Rob Gilgan wrote:
The problem I've encountered is that my selection doesn't stick. I select the box, then save the change in preferences, close and relaunch Mail and the preference has returned to its previous checked state.
Mail is broken, as attested by all the people on this forum that have spent days (literally) trying to get the app to just work. I switched to webmail for the offending accounts and while not perfect, it works flawlessly for sending and receiving mail.
Rob,
Your point noted. FYI. I am aware of the stickiness issue and maybe some other less relevant ones with Mail. I can't say for sure, but betting Apple is aware too. You could report those through feedback, but there isn't much more to be said about the issues other than what's already been said. That there are issues. Not making excuses. I believe it's already been announced that there will be upgrades and fixes to Mail and other integrated apps.
Apple is committed to them, I believe. They do want a flawless user experience. The issue you see varies with ISP's and port assignments. As for me, I prefer manual port assignment for the less well known ISP's and have had less issues when the port assignments are set to manual IMAP/SMPTP settings in Mail.
I was told by Apple Support (and please take with a grain of salt) that more success in getting the settings to stick would be had by setting the accounts up in Mail rather than setting them up first in System Preferences>iCloud or >Internet Accounts. Since I did that, I did find that my settings have been more stable. You might want to experiment with it. No guarantees, but that is my personal experience. Also using the correct ports for the ISP would be helpful. ISP's setting recommendations do vary, go with them. In the cases of iCloud and Gmail, the correct settings are very well known. The "automatic settings" when used there are reliable for me, just not the others (like ATT, GoDaddy, Yahoo, HotMail, etc.).