iCloud email

[Jack W]

i created an icloud email account on my iPad.

however, it is set up as an imap account.

how do i change it to a pop account?

Thanks

jack

[Xairbusdriver]

I'm not sure Apple has ever used the POP system.

POP will only store to the device that downloads the messages. If you viewed you account on your Mac, you will not be able to see it on any mobile device. The opposite is also true. Basically, a message will be viewable  on only one devise at a time without some kind of app to sync between/among all devises. The only advantage I can see is that your messages will be stored on whatever device is used. That puts the burden on the user to make reliable and current backups on any device used to view email.

IMAP is the 'parent' of 'cloud computing'. Thus iCloud uses the IMAP method. Messages are stored 'in the cloud' which means any device capable of using an IMAP email app can see them as long as it has access to the web. The disadvantage of IMAP is that one must have access to the web.

All in all, I'd say my backups are less reliable than major company systems.
With more than one device in use, multiple messages on any topic can easily become broken since more than one device will have different parts of the thread. Looking at all messages in a thread or even all messages period will mean more work for the recipient. Not counting the reliable backups of each device.

ISPs like the various versions of POP because they don't store messages after the user downloads (views) one. 'Cloud' companies like IMAP because it gives them the opportunity to sell more server space when the user doesn't delete old messages.

Last week, my wife was notified that she had reached you 'free space' allowed on her MindSpring/EarthLink account. The fix was to simply change when Mail deletes messages she puts in the Trash. It is now set to "When Mail quits". The 'free' allowance for this company is only 100 MB! But this is the first email she ever had is is the only one that 99.98% of her contacts even know about! She won't listen to recommendations to change.

[Jack W]

Boy, you really confused me with that answer.
Are you trying to tell me that I can't use my iPad to see POP email while I'm on vacation???
Everr, as long as I have that account on my iMac??

Bummer !

[Xairbusdriver]

First, I apologize for causing any confusion. Definitely not my intent. Probably just a result of the state I live in... The State of Confusion!

QUOTE

Are you trying to tell me that I can't use my iPad to see POP email while I'm on vacation???

Not at all. You just won't be able to see any messages if you use Mail on the Mac if you download them to your iPad. Of course, you could forward them to the iCloud account and then you can see them on the Mac and the iPad.

POP account messages are designed to be downloaded to a single device. Some POP servers have settings to leave a message on the mail server, but the normal method simply deletes the message as soon as you download it. POP account are not designed to view messages, they are designed to download them. That is what your email app is actually doing; it is not simply displaying a message, it is downloading it.

IMAP accounts are designed to store your messages on their servers. You can then view them in an email app on any device you might have from any location you might be, as long as you have access to he Internet. And you can do that viewing forever or until you delete the message.

If you use a good email app (like Mail), you are also making a copy of the message(s) on the IMAP account onto your device. But you still have the original on the IMAP server. That way you have the usually better, more reliable, industrial IMAP server copy, even if your local device dies, walks off, etc. A "cloud service" is, after all; a remote computer storage site that you access through the Internet. That's why I called IMAP the 'parent' of "The Cloud".

The two key differences:

POP
A method of temporarily storing messages until you download them.
Designed for use with a single device.
IMAP
A method that stores messages on a remote computer until you intentionally delete them.
Designed to view any message one as many devices as you own for as long as want.

Obviously, using a web browser to access the "web-based" email account (of any type) is completely independent on whether the account is POP/IMAP/gMail/Yahoo/Klingon/etc. The description above relates only to using a dedicated email application, like Apple's Mail.