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iOS 11 Mail push notifications problem

Since upgrading to iOS 11 I only get Mail push notifications when in Mail or the Home screen. Otherwise all my queued up messages appear when I open Mail. I see the same behavior on my iPhone and iPad. Is this a known problem, and is there a workaround?

iPhone 7, iOS 11

Posted on Sep 21, 2017 4:14 PM

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185 replies

Feb 28, 2018 8:02 AM in response to ankitfromdubai

  • Go to https://apple.com/iTunes and install the latest version (12.7.3 as of February 28, 2018) if you don't have it already.
  • Launch iTunes
  • Connect your phone to your computer using the USB cable that came with it
  • After a few seconds you should see an icon for it in iTunes: User uploaded file
  • Click on the icon to display the Summary screen
  • On the left will be a checkbox to Encrypt iPhone Backup. Check it. When you back up you will be prompted for an backup password, twice. Enter it and write it down; without it you cannot restore the backup.
  • Click Back Up Now
  • OPTIONAL: For extra safety, make an iCloud backup on the phone
    • Tap Settings, then tap your name at the top
    • Tap iCloud
    • Tap Backup and select to backup now
  • When the backup finishes, click Restore iPhone
  • When the Restore finishes, you will be given a choice to Set up as a new phone, or restore a backup. Choose Restore a backup.
    • First iTunes will restore your settings and app data
    • There will then be a pause, and a message to connect the phone to iTunes. Ignore this and it will continue the backup after about 30 seconds
    • Then iTunes will reinstall your apps and music
  • When this finishes your phone should be exactly the same as it was before you started this process.

Sep 21, 2017 4:20 PM in response to deh2k

Lets check your notification settings (heads up you will need to follow this for each account that is in the iOS mail app that you want to have the notifications appear on your lock screen). First go to Settings --> Mail --> Notifications --> here is where you will select the account(s) that you want to enable the feature (you have to do it one account at a time), after selecting the account toggle on Show on Lock Screen to show your emails on the Lock Screen, you can also enable Show in History so when you are on the Lock Screen and swipe up it will retain your emails there until you open the mail app.


Keep us posted!

Sep 24, 2017 7:54 PM in response to Angelina93308

Thanks for all your replies. Background refresh is set to WiFi & cellular. Mail is not on the list of apps to enable for background refresh. Mail should in fact show notifications and update the icon badge before I launch the app, and it doesn't. It works once in a while but most of the time not.


Erasing the phone and not restoring from a backup is absurd. I have a lot of stuff on there and a life to live.

Oct 4, 2017 7:47 AM in response to aghkzn

aghkzn wrote:


I have the same problem. I am using Gmail account with ios mail app. No push notifications!

That's because gmail does not support Push, except for the gmail app.


In general, Push requires that the email provider supports it. Google, Yahoo and Microsoft have decided that they will not support it for their free services, except when using their app instead of the iOS mail app.


Google and Microsoft will support Push on iOS mail for premium (paid) accounts. Microsoft will also support Push for Microsoft Exchange email accounts.

Nov 27, 2017 10:31 AM in response to deh2k

Have used Icloud mail for years with push to Iphones (currently 6S plus on 11.1.1), no problems ever. Now no push feature. Emails push to laptop normally, but phone requires manual checking for email. After hours of support chat and finally escalated to engineers (we tried all fixes listed in this thread, even tried my account on two other phones with older IOS), they said that the recent upgrades do not allow push of email from Icloud accounts.


However, even my other accounts that are set for "automatic fetch" that don't support push (gmail, privateemail.com) do not show in inbox until a manual refresh.


I don't know any other things to try and am basically getting used to manually checking for emails. Pretty frustrating after years of normal use.


Any other suggestions (other than all of the settings changes, restore/set up as new phone, try mail on other phones)?

Feb 28, 2018 8:24 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

I connected my iphone to my laptop after installing itunes. I saw the icon u highlighted. but once I clicked on it, this screen appeared.


User uploaded file

when I explored further, I could find back now option under File --> Devices --> Back up.


User uploaded file

When I clicked on it, it starts the back up but no encryption key or passcode was asked.

I have completed the backup without encryption now.


Do you suggest restoring the back up now or any other steps needs to be completed before that?

Sep 22, 2017 10:40 PM in response to deh2k

Is cellular data on for the mail app?


Is the Fetch New Data set to Push? Go to Settings --> Accounts --> Fetch New Data. There set all your email accounts to Push (if Push isn't available set it to Fetch). Then go back to the Fetch New Data screen and set that to Automatically (I'm not sure how often that checks for emails, so you might not get a notification for awhile after the email was sent to you.)


If that doesn't fix it try to restore your iPhone using a Mac or PC and iTunes. Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings - Apple Support. This will hopefully reset any setting that might be interfering/corrupted data. Also, don't restore from a backup because that will bring the problem back (but do back it up just in case you want to access something in the future).

Nov 15, 2017 11:36 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

In the hope of keeping this thread on track, I want to reiterate that I am referring to using IMAP with my iCloud account on an iPhone. This supports push notifications and is described in this article:


Mail server settings for iCloud email clients - Apple Support


This configuration allows push notifications on my Mac and iPad but doesn't work reliably on my iPhone since upgrading to iOS 11.

Nov 15, 2017 12:32 PM in response to deh2k

In the interest of attempting to help everyone, not just you, I responded to Craftypolly, not you. As this is Craftypolly's first post ever in ASC, we have no way of knowing what kind of account the user is having a problem with.


To come now to your problem, it is not a known problem. I do not have a problem with Push iCloud email on my iPhone or iPod. What troubleshooting steps have you carried out so far?


  • Have you verified that Push is enabled for the iCloud account in Settings/Accounts & Passwords - Fetch New Data?
  • Have you verified that Cellular Data is enabled for Mail?
  • Have you tried deleting the iCloud account, restarting the phone, and adding it back?

Nov 18, 2017 2:39 PM in response to smickers

So:

  • Your phone is on the latest version: 11.1.2.
  • You went to Settings/Accounts & Passwords, tapped on Fetch New Data, verified that Push was ON at the top.
    • You then tapped on your iCloud account on that screen and verified that Push was checked, along with the mailboxes you wanted pushed.
    • If that didn't fix it, you turned OFF Push at the top of the listing, then turned it back on
    • If that didn't fix it, you went on to the additional steps below
  • You deleted the iCloud account, restarted your phone, and added the account back, and that didn't fix it.
  • You backed up to iTunes, then restored iOS using iTunes and restored your backup, and that did not resolve it.
  • You contacted Apple Support using the link at the top of this page and opened a case with Support. How is that going?

iOS 11 Mail push notifications problem

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