jack3030

Q: Mail Handling Across Platforms

I routinely access mail from three machines, one iOS and two OS X.  All software is kept up to date.  I have .me, .icloud and .comcast accounts.  I am open to any combination of POP, IMAC, whatever.

 

Ideally, each piece of mail would only need to be handled once.  Ideally, if I read it on one machine, it would appear as "read" on all.  Ideally, if I deleted it on an OS X machine, it would be deleted everywhere, BUT I would also like to be able to delete mail from my phone (to save memory, storage, and clutter), without it being deleted from the OS X machines. 

 

Can you propose a solution that gets close to this ideal?  I am open to any combination of POP, IMAC, whatever.  I am open to changes in mail handling rules, archiving, auto-deletes, smart mailboxes, whatever.

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Sep 7, 2016 12:35 PM

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Q: Mail Handling Across Platforms

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  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Sep 7, 2016 2:40 PM in response to jack3030
    Level 9 (69,991 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 7, 2016 2:40 PM in response to jack3030

    IMAP would be the closest to what you want, except that if you delete the e-mail on the phone, it will delete everywhere.

     

    POP doesn't sync.

  • by Rysz,Apple recommended

    Rysz Rysz Sep 7, 2016 2:46 PM in response to jack3030
    Level 7 (20,242 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 7, 2016 2:46 PM in response to jack3030

    Ideally, each piece of mail would only need to be handled once.  Ideally, if I read it on one machine, it would appear as "read" on all.  Ideally, if I deleted it on an OS X machine, it would be deleted everywhere,

    Changing your email accounts to IMAP does this automatically. Save your POP account emails to an On My Mac mailbox before changing.

    , BUT I would also like to be able to delete mail from my phone (to save memory, storage, and clutter), without it being deleted from the OS X machines. 

    Not possible. It's an All or Nothing proposition, either the mailboxes sync, or they don't.

  • by Rysz,

    Rysz Rysz Sep 8, 2016 3:02 PM in response to Rysz
    Level 7 (20,242 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 8, 2016 3:02 PM in response to Rysz

    I should have added, that you can reduce the number of synced emails on your iDevices by occasionally archiving your emails into On My Mac mailboxes in Mail on your Mac. This way they will not show up on your iPhone, but will still be searchable on your Mac.