After ios9 update my emails with attachments won't open and say "message not yet downloaded from server". They were there previously. How do I get them back?

I have a POP account. iOS 9.2 seems to have generally fixed the problem. I have one email that says it is only partially downloaded and it invites me to download the rest of the message, alas it is no longer on the server. I suspect that my computer downloaded the message than deleted it from the server while my iPhone was downloading it. I have my computer set up to delete messages from the server so that it does not get cluttered. If I am right, than this is normal behavior and unrelated to the iOS 9 email bug.

Updated to ios 9.2 yesterday. So far so good. All emails sent with attachments post update are still visible. All incoming mails are still visible despite mails being removed from server. All deleted mails in the trash bin are still showing, previousy these were disapearing within minutes with message the mail could not be downloaded from the server. Email attachments are also visible in airplane mode. The size of the mail app is also growing, just like it did pre ios9 debacle. Just for the record I am using a pop account and have double checked that the ios9.2 update has not converted account to IMAP. Will continue to monitor and report back on any issues.

I think that everyone needs to wait a few days and to make sure that they are not dealing with any emails that came under the influence of anything before the recent 9.2 update. I am confident that 'pure', post 9.2 update emails will behave as we all expect them too. Wait for the pollution of 9.1 to clear out and be suspicious of anything the was in the slightest way tainted by it. Hope springs eternal.....

I hope you are right. I did switch off the organize by thread option in the meantime.

Everybobody experiencing issues please note:

1) The problem exists with both POP and IMAP accounts. Due to differences in the two mail protocols and their interaction with the associated mail server, whilst being the same underlying fault with the iOS email client, the observed behaviours manifest slightly differently between POP and IMAP accounts.

2) The main issue appears to be local persistence of downloaded message content when reading offline - or if the network connection is interrupted for a period of time. When offline, embedded email content (locally cached) frequently becomes unavailable - whilst body text and attachments may remain visible.

3) Embedded content has to be reloaded from the server upon each attempt to locally review the message. If online (i.e., you have a network connection) and the content remains available on the server, embedded content is reloaded upon every attempt to read a downloaded email message (this has appreciable cost implications when using mobile networks).

4) In iOS 9.2, testing demonstrates that email attachments downloaded from the server now appear to be persistent whist offline. This was not the case with iOS 9 and 9.1 (reports "not downloaded")

5) After upgrade to IOS 9.2, all message content has to be re-downloaded from the server to become fully visible. The iOS upgrade process does not itself recover the locally cached email messages. Messages obviously cannot be downloaded if they no longer exist on the email server (applies equally to both POP and IMAP).

6) Prior or to IOS 9.x, downloaded email could be read both online - and importantly - when offline. iOS 9 and 9.1 effectively crippled the email client when offflne (therefore of little benefit over using web-mail from a browser); embedded content or attachments were purged from the local cached copies. IOS 9.2 appears to resolve the problem of disappearing attachments, but does not fully address the issue with embedded content.

I hope the above will help others gain some understanding of what is happening with both the observed difficulties - and the apparent changes in IOS 9.2.

9.2 resolves the most pressing e-mail issues (although embedded images are still lost...). Strange thing: 9.2 seems to be the same as the 9.2 b4 version. I upgraded to this beta version 2 weeks ago to cure the e-mail bug and my iPad now tells me I am still up to date with my beta software. Thus, Apple could have released this now official version of iOS a long time ago. 9.2.1 must be just around the corner...

I believe all is still not right with IOS 9.2 and this email issue.

Here are 4 very clear examples.

* I have emails reporting "this message has not been downloaded from the server" sitting in my inbox.

These emails were received after updating to IOS 9.2.

* I have emails in my sent items reporting "this message has not been downloaded from the server".

If I then move one of these emails to my inbox (I know it's not very often required to do so) the email completely disappears from my device.

* I also have emails which read fine in my inbox but if I move them to my trash bin and then attempt to view them in my trash bin I am greeted by "this message has not been downloaded from the server".

If I then move that email back to my inbox, the email content reappears!

* I also have emails in my trash bin which read "This message cannot be displayed because of the way it is formatted. Ask the sender to send it again using a different format or email program, text/html"........

......but if I move that email back to my inbox it displays properly with no problems whatsoever.

Sternbild wrote:

Thus, Apple could have released this now official version of iOS a long time ago. 9.2.1 must be just around the corner...

Suppose there were additional bugs in the b4 release, and a b5 release was needed to fix them? Are you suggesting that it should have been made public before it was tested? In any beta test the number of releases is not known until a relatively clean version is identified. You don't know if there will be a b5 until b4 has been used for a few weeks. So the final GA release will always be the last beta version, and there will always be a delay between the time that last beta version is published and the GA is published.

vwgolfman wrote:

* I also have emails in my trash bin which read "This message cannot be displayed because of the way it is formatted. Ask the sender to send it again using a different format or email program, text/html"........

......but if I move that email back to my inbox it displays properly with no problems whatsoever.

This is not new. Mail has worked this way forever. Mail in the Trash folder that has MIME parts is not processed for display while in the Trash folder. If you move it the Inbox it is again expanded.

both POP and IMAP

Oddly indeed...

Prior to installing 9.2 I had cleared out all folders on the iPad (Inbox, Sent, Trash, etc), there was nothing there.

24hrs after installing 9.2 - my Trash folder on the iPad has several hundred messages going back to early November. Not everything, just emails that were accessed on the iPad. Where have these been retrieved from? (Is this consequential to the way memory is being used/changed?)

I did notice that immediately after installing 9.2 and accessing the Mail app the "spinning wheel" for around 10 minutes, during which the mail app was unresponsive. I closed the app and restatred the device after which the Mail app seemed to function OK.

The messages cannot have been retrieved from the server, because my computer deletes all messages on download to my computer or when moved to Trash. I also periodically check the email server just to make sure everything is functioning correctly.

Missing content - Can't say that I've noticed any issues as yet, but still monitoring.

mariotheplumber wrote:

"Prior to installing 9.2 I had cleared out all folders on the iPad (Inbox, Sent, Trash, etc), there was nothing there. 24hrs after installing 9.2 - my Trash folder on the iPad has several hundred messages going back to early November. Not everything, just emails that were accessed on the iPad. Where have these been retrieved from?"

That's a great question for which I have no answer since your computer is set to remove messages from a POP server. Let's see what comments come in on it.

It's nearly 48 hours since I did the 9.2 install and I have not lost any messages with photos or other files attached that arrived after the update. I have noticed a small number, just a few, text only messages disappeared after a few hours and displayed the message not downloaded from the server dialogue. The mail app exhibits much improved behaviour since the 9.2 update.

News from Germany: :-)

Hallo zusammen,

ich hatte ja gestern schon kurz geschrieben, das ich vor drei Wochen einen Brief an Tim Cook geschrieben habe. Darin habe ich unter anderem mein Unverständnis und meinem Ärger zum Ausdruck gebracht, bezogen auf das Problem bei POP3 (Informationspolitik, Verlust der Mails und Anhänge im privaten und beruflichen Bereich). Am Dienstagnachmittag hat dann ein Apple Mitarbeiter aus der Zentrale in Irland versucht mich telefonisch zu erreichen. Leider war ich unterwegs. Er hat eine Nachricht hinterlassen und mir eine Mail mit seinen Kontaktdaten gesendet. Er wollte mit mit über mein Schreiben an Tim Cook reden und dies am besten auf telefonischen Weg. Ich habe mit Ihm per Email einen Termin vereinbart. Dieser Termin war heute.

Vorab möchte ich noch sagen, das mit die Daten des Mitarbeiters vorliegen. Es ist mir nicht gestattet, Mitarbeiterdaten an andere weiter zu geben. Dies werde ich auch berücksichtigen. Trotzdem werde ich wenigstens einen Teil des Inhalts an Euch weitergeben.

Der Mitarbeiter war sehr nett und hat sich im Namen von Tim Cook für das Schreiben bedankt und sich im Namen von Apple bei mir für all die Unannehmlichkeiten, die ich hatte, offiziell entschuldigt.

Ich habe ihm nochmals von den Problemen, die VIELE Nutzer hatten berichtet und habe darauf aufmerksam gemacht, das viele Nutzer Ihre Mails und Anhänge für immer verloren hätten. Dies habe für viel Ärger gesorgt, welcher in deutschen und amerikanischen Apple Foren zum Ausdruck gebracht wurde. Es können nicht sein, das User beim telefonischen Support und in den Apple Stores an Ihre Emailprovider verwiesen wurden, da man nicht das Problem bei Apple gesehen habe. Dies hätte nun fast drei Monate gedauert und seitens Apple sei kein Statement erfolgt. Stattdessen haben ja Apple User mit vielen Erfahrungspunkten (Level 7 34155 Points) Apple verteidigt und das Problem klein geredet (siehe im amerikanischen Thread). Er bestätigte, das Apple nicht aktiv in diesen Foren mitlesen würden. Es sei selten, das sich Mitarbeiter dort beteiligen und Stellung beziehen. Es sei ein Forum für User und werde diesbezüglich auch nur so gesehen. Probleme könnten dem Support und in Apple-Stores vorgestellt und beredet werden.

Auf meinen Einwand das es viele User betroffen hätte meinte er, das es nicht so eine große Masse gewesen sein könnte. Sicherlich wären es viele gewesen, aber Apple hätte auch eine Art „Abstufung“ in Sachen Informations- und Problempolitik. So sei ja damals bei IOS 8 das Problem aufgetreten, das User nicht mehr telefonieren konnten. Da es sehr sehr viele Nutzer betraf, wurde offiziell Stellung bezogen. Die Informationen würden gestaffelt herausgehen, je nach Größe des Problems. Es geht von Information an den Telefonsupport und an die Stores bis hin zu einer offiziellen Pressemitteilung. Das man das POP3 Problem wahrgenommen habe, würde sich ja auch in der Liste der behobenen Fehler finden.

Ich unterstrich aus noch einmal, das ich bei so teuren Geräten eine entsprechende Qualität und Unterstützung erwarten würde. Dabei berichtet ich auch, das ich als Beta Tester (zu dem ich dann zwangsweise wurde) das Problem unter IOS 9.2 in den Betaversionen behoben wurde. Dies hatte ich ja mehrfach in die Foren gesetzt, nur um den Usern mitzuteilen, das Apple daran arbeite und anscheinend auch eine Lösung gefunden habe. Diese Kommentare wurden aber durch Apple in den Foren gelöscht, da ich interne Informationen aus den Beta-Bereich veröffentlich habe. Er bestätige mir, das es nicht erlaubt sei, diese Informationen weiter zu geben. Meine Kommentare sollten den Usern eigentlich nur zeigen, das Apple an dem Problem arbeitet und auch schon eine Lösung in Sicht sei. Da er jetzt auch nicht wußte, was die Inhalte meiner Kommentare gewesen wäre, könne er auch nur sagen, das es sich um vertrauliche Informationen aus dem Beta-Programm handeln würde. Ich hätte mit der Teilnahme an dem Programm auch bestätigt, das ich diese Informationen nicht weitergeben dürfe.

Ich habe das Gespräch als angenehm empfunden. Er ist halt auch nur Mitarbeiter bei Apple und war bemüht, die Sache zu erklären. Wichtig war für mich, das ich ernst genommen wurde und auf mein Schreiben reagiert wurde. Dies hatte ich eigentlich nicht erwartet. Zu guter Letzt habe ich ihm dann noch darauf aufmerksam gemacht, das immer noch in den Foren diskutiert und probiert werden würde. Es wäre doch sinnvoll, die User in den Foren darüber zu informieren, dass das Problem behoben sei. Dies wollte er als Feedback an die zuständigen Stellen weiter geben. Wir beendeten unser Gespräch und er bot mir an, mich an ihn zu wenden, wenn es noch weitere Probleme geben würde.

Zukünftig werde ich meine IOS Geräte nur noch hintereinander mit Updates versehen, um zu sehen, ob diese auch funktionieren. Allen kann ich auch nur Anraten, seine Mails (und nicht nur die) hin und wieder zu sichern.

Hoffe Euch bei Apple gut vertreten zu haben.

Grüße aus Gladbeck,

Andreas

PS: Wenn einer IOS 9.2 hat und der Fehler immer noch auftreten sollte, dann meldet Euch mal bei mir. Ich werde es dann weitergeben. Die bisher beschriebenen „Probleme“ sind alle erklärbar. Habe heute ein wenig mitgelesen. Wenn z.B. eine Kaufhauskette eine Mail mit Werbung verschickt, dann sind einige Inhalte nicht lesbar, wenn man offline ist. Diese werden auch nicht vom Gerät geladen. Sie sind einfach nur verlinkt und ziehen die Daten, wenn man Online ist.

Andreas,

vielen dank fur die information. Dass ist ein gutes gesprach gewesen.

I am not going to translate word for word the whole post but summarize:

Andreas has had his direct contact on behalf of Tim Cook with an apple representative.

The guy did officially apologise for the screw up. andreas went into great detail with him as to what the problems were and that all forums were full of comments about the havoc it caused. The Apple guy confirmed that they do not read or participate in these forums. Andreas then pointed out that he had posted in a few forums that he was a Beta tester and that he had seen that the beta for 9.2 had cured the problem, yet these posts had been removed.

Andreas also explained that the people in the Apple shops seemed to be totally lacking in knowledge about this bug and were referring people back to their Email providers when it was clearly an apple problem. He also stated that these forums have some high level contributors who had done nothing but make excuses and tried to belittle the problem, which had not been very helpful. So a direct statement from apple would have been helpful.

The apple representative said that he had not read the posts but could confirm in general that beta testers cant divulge anything. however he took on board the general criticism that if apple had made the effort to release some news to the forums that they were working on the problems, that this might be a good idea and he would feed that back to HQ.

He further gave Andreas contact details so he could contact him directly should the problems persist. Andreas is offering to do that should people still experience issues but he points out that some of the problems people are currently seeing are infact normal email behaviour. The example he mentions is an email that contains an advert of picture that isnt actually present in the email but is inserted from the server when the email is opened. We all know these adverts and as he says should that image not be there when opening the email later, then that is normal.

Andreas feels that it had been a very good conversation and that he has been able to make the points we all would like to make, directly to Apple.

Thank you andreas for your report.

I do think it important that people mention the device they are using and the email protocol when indicating further problems as there seem to be some indications that after 9.2 things are working differently on different machines.

Mr finch wrote: "Suppose there were additional bugs in the b4 release, and a b5 release was needed to fix them? Are you suggesting that it should have been made public before it was tested? In any beta test the number of releases is not known until a relatively clean version is identified. You don't know if there will be a b5 until b4 has been used for a few weeks. So the final GA release will always be the last beta version, and there will always be a delay between the time that last beta version is published and the GA is published."

Stop apologising for this complete **** up !!

Thanks for taking time to post this. You've essentially conveyed Andreas' entire post. (I copied and dropped that post into Google Translator).

I'm seeing better performance. Devise is an iPhone 4S running iOS9.2 and using POP3 mail.