iPhone Questions

[Raven]

I've been waiting for years for iPhone service to come to northern Canada which it finally did earlier this year!!! Now my regular cell contract is up and I need to get an iPhone this month. Some questions to all you iPhone experts...

1. How best to learn to use it - trial and error, user manual, friends? Most my peers use Blackberries.

2. I use email on my iMac at my home office (graphic design). Will all emails come to my iPhone AND iMac? If I reply on one, can it sync with the other? I'm using our provincial telecom as ISP (not Rogers as alternative).

3. I often get and send some large attachments (3-7 gb) from my iMac. I wouldn't want to open an attachment on the iPhone, or not? How best to work this on two different units especially when I'm out of town and using iPhone for email?

4. Should I get v4 or wait for v5? I'm not in a rush.

5. Buy outright with no contract or free iPhone with 2-3 year contract?

Any other tips?

Thanks!

[Bruce_F]

I know you will get many replies but I'll chime in.


1. You can find lots of stuff to read up on and view videos at Apple's web site. The phone is really easy to learn and use. The User Guide (which launches Safari) is pretty good for finding ways to do things.
2. Email works great! At least with my .mac account and gmail. All the mail gets updated on both the iPhone and the computer.
3. The iPhone isn't very good at receiving and/or viewing really large files.
4. Waiting for the next version? Hmm... that's a good question. I think I would.
5. I don't have an opinion about which way to purchase. I did the contract method because I figured I would be using it for at least 2 years.

[Raven]

Still confused about emails...
If I receive an email on my iMac and iPhone and reply to it, does that reply show on BOTH units?
If I send an email from one, is there a record of that on the other?

My email address is - Raven [at] mts.net. When I'm out of town I have to use MTS web mail. Which does not always have the information, addresses and Folders of previous emails. I don't use gmail or have a .mac account (Heard that was being discontinued due to iCloud).

[Bruce_F]

Take a look at some of the information here: Google Search

In order to receive email that updates on multiple devices you need to use IMAP. I don't know if your provider supports it or not.

[Xairbusdriver]

You set up email account on your iPhone just like you do on any computer. Afterall, that's what your smartphone is. Whether it 'sees' what's in your computer's email account or not depends on the type of email service that account uses: IMAP or POP. If it's IMAP, both devices will 'see' the same thing (available messages and sent ones). You can read or not read from eiher device, send/reply from either, same with deleting. Note that you may have settings that will automatically delete a message on the email server when you view it on your computer, many people do that to avoid having too much storage space used on the server (sometimes there is a limit and you can be charged if you exceed it).

I forget how the iPhone handles POP accounts as far as keeping them available for the Mac. Many services seem to be changing to the IMAP method or will give you the choice. I think IMAP is better when using multiple devices.

[Raven]

Thanks everyone.
I'll wait a month for v5. And get a basic lesson at an Apple Store in another city when I'm there.

Still confused about POP vs IMAP and how that works... can I switch to IMAP, try it, and go back to POP for my email if I don't like it? Where/How do you do that?

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

can I switch to IMAP, try it, and go back to POP

Maybe/sort of. First, your provider would have to have both services available, or you'd have to have at least one POP provider and one IMAP.

But it's not going to be fully equal swap when/if you switch. The major difference between the two methods is:

POP is basically a one-way system.
You request your mail, with any one device.
That device downloads it to only that one device.
The message is deleted from the service.
But it is stored on whatever device that downloaded/read it.
POP, it's gone!
IMAP allows you to download/read the message one many different devices
As many times as you want (until you delete it from the service)
And all your other devices can still read/download it until it finally gets deleted.
You may never actually store the message on your own device(s).

So, once you use POP to view your message, it won't be available to any other device (unless you send it to yourself, again). In other words, 'you can't go home, again.'

OTOH, what you read/download on an IMAP account will still be there if you decide to use POP. So, you could 'go home, again.' At least once for each message.

Back when we had only one device (like a 8MHz 16K RAM computer) POP was fine. Now, many have a computer, a smart phone and a laptop/iPad and want to have all their messages available on all devices, no matter which they might be using or where they might be on Earth or nearby it.

The above is quite simplified and generalized, of course. Some POP systems can have be set up to act similar to IMAP in some ways, and vice versa.

[Paddy]

Raven, do note that you can't simply change the mail protocol for an account to IMAP from POP - you will need to create a new account in Mail, and then you'll need to drag the old mail into it.

See: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=330472 for a discussion of this.

[Raven]

Thanks for the explanation!

I primarily use my email from my home office on my iMac. My MTS (Manitoba) Account Type in Apple Mail Preferences says "POP".
Incoming mail server - pop3.live.com
outgoing mail server - smtp.live.com

When I'm out of town I have to use my browser to access MTS Web Mail and my email through there, but I can't access personal files/info on my hard drive with Web Mail. Also, Web Mail will tell me I'm coming to my 200 gb limit and need to make more room. So, I delete previous emails to make space.

When I use my iBook while out of town or even at home, it downloads all the previous emails each time I open Mail. I can only read my email on my iBook. I cannot Send, which is a pain.
All this, I'm sure you understand.

So, reading your description, do I have POP or IMAP?
When I get my iPhone5 and want access to all my Mail from several devices, what actions do I take?

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

do I have POP or IMAP?

You already answered that in your post.

QUOTE

Apple Mail Preferences says "POP".
Incoming mail server - pop3.live.com

First, I'd fix the iBook so you can send mail. You should have exactly the same outgoing mail server (smtp.live.com) and password as you have on the iMac. Make sure the settings in Accounts->Account Information as well as Advanced are exactly the same in both computers.

If your ISP has IMAP available, that's probably the type you need. As has been stated above, IMAP allows all devices to 'see' the same messages on the server. From Apple's Help "About Account Types: IMAP accounts:

QUOTE

With an Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) account, incoming and outgoing messages are stored on a mail server until you delete them. When you connect to the mail server, all your mailboxes are synced so that the messages on your computer are the same as those on the server. You  can read and manage messages from any device that you use to access your account, and download messages or attachments to work with when you’re not connected to the Internet.

[Raven]

If my iMac and iBook can both access to my email, could my ISP have IMAP available and I've set up a POP Account by mistake?

[Xairbusdriver]

Both systems keep messages on the server until you delete them. But most ISPs, I think, expect POP users to delete stuff as soon as they've read it, because reading it automatically downloads it to the device. Back in the day, disk space was much more expensive and if you had a local copy, why would you expect the ISP to keep it also? Of course, you only had one device, anyway. I believe most POP providers still put a limit on how much space you're allowed, it appears that yours certainly has a limit.

As to whether they have both systems available, that should be answered by a visit to their site or, at most, an email to their support center.

[Raven]

Thanks Xairbusdriver!
That solved the Sending mail from my iBook problem!
Although when I SEND mail on the iBook, it seems that email can't be duplicated on my iMac?


Heading out of town for a week, so I'll work on the iPhoto issue when I'm back.

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

Although when I SEND mail on the iBook, it seems that email can't be duplicated on my iMac?

I suspect that your messages from the iBook are not being stored on the POP servers, or, you have settings on the iBook telling Mail to erase downloaded messages when they are received. Since any message you send from the iBook will also be received by it, almost immediately, it will not stay on the server for any appreciable time and not be available on any other device. Bt remember that you can get the same kind of behavior with an IMAP account if you tell the server to delete a message when it is received. Those settings are up to the owner of the account and whatever email app they are using. In other words, an IMAP account can be set up to act just like a POP account, if the user really wants it that way.

Have a great trip!