Mail not working on iPhone after iOS 18 Update

Fayejax - I couldn’t figure out where to do this either. One comment said to put the slash in the incoming server address but there was no field labelled as incoming server. I was lucky that a simple shutdown, 10 min wait, restart appears to have solved the issue.

Just wanted to remind everyone that for ME the only solution that seems to so far have resulted in a “permanent” fix (🤞) - while keeping iOS 18 and not bothering (yet) to update to 18.0.1 (which I am a bit suspicious of) - was for me to contact BY TELEPHONE both Apple customer support AND my non-Apple email service provider (Comcast Xfinity) - without *my* having had to do ANYTHING else the problem for ME was *permanently* fixed “behind the scenes” within 24 hours.

This is a partial update, since my problem is not yet solved.

I called Apple HelpDesk last Saturday as you indicated (thank you) and I passed 2 hours with them. They collected all the information I could give them. Then I was invited to reinitialise my phone (which is cumbersome, but no other solution than do what they want) and got an appointment for today at 12.00 (Paris time).

Note: this was a partial reinitialisation that did not put the phone back to factory settings (so I did not need a backup to restore it), but I had to reconfigure every app again. Credit cards are also deleted as well as ALL wifi passwords saved on the phone. (solution to it: go to the Passwords app, check the Wifi passwords stored there, save them somewhere else).

Today I had first on the phone a technician who after 30 min passed the call to an ‘upper level technician’. He (they all connect to your phone) did some actions on the phone (just to verify once again the problem and some settings) and collected some info via screen capture as well as the history of the phone. Next appointment is due for next Tuesday.

If you have the same problem with a second iPhone which was also updated to iOS 18, please mention it to them. It is an important information.

stevepringle wrote:

I found that I had a non printing character on one of the folders on my IMAP server. Renaming this folder to remove the non printing characters fixed all the mail app problems for me.

How did you find it?

Apple1138 wrote:

And just like that, after an hour of working perfect it’s back to freaking out what a blunder

This was predictable. My own experience is that the steps you hastily suggested do not fix anything, but only alleviate the problem temporarily and imperfectly.

I believe many, if not all, of the alleged fixes posted here were either for different problems or – as was the case here – did not actually fix anything.

Since it is apparent that this will only be fixed when Apple fixes it, the most useful measure that can be taken by people venting and otherwise posting here is the report the bug: Feedback - iPhone - Apple Select "bug report" under "feedback type".

If you go to your email, you can select one of them and instead of the big PRIMARY email, click on on 3 dots and select "list view" instead of "categories"and you can then see all your incoming emails. This was a simple fix for me as I have about 6 different email accounts on my phone.

Nightgoat - Your problemS sound so severe that I would recommend considering doing a full reset to original factory conditions (be sure to do it CORRECTLY! then reinstalling the OS over WiFi, all while plugged in (or downloading to a Mac and installing from there) and if that does not correct the problem paying a visit to the Apple store closest to you even if it’s an hour’s drive to get to it - still better than having to call Apple and spending the hour or more on the phone only to have to ship it off to them. It’s entirely possible that the phone you received has one or more hardware faults and/or that its OS installation was corrupted.

I first began having problems with email on my iPhone SE (3rd Generation) after updating to iOS 18.1.1. The sequence>>Connecting>>Checking for Mail>>Downloading X Messages" takes at least 45 seconds. Further IMAP sync was not working properly. None of this happened before the iOS 18.1.1 update.

I first contacted Apple Support on 11/24/24. Over the course of several interactions I/we have:

- checked push/fetch settings

- turned off VPN

- submitted videos and screenshots to document the problem(s)

- did diagnostics on the phone

- reinstalled Comcast email

- reinstalled complete Apple Mail app

- updated to iOS 18.2 on 12/25/24

None of this solved the problem. I decided to delete Apple Mail and use Gmail on my iPhone. Gmail is amazingly fast and IMAP sync is working properly with virtually instant response time. Given this, I'm going to stick w/Gmail. I've asked Apple Support to contact me if the Apple teams can fix this issue.

In my case it is definitely a certificate issue. The IMAP (Dovecot) cert is a public trusted cert and is installed as a profile in the device, along with the intermediate and CA certs (CA is trusted).

Calling the IMAP connection from an external (WAN) connection using the domain (as in the cert) works fine.

Calling the IMAP connection from within the LAN (using an IP address on the LAN) results in a certificate error.

This happens on iOS 18. It works fine on iOS 17.

I cannot seem to find a way to explicitly allow trust of the IMAP certificate when used with an IP address rather than the cert domain.

Your emails and pics are probably not gone. You just can’t access them at the moment until Apple fixes their mail app in iOS. I suggest you use your pc and Outlook to connect and make sure you copy any emails and pictures that are important to you down to your local machine.

Turning off SSL worked for me, thanks :)

iOS 18.1 fix the problem. For the moment this update is in beta status. You will hace to wait the end of october if you do not want to install a beta update.

Not fixed in 182b2. The feedback app tells that a "potential fix identified- for a future OS update" but nothing happens. The problem is not even mentioned in the known issues of the new release.

Remove you email address from Mail and re-enter using the appropriate option from the email address.

It's not always the iOS update's fault!  Many things can cause phone problems.  If you tell people you think it's an iOS update, it might make it harder to fix or find a solution for the real issue.

Remember, the right question often leads to the solution! Please look in the right direction.

iOS updates aim to enhance user experience, boost security, and fix bugs rather than disrupt core features. The majority of the issues after updates might stem from underlying, unmentioned factors. Updates won't typically alter personal data but may refine settings or features. Backup before major updates for safety. Review Apple's update details and backup advice for a smooth process.

Kindly consider checking your settings and addressing any device issues before attributing the issue to external factors. This could be a pure coincidence that the iOS update affected the iPhone functions.

Before initiating a standard iOS update, it's advisable to create a backup. Have you completed this step? If yes, proceed with the restoration from the backup.

See what each update does: iOS 18, About iOS 17 Updates, About iOS 16 Updates, About iOS 15 Updates, About iOS 14 Updates, About iOS 13 Updates, About iOS 12 Updates, and so on...