Tlongdon,
I have a MAJOR issue with the fact that Apple just decided to filter email at all. I understand that they want to reduce spam and help users have a more pleasant experience. However, since they have a filtering system on iCloud itself, you can actually not receive a email message that in fact you want, but you will never even know it was filtered out! Doing this on the server side is has good and bad points. Good in that it probably does reduce the junk, bad in that you will never know about the "false positives". Apple HAS to address this. Providing a commercial pay system for email address means support the customer. If anyone wants to allow apple to handle the filtering, fine. Set up a method for the email client to do so, do not do it on the server side. If I, as the customer want to turn the filtering off, and set up my own rules, let me do so.
This is one reason why when my paid account expires, I plan to get different email address, even though it will cause all kinds of problems. I want handle the filtering. When I asked Apple support to turn it off for me, to let it all through, after over four hours on the phone, I basically was told, it can not be done for individual users. NOT acceptable. At the minimum, I should receive a notification of what emails iCloud has decided I was going to get, but it filtered out!
When I was in the Navy, working communications, Non Delivery of any message was a very serious issue. Depending on the message, one that was punished by either Captain's Mast or worse. Security, Speed and Reliabiltiy. Okay, Apple has chosen Security, but then made the system Unreliable instead.
Bottom line, if you want to decide what email you receive, and handing the filtering on your email client side, either by rules or spam filtering software. Keep in mind, that Apple has already decided what you can get or not. I suggest that either:
(a) users push Apple to change this "undocumented feature" to client side.
(b) add method to notify users of mail that is NOT DELIVERED because of filtering, regardless of it's source, and allow a way for the user to decide, "Hey I need the mail from that address" or "Add all to blacklist".
(c) find a email provider that puts those decisions back in the user's hands.
Final note, I have been a user of the Apple email system for a long time, since it started actually. I would much rather not have to change, but this filtering automatically in iCloud, is too far. Yes, I am aware the terms of service have changed so that Apple's Lawyers have covered them. But think about it, does Apple really want to lose users because they have decided to become the arbiter of what "they" feel is acceptable content into a person's private inbox?
Just my two cents.
BT
AR