imap synchronization on read/unread flag stopped with iOS 4.1, then 4.2

Question

imap synchronization on read/unread flag stopped with iOS 4.1, then 4.2

I use dreamhost imap on my mac and on my iphone. Until around the 4.1 timeframe there were no issues but around 4.1 on the iphone I noticed messages that I read on my mac are still marked as unread on my iPhone. I currently have something like 62 (out of 200 visible) unread messages on my iPhone. It's not predictable as far as I can tell which messages are unread. It's just a percentage of them.

Meanwhile my iPad had zero trouble.

Until the 4.2 update on the iPad. Now the iPad is exhibiting the exact same behavior as my iPhone, neither of which had trouble until the 4.1 timeframe.

gmail in imap mode works fine. However, clearly this is something that changed in the iphone software.

Anybody else seen this problem or have a fix/workaround? I've tried deleting my account and starting over. That works initially but quickly goes back.

BTW, it's happening to me and my wife and my friends also on dreamhost.

Macbook 2.4Ghz, Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Nov 28, 2010 7:29 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 2, 2010 6:44 PM in response to Jonathan Payne1

I've had the same issues -- Dreamhost IMAP and I do think it started with the iPhone 4.1 install. I was hoping it would get fixed with 4.2, but no dice. Oddly enough, as you say, it's chronic but intermittent.

For awhile I was thinking it was happening when I was temporarily losing all connectivity on my iPhone (I live where cell coverage can be spotty), but have come to realize that it consistently happens even when I'm around 3G and wifi.

The other thing I thought may have caused it was Dreamhost moving me to a different mail server -- I think that and iOS 4.1 happened right around the same time.

I haven't bugged Dreamhost about it yet and have just lived with it (with frustration).

I'll keep an eye on this thread and certainly post anything worthwhile I discover.

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Answer 2

glev1

Level 1

44 points

Dec 2, 2010 8:58 PM in response to snailgarden

This started happening for me and others in my office when Dreamhost switched our mail server. We don't see this problem with .mac or gmail. I have asked Dreamhost to look into it, but they say it is not their server. I switched to iPhone 4.1 in September. My Dreamhost mail server was switched in November. That is when my problems started (and 2 others in my office on iPhones). We are look for alternatives. Is anyone aware of others having this problem with iPhone mail?

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Answer 3

Dec 3, 2010 5:31 AM in response to glev1

I think the problem with ... this problem is that two things happened around the same time and possibly both are relevant. The thing is, my iPad on version 3.2 of the OS, had no trouble with the dreamhost IMAP servers. It was only when I upgraded my ipad to 4.2.1 that it started exhibiting the same issues that my iPhone started having as of 4.1.

I cannot be sure whether it was the dreamhost change or the iPhone change unfortunately. All my devices are at 4.1 at least, unfortunately.

The fact that others are seeing this now gives me up it will be fixed eventually, and I am glad people have pinged dreamhost. Sadly I think it's Apple (after all my ipad worked fine up until I upgraded it) and the chances they will fix it soon are slim unless there are a lot of people with the problem.

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Answer 4

Dec 3, 2010 5:52 AM in response to Jonathan Payne1

@Jonathan I wouldn't write off the possibility that it's Dreamhost because if it's caused by Apple, it seems non-Dreamhost IMAP users would find themselves in the same boat and other threads would be in a tizzy on this Apple discussion site. That being said, I was surprised to find little or no evidence of this problem on the Dreamhost forums.

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Answer 5

Dec 3, 2010 6:06 AM in response to snailgarden

@snailgarden Actually, there is something different about dreamhost imap servers than google, that's for sure. The question is, When they moved us to new servers did they change to a different version of IMAP that has slightly different behavior?

So, there's something different about the IMAP servers compared to gmail (not surprising as they are obviouly different implementations) but my mac computers have no trouble with messages getting marked read ... wait a second, I suppose I don't know that for sure since I always read my email with my Mac ...

Well I marked some messages as unread in the webmail interface, and they turned up unread in the Mac mail interface after I stopped and restarted Mail. I had to do that to get it to work though, even synchronising that server didn't help. Not sure what this means.

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Answer 6

Dec 3, 2010 6:11 AM in response to Jonathan Payne1

I just performed some tests with Mac mail and Thunderbird. If I toggled the "Unread" state of any item, it appeared immediately in the other mail program. So I could toggle in Thunderbird and the Mac would notice immediately, and I could do the same in Mac Mail and thunderbird would notice immediately.

It's just the iPhone and iPad that are not working.

This is clearly an iOS bug.

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Answer 7

Dec 5, 2010 7:18 AM in response to Jonathan Payne1

Looks like I'm back in the saddle. Here's what I heard from Dreamhost:
"That's most unfortunate. I was able to setup the email account on my own iPhone, which is running iOS 4.2. I haven't heard reports of issues with 4.1, however, but it's possible your settings on your device became corrupt on your prior update. I'd suggest recreating the email account in your device to be on the safe side since there's no issue with the servers themselves. Loading the email account in webmail and on my iPhone show the same status; 1 unread message at the time I checked. Things look to be in sync on setting it up, so it's likely the settings on the device that are the issue. Updating to iOS 4.2 might help as well. I hope this helps. If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to let me know."

I followed their suggestion -- after updating to iOS 4.2, I deleted my Dreamhost IMAP account on my iPhone and recreated it. After a day of testing, unread/replied-to/fwd'd/etc status is syncing correctly no matter which device (iMac or iPhone or webmail) performs the action. I'll keep an eye on it, but for now I'm saying: it's all good!

I hope this works for everyone else!

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Answer 8

Dec 5, 2010 7:52 AM in response to snailgarden

Hi Snailgarden,

When i first had this problem on 4.1 I deleted all my accounts and it worked fine for a little while (but I don't think more than a day) and then it started going wrong again.

So when 4.2.1 came along I didn't bother going that route. But, because you seem happy with the result I will give it a try again with 4.2.

If it stops working for you, please let us all know ...

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Answer 9

Dec 5, 2010 8:15 AM in response to Jonathan Payne1

No this is not fixed.

However I have more information and I am more convinced it's an iOS bug.

If I change read/unread status in Mac mail and refresh my iPhone every time, that works just fine except for the last (or first, depending on how you sort) item in the list. So my most recent item, if I toggle the read/unread in Mac mail and then refresh my iPhone, it doesn't change. But for any other item in my inbox, that works just fine.

There's something special about the most recent item. So you can see how, over time, the most recent item at any given time, may get out of sync and you get scattered items screwed up. Actually, my theory gets a little fuzzy at this point ... I wonder if each 'most recent' item OVER TIME gets messed up, does it continue to have problems syncing from that moment on? That's what it seems like ... It's as though an individual item gets messed up some how and from then on it will not work.

ARGH!

Are you having better luck?

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Answer 10

Dec 5, 2010 8:25 AM in response to Jonathan Payne1

What am I saying!? It's way worse than that.

Any item I mark as read/unread on my iPhone has no affect on Mac mail unless I quit and restart the Mac mail.

Ah - and if I mark it unread in my iPhone and then go read it on my Mac mail, the Mac mail no longer affects it. Ah - that's the bug. I always ALWAYS do this on my iPhone. I mark something as unread on my iPhone so I can deal with it properly when I get back to my main computer.

THOSE are the items which stay unread forever. No - that's not quite it either.

However, I have proven to myself that this also happens on gmail for me now.

It's an iOS bug.

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Answer 11

Dec 8, 2010 8:43 AM in response to Jonathan Payne1

@Jonathan This is still working fine for me. It's not 100% but it's 95% perfect which is 95% better than it was before I recreated the mail account on the iPhone with 4.2. I'm not sure what could be different about our settings but hopefully it'll resolve for you too. Best of luck.

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Answer 12

Dec 10, 2010 11:33 PM in response to snailgarden

I am having the same problem on my iPhone with Dreamhost IMAP mail accounts, even after updating to iOS 4.2.1 and having deleted and recreated my mail accounts on the iPhone.

Incomplete synchronization (new messages appear, but messages that have been marked as read or deleted elsewhere linger on the phone).

Extremely annoying and limiting to the utility of the phone. Am glad to hear that others are having a similar problem so I know it's not just me!

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Answer 13

gman33

Level 1

0 points

Dec 12, 2010 11:48 AM in response to Albert Fischer

For me the same issue but narrowed down to the following:

Only occurs when Iphone checks mail first. If mail is subsequently checked apple and the new mail changed to unmarked it works on the iphone, but only for new messages the old message (from iphone mail check startup) remain unread on the iphone.

Maybe someone will come up with the solution

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Answer 14

Dec 12, 2010 12:15 PM in response to gman33

Does anybody know how to get Apple's attention? This is clearly an iOS bug.

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Answer 15

Lluis M

Level 1

5 points

Dec 13, 2010 7:55 AM in response to Jonathan Payne1

I think I found something...

Since the change of mail servers in DH, the host of your mail is still the same, like mail.mydomain.com, but, the certificate (SSL) is not the same because the ip on the machine has changed.

Iphone does not care about this, if the host is accepted and there is an IMAP behind, the connection goes OK, it never asks if you accept the new SSL certificate, so the mail under demands arrives, but is not able to change read status or deleted mail on sync.

I tried to change my settings on iphone on advanced mode in mail accounts and set no SSL and 143 as default IMAP port, and it begins to work as it did...

I suppose that if you delete your IMAP mail acount from mail app, and you create it again, it will ask for the new certificate and it will work like it did, but this is something i didn't try.

I expect it works for all of you too.

Greetings.

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