In this article we’ll discuss the possible impact of upgrading your Apple device to iOS6, in regards to how it can break IMAP functionality for your e-mail.
Reported errors
Cannot Get Mail — The mail server ‘xxx.inmotionhosting.com’ is not responding”
<Warning>: ERROR: MFMessageErrorDomain/Generic – The mail server xxx.inmotionhosting.com is not responding. Verify that you have entered the correct account info in Mail settings.
Explanation of symptoms and solutions
We’ve already had quite a few customers complain about this issue directly to us, and it also appears to be a trending topic across multiple message boards as well. This doesn’t seem to be directly related to how we’re handling IMAP and does seem to be a problem with the iOS6 update itself.
It sounds like after upgrading to iOS6, some users might experience their device refusing to make an IMAP connection to check for new e-mail, or connecting intermittently. Even after simply deleting the IMAP account from your device and then re-adding it with all the same settings, the issues can persist in some cases that we’ve seen.
In some cases we’ve seen one proposed solution that this problem can happen if you have 0 e-mails in all of your IMAP folders. To correct this you can simply create a new draft message with a subject such as “Fix for iOS6 problems, do not remove”, and then never remove that message from your account.
For the next solution we recommend copying down all of your current account settings, then re-creating the account using the instructions below. We’ve had customers that were having issues after their iOS6 upgrade fully resolve their problems with this method:
- Delete your current IMAP account on your iOS device, turn the device completely off, wait a few seconds, then turn it back on.
- Wait a few minutes for everything to load up and an Internet connection is available (if possible wait to be connected to a WiFi network).
- Go to Settings -> Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
- Tap Add account…
- Tap Other.
- Tap Add Mail Account.
- Enter your name, e-mail address, password, and description
- Tap Next.
- Select IMAP.
- Fill in your Incoming and Ougoing mail server information.
- Tap Next, the account will try to verify and more than likely fail.
- Tap on No to the “Cannot Connect Using SSL, Do you want to try connecting without SSL?” prompt
- Tap Next again.
- You will get a warning saying the account may not be able to send and receive e-mails, tap on the blue Save at the top-right.
- Tap on the new account, and then tap on it again to open up its details.
- Scroll to the bottom and you should now see Advanced Options, tap this and set the following:
Use SSL: Turn this On
Authentication: Set to password
Change the server’s port to (993) - Tap Back/Account button to save.
- Under Outgoing Mail Server, tap the line SMTP.
- Enter in the settings for your e-mail account that you copied down:
Hostname: secure123.inmotionhosting.com (If you’re unsure, please contact us)
Username: [email protected] (Try user+domain.com if it fails with @)
Password: YourPassword
Use SSL: Turn this On
Authentication: Set to password
Change the server’s port to (465) - Tap Done, and then Done again.
Hopefully after trying out one of these proposed solutions, your IMAP problems cease to happen!
We would love feedback by sending us a message to [email protected], or commenting below, letting us know if this in fact is working for you, or if problems are still persisting so that we can look for further solutions.
