email arrival time question

DaveWT

DaveWT

Well-Known Member
I have a Mac Mini and an iPhone. My wife has a MacBook Air and an iPhone. Both of us use iCloud email and both have cell plans on Koodo. When I receive an email, it arrives on the Mac Mini first, and then sometime later it arrives on my iPhone. However when my wife receives an email it arrives on her iPhone first and sometime later arrives on her MB Air. This means if it is an email she feels she wants to answer right away, she ends up pecking out a reply on the iPhone screen and misses out using the full keyboard of the MB Air. I am wondering what determines this arrival order. I checked my Settings > Energy Saver and see I have "Wake for network access" which possibly explains why I can always find an email on the (sleeping) Mac Mini as soon as I hear there is one by the tone on my iPhone. i.e. when it finally arrives on the iPhone, I can wake the Mini and it is already there without waiting longer, unlike my wife's situation. I then looked on her MB Air and there is no Settings > Energy Saver section to look at. (Of course, all or our devices are on the latest versions if the OS.) Is there something I can change to alter the order her emails arrive? Perhaps this is a whim of the cell carrier or Apple just having fun with us?
 
chas_m

chas_m

Well-Known Member
There are settings for how often the Mail app checks (and these might be different between your Macs and your iPhones/iPads), but remember you are VERY dependent on internet access to determine email arrival times -- if you don't allow Mail to use cellular data, then it can only check when it finds some wi-fi access.

If you're using iCloud to sync mail and all devices have internet access, the difference should only be a few seconds.

PS. no need to "peck" on an iPhone -- you can dictate your replies by tapping the mic icon that appears when the onscreen keyboard appears.
 
DaveWT

DaveWT

Well-Known Member
chas_m said:
There are settings for how often the Mail app checks (and these might be different between your Macs and your iPhones/iPads), but remember you are VERY dependent on internet access to determine email arrival times -- if you don't allow Mail to use cellular data, then it can only check when it finds some wi-fi access.

If you're using iCloud to sync mail and all devices have internet access, the difference should only be a few seconds.

PS. no need to "peck" on an iPhone -- you can dictate your replies by tapping the mic icon that appears when the onscreen keyboard appears.
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Thanks Chas, I will check all devices to see how often Mail checks but would be surprised if there is a difference. The timings we are seeing is consistent so I would think that may not be a reason. Both iPhones allow using cellular data for Mail (but I need to confirm that is still the case) and the Macs, of course, don't. But we are seeing this behaviour consistently at home when all devices are on our wi-fi.

And I knew you might suggest that solution to pecking on the iPhone. Neither of us are in the habit of dictating replies. No need to let the world know what you are saying (yes we are old.)
 
DaveWT

DaveWT

Well-Known Member
Your advice was solid as ever, Chas. Both Macs were set to fetch email "automatically" rather than choosing a time setting. I am not sure what "automatically" does but perhaps equivalent to the "Push" setting on iPhones?

My iPhone was set to check for mail every 30 minutes (I have now changed that to 15 minutes) while my wife's was set to "Push" so that would certainly explain the difference in behaviours I think. She wants her phone left at that setting.

Thanks again.
 
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