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Launching Mail does not open "All Inboxes"

I have three mail accounts on my iPhone 4: Gmail (the default); MobileMe; and Yahoo.


Problem: When I launch Mail for the first time after restarting, it opens my Yahoo inbox. I then have to backtrack to All Inboxes to read all my mail. It will generally re-open All Inboxes on subsequent launches, but if I'm using lots of apps, and Mail gets removed from the multitasking list (or if I restart), it will again go back to opening Yahoo on launch.


Possibly helpful info: My list of accounts is in reverse alphabetical order, i.e., Yahoo, MobileMe and Gmail. The latter, Gmail, is my default email account. However, in my Accounts list in Settings, the order of the accounts listed is MobileMe; Yahoo; and Gmail.


Question: Is there a way I can set Mail to launch in "All Inboxes" instead of defaulting to Yahoo on first launch? I checked in settings and cannot find a way to do this.

Posted on Apr 24, 2011 8:08 PM

Reply
15 replies

Apr 24, 2011 8:24 PM in response to Mr. Mellow

Hi Mr. Mellow,


Interesting request, I can replicate this on my iPhone 4 with 4.3.1. It appears even though the Mail application has been quit from multitasking (and even when you restart the phone) it will always remember what the last mailbox you were in was presumably through whats contained in the caches.


To be honest I have never noticed this so interesting pick up, I don't believe there is a way around this as the cache would not clear unless you restored the phone.....


As a work around you could always enter "All Mailboxes" before you exit the application.


Would be worthwhile submitting feedback through http://feedback.apple.com if you would like to see that feature, it does not bother me to be honest but I can see why it may be annoying.....


Much like no 5-Workday view on the iPad.


Cheers,

MiFFMaN

Apr 24, 2011 8:54 PM in response to MiFFMaN

To be clear, I always exit Mail from All Inboxes. I never read mail from any of the individual accounts. So if there is a cache that remembers anything, then it is not remembering that I was in All Inboxes, and thinks I want to launch Mail into Yahoo's inbox.


I will submit this to feedback, thank you. Any other suggestions welcome.

Apr 24, 2011 10:05 PM in response to MiFFMaN

Success! (sort of). Before deleting my Yahoo account as you suggested, I instead turned off it's mail function in Settings, rendering the account inactive. I then closed and re-launched Mail from All Inboxes, and it defaulted to All Inboxes. Same when I cleared Mail from my multitasking list. I then closed Mail and cleared it from memory, and turned my Yahoo mail function back on, and all was still well - it launched into All Inboxes. Great!


However, there is now a different problem (which I suspect is not a problem, but an oddity of the iOS). This might be more easily understood if I bullet the different scenarios:


1. Close Mail from All Inboxes and re-launch. Mail re-opens in All Inboxes.

  • This is true whether you clear it from the multitasking window.
  • This is true if you restart the iPhone.


2. Close Mail from the Mailboxes screen (the screen that includes a list of mailboxes and accounts). Two things can happen:

  • Close Mail from Mailboxes screen. Clear from multitasking screen (or not). Mail re-lanches to the Mailboxes screen.
  • Close Mail from Mailboxes screen. Restart iPhone. Mail launches into Yahoo's inbox (the first account on my list of mailboxes/accounts).


So, it appears that there is a cache that stays active as long as the phone is on, which remembers which window you closed from, whether you clear Mail from the multitasking list or not.


The oddity is that, after restart, Mail launches into the inbox of the first account on the list, regardless of which window you were in when you closed Mail. It is this behavior that I will bring to the attention of Apple via the feedback link, because this is illogical and undesirable behavior.


Thank you MiFFMaN, I marked your reply as helpful. Disabling Yahoo must have re-written the .plist file, solving my original problem. However, I don't see any way to get Mail not to launch (after iPhone restart) into the inbox of the first account on the list.

Apr 24, 2011 10:12 PM in response to Mr. Mellow

Not a problem Glad it helped!


You wrote;


Close Mail from Mailboxes screen. Clear from multitasking screen (or not). Mail re-lanches to the Mailboxes screen.


This does not work for me. When I clear from Multitasking I get the same behaviour as when you restart the iPhone, which would make more sense because as the Mail application is launched for the first time then it must be set to point to the first mailbox in the list.....

Apr 24, 2011 10:31 PM in response to MiFFMaN

You are correct, my mistake. The second bullet under #2 is incorrect; if I close from the Mailboxes screen and clear or restart, it defaults to the first inbox on the list. All other scenarios still hold. The odd thing is that Mail would remember that you closed from All Inboxes, whether you restart or not, but it doesn't remember that you closed from the Mailboxes screen. It would be nice if it behaved the same way.


If anyone had read this far, I'm sure their heads are spinning. 😀

Sep 20, 2012 10:00 AM in response to Mr. Mellow

Well i may be a little late for this but i guess i can still share my findings with you... 😀


1. On the "Mailboxes" screen, tap "Edit" on the upper right corner...

2. You will notice the appearence of 3 dashes on the right side of every mailbox...

3. Tapping and holding on these dashes gives you the ability to move each mailbox up or down in the queue...

4. The mailbox that will be 1st in the queue, will actually be the one that your iPhone Mail App will launch by default!


I'm an iPod Touch 4th Gen. user actually but i guess this will work for iPhone too...

May 5, 2013 12:08 PM in response to Mr. Mellow

"1. Close Mail from All Inboxes and re-launch. Mail re-opens in All Inboxes.

This is true whether you clear it from the multitasking window.

This is true if you restart the iPhone.


2. Close Mail from the Mailboxes screen (the screen that includes a list of mailboxes and accounts). Two things can happen:

Close Mail from Mailboxes screen. Clear from multitasking screen (or not). Mail re-lanches to the Mailboxes screen.

Close Mail from Mailboxes screen. Restart iPhone. Mail launches into Yahoo's inbox (the first account on my list of mailboxes/accounts)."


Im having the same problem with the mail app opening in a specific account rather than the list of accounts. So, how do you close mail from mailboxes screen? The only way I know to close an iPhone app is to double tap the home button & close it from the open apps list that appears at the bottom of my phone.


Thanks

Launching Mail does not open "All Inboxes"

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