imap settings for iCloud stopped working today

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Level 1

11 points

imap settings for iCloud stopped working today

Hi there,

Out of the blue - and just after I committed to go deeper down the Apple rabbit whole (just bought my first Mac) - my emails stopped working this afternoon.

I'm using my iCloud account with manual server settings so that I can use my own personal email outgoing email and SMTP.

This has been working fine for a year now (imap.mail.me.com incoming server, etc). Now it started complaining that there is a mismatch between password and username. Only that it's fine. Works on my Mac. Works in iCloud on the web. And I didn't change anything.

Wiped out the phone and put on a backup from two days ago. Still, don't receive anything. Same error message.

I'm at a loss. Anyone else experiencing this who sets up mail settings manually for iCloud?

iPhone 5, iOS 6.1.3

Posted on Jan 21, 2014 5:45 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 21, 2014 6:45 PM in response to 7enderbender

I'm having the same issue. Phone works, icloud on the web works, but my Outlook 2007 imap is giving me the same error. Any luck on finding a solution?

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Answer 2

Jan 21, 2014 6:46 PM in response to Hometown Girl

I should have mentioned that it just stopped working as well and has been fine up until today.

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Answer 3

7enderbender Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 21, 2014 7:56 PM in response to 7enderbender

Thanks for replying. Sorry to hear that you're having issues as well. I'm pretty sure it's on Apple's end. It'll probably go away again without them ever acknowleding anything.

I'm looking into alternative solutions right now. I have my own domain name but it doesn't come with any push mail option. That's why I'm using iCloud this way. I'm thinking about buying into the small business MS Office 365 plan for $60 and call it a day. Just need to figure out how to set it up without switching the domain over to the evil empire.

This is all very frustrating. And all because Apple doesn't allow for an easy way to have your own reply-to adress in iOS.

To compare notes:

I'm located in the North East. Provider is T-mobile. Server used on the phone is (and has been for a long time) imap.mail.me.com

Otherwise I'm pretty sure my server is p18.

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Answer 4

7enderbender Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 22, 2014 8:56 AM in response to 7enderbender

And as expected: yes, it started working again over night. Push wasn't available at first, then it was iffy, now it's back to "normal".

If Apple at least acknowledged these kind of outages. Instead you get the "you're not using this as intended blah blah" from CS. So much for Think Different(ly).

Working myself through the Office 365 small business settings right now. May well be worth the extra 5 bucks a month.

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Answer 5

Dog5000

Level 1

4 points

Jan 22, 2014 6:03 PM in response to 7enderbender

Looks like its down again, or having intermittent problems tonight.

I started seeing this on a non-iOS smartphone last night. Was working perfectly for months since orginally adding my @icloud account. Spent some time troubleshooting via recommended workarounds on various sites (including Apple Support). No progress in solving the problem.

This morning at work just plugged in my credentials, and the new account for iCloud mail took perfectly (removed the "old" one last night).

Strange thing is last night I could get into my iCloud mail just fine from icloud.com, and from Mail on my MacBook.

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Answer 6

Dog5000

Level 1

4 points

Jan 23, 2014 4:19 PM in response to Dog5000

Started working again last night a few hours later. Didn't do anything to the account on my device. Been fine all day today. Leads me to think that there are intermittent issues with the iCloud mail infrastructure or related networking components.

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Answer 7

Jan 23, 2014 6:15 PM in response to Dog5000

Glad you guys are having better luck than I am. It's still asking me for my password - at least it is currently at 7:15pm Mountain Jan 23, 2014. 😟

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Answer 8

dan6582

Level 1

0 points

Feb 17, 2014 11:48 AM in response to 7enderbender

Spoke to Apple about this today, for some reason it has stopped working with SSL turned off, turn SSL back on and it works straight away

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Answer 9

7enderbender Author

Level 1

11 points

Feb 17, 2014 1:01 PM in response to dan6582

Thanks for the update. I've effictively given up on iCloud. There has been too much on and off for my specific needs. I accept that it's a free service and no substitute for something like a Hosted Exchange server. So I'm renting Exchange now through my email provider and that took care of it. Same with MS Office. If you need it you have to pay for it and you're done (for better or worse).

Otherwise it's a pleasure to work with my Mac and my iPhone. Just need to pay some extra for the additional services that aren't Apple's forte.

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Answer 10

PhilipRoy

Level 3

897 points

Feb 17, 2014 1:08 PM in response to 7enderbender

The backup from 2 days ago will result in you having the same exact settings from your icloud as you did prior to the reset. Trying resetting the device and NOT putting your back up on the device. If this solves the issue with icloud, most everything from your back up can then be collected transferred to your computer and then data by data source can then be transferred back to your device. I'm thinking seriously that it's in your backup.

Good luck friend.

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