number twice. That’s how they get around blocking attempts.

You’re not thinking this through. Spammers use email to send emails on different topics - not just one. That’s their “occupation”. So blocking one of their emails stops repeated spam’s in the future. And yes you have to block every email they come up with. So saying there’s no point is incorrect.

I absolutely get repeat emails. I don’t know why you say that they don’t contact you again, it’s not true. I have blocked emails that have just been sent this week and I haven’t been able to block any new ones since they’ve changed things, so at least a few weeks. Unfortunately I don’t believe you can sort the blocked email list by date, so I can’t tell how long ago they were blocked.

j wfromtorrance wrote:

I don’t understand why you keep saying that. Yes spammers use different email addresses and people would block each one which is how one gets to the long list and up against Apple’s new limitation.

And that list you have is totally useless. You keep saying “spammers” but there are no spammers, there are spam bots that send millions of spam messages a minute. This isn’t some kid down the block sending messages one at a time.

the problem may not be "solved" but it was way better when I could just block anything that was spam. My inbox and everything is turning into a mess again since this started. And yes, I am talking all spam, not trying to nitpick and divided up the different kinds of spam. I'm not vetting each junk email to see if it's a robospam, a real spammer, a spoofer, etc. they all look the same when they first come in, it's only after they've sent several that you can see a pattern. Maybe I should click on all the links too, so I can see if they've just legitimately bought my info or they are a robot?

j wfromtorrance wrote:

And yes you have to block every email they come up with.

You would never be able to keep up to prevent further spam, because we can now agree that the sender address/phone numbers are completely made up. At what blocked limit do you think would be needed where the Spam is finally stopped? You guessed it, there is not one. All you have done is wasted storage space, not only on your device but also in iCloud for syncing/backups.

Blocking contacts is useless for Spam control!

Mac Jim ID wrote:

j wfromtorrance wrote:

And yes you have to block every email they come up with.

You would never be able to keep up to prevent further spam, because we can now agree that the sender address/phone numbers are completely made up. At what blocked limit do you think would be needed where the Spam is finally stopped? You guessed it, there is not one. All you have done is wasted storage space, not only on your device but also in iCloud for syncing/backups.

Blocking contacts is useless for Spam control!

There may be one exception, if you are calling legitimate mail from merchants that you don’t want to hear from as spam. But the solution to that is to click the “unsubscribe” button that they are required by law to have.

butter_50 wrote:

the problem may not be "solved" but it was way better when I could just block anything that was spam. My inbox and everything is turning into a mess again since this started. And yes, I am talking all spam, not trying to nitpick and divided up the different kinds of spam. I'm not vetting each junk email to see if it's a robospam, a real spammer, a spoofer, etc. they all look the same when they first come in, it's only after they've sent several that you can see a pattern. Maybe I should click on all the links too, so I can see if they've just legitimately bought my info or they are a robot?

I'm not really clear what you mean. Personally, I never touch spam email. It goes directly to my spam folder. Every couple of weeks, I check the folder to see if anything legitmate got dumped there. Use the right tools for the job.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

There may be one exception, if you are calling legitimate mail from merchants that you don’t want to hear from as spam. But the solution to that is to click the “unsubscribe” button that they are required by law to have.

I have one or two that wanted me to log in to unsubscribe. I mark those as spam. It's easier than trying to remember a login I made up for Nordstrom's years ago, for some reason I can't remember.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

There may be one exception, if you are calling legitimate mail from merchants that you don’t want to hear from as spam. But the solution to that is to click the “unsubscribe” button that they are required by law to have.

Agreed!

I am having the same issue. Email doesn’t show icon and block attempt email doesn’t appear in blocked list.

Having the same problem. Started when I upgraded to the latest version today.