Arcturus44
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: How to configure iCloud mail in android phones

I have an Android phone (my bad). Planning to upgrade to the forthcoming iPhone 6(?) next month. In the mean time I am stuck with this android. The mail app does not know how to configure the outgoing server (smtp) for icloud mail. What are the correct settings?

 

Thanks,

Ramon

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Aug 3, 2015 4:00 AM

by Roger Wilmut1,Solvedanswer
Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1
Level 9 (78,198 points)
iTunes
A:

It's not broken. The outgoing server is smtp.mail.me.com for all iCloud accounts and addresses. smtp.mac.com was the old MobileMe server which was officially speaking discontinued three years ago. @mac.com. @me.com and @icloud.com are all the same thing; all versions can be used to sign in and should use smtp.mail.me.com

Posted on Aug 3, 2015 5:30 AM

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Arcturus44

Q: How to configure iCloud mail in android phones

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  • by Feuersnot,Helpful

    Feuersnot Feuersnot Aug 3, 2015 5:19 AM in response to Arcturus44
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 3, 2015 5:19 AM in response to Arcturus44

    Depending on the exact mail app, you may or may not need to configure the settings manually (many Android mail apps recognize iCloud accounts are have the right settings built in).

     

    If you do, here they are:

     

    iCloud: Mail server settings for email clients - Apple Support

     

    The wording about the outgoing server's encryption settings may be somewhat confusing -- the technical term is "STARTTLS" (not "SSL"), and the port number is 587.

     

    Please note that the outgoing server for @mac.com (not @me.com or @icloud.com accounts) is currently broken on Apple's side:

     

    smtp.mac.com STARTTLS broken

  • by Roger Wilmut1,Solvedanswer

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Aug 3, 2015 5:30 AM in response to Feuersnot
    Level 9 (78,198 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 3, 2015 5:30 AM in response to Feuersnot

    It's not broken. The outgoing server is smtp.mail.me.com for all iCloud accounts and addresses. smtp.mac.com was the old MobileMe server which was officially speaking discontinued three years ago. @mac.com. @me.com and @icloud.com are all the same thing; all versions can be used to sign in and should use smtp.mail.me.com

  • by Arcturus44,

    Arcturus44 Arcturus44 Aug 3, 2015 6:41 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 3, 2015 6:41 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

    Got it! Thank you! It is working now.

  • by Feuersnot,

    Feuersnot Feuersnot Aug 3, 2015 8:11 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Aug 3, 2015 8:11 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

    Roger,

     

    Do you have a link to an official Apple announcement about @mac.com having been discontinued?

     

    Not just "not accepting new registrations" but "existing account not supposed to work anymore"?

     

    However:

     

    Someone with a @mac.com account tells me he is still able to receive *and* send mail through this account, using Mac Mail.app.

     

    And in terms of "generic" IMAP / SMTP mail protocols, he is able to receive mail (IMAP) in his @mac.com account, but the the sending server (SMTP) doesn't allow mail apps to log in, since a few days ago.

     

    If the @mac.com email service really is discontinued, then (at least) the outgoing mail server for @mac.com, smtp.mac.com, should no longer be available. As it stands right now, it's still there in DNS, and still allows connections, but STARTTLS and consequently authentication fails with a generic "wrong password" error message.

     

    To me, that's "broken".

     

    If it's supposed to work, and it doesn't -> broken.

     

    If it's not supposed to work -> should not accept connections or the error message should be more clear -> broken.

  • by Roger Wilmut1,

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Aug 3, 2015 9:16 AM in response to Feuersnot
    Level 9 (78,198 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 3, 2015 9:16 AM in response to Feuersnot

    I doubt any documentation remains. As you know, MobileMe closed in July 2012. At the time notices were put out telling people to change to the new server settings. smtp.mac.com was supposed to be closed a month or two after that, though it's been reported by some people that they were still able to use it. Why it should apparently still work after it's supposed to be closed I don't know, but the fact is that the correct setting has been smtp.mail.me.com for three years now and everyone should have migrated to that.

     

    Looking back at the available information, Apple provided a migration service for people who had MobileMe accounts but did not want to open an iCloud account (or who couldn't because their computers were too old). This automatically set things up to use the iCloud servers. The page we've been referring to also appeared at that time for setting up manually. Most people simply migrated automatically to iCloud and doing so set Mail up automatically.

     

    People's @mac.com addresses continue to work - mail sent to @mac.com, @me.com or @icloud.com all lands up in the iCloud inbox. Whether anyone is still trying to use the MobileMe IMAP server I don't know, but that too is supposed to have been closed down.

     

    I would agree that having these defunct servers still operating does nothing to add clarity to the situation, and you could send feedback to Apple to this effect, but the published settings you referred to earlier should always be used and will work for people with @mac.com addresses.