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October 16, 2008 12:00 AM PDT
Gmail Accounts Causing iPhone Mail to Crash
Several users have reported an issue in which accessing Gmail accounts causes the iPhones Mail application to crash consistently. Likewise, any other applications that access Gmail, including Contacts, crashes when Gmail data are present. Apple Discussions poster rowanpettett writes:
"I did a fresh restore, and synchronized mail, calendar and contacts to our Exchange Server with no problems whatsoever. But as soon as I added my Google Apps IMAP account, my Contacts started to crash if I scrolled to the bottom of the list or tried to search."
There are three potential fixes for this issue:
- Reset network settings: Settings > General > Reset network settings
- Restore the iPhone in ITunes.
- Change password Navigate to your Gmail account page on a computer and change the accounts password. Next, delete the Gmail account from the iPhone and reestablish it.
Feedback? http://www.iphoneatlas.com/contact.
My .02?
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Also I used advanced setting found in Google Labs to make using the iPhone more productive, sync between multiple OS, different machines etc and even poll the same accounts as POP every once and awhile from one OS using OUTLOOK. I do not do that too often as it really is a waste to download stuff I have laready dealt with several weeks ago and all I do is end up deleting it immediately.
I sync Google contacts and multiple Calanders with the iPhone using iTunes since I got OS 2.1
I also have a jailbroken phone so it isn't a jailbreak issue either. Somehow that fellow has gotten a corrupted memory istuation and it isn't GMail unless he has screwed up somewhere in the settings or dosen't understand IMAP.
Apart from the fact that I've been doing IT & Communications support full-time for fifteen years, I feel comfortable with ruling out user error for two additional reasons:
1. The problem only appeared when the OS 2.1 upgrade was installed, breaking a GMail IMAP configuration that had been working perfectly up to that point.
2. Many other users have reported exactly the same issue breaking their existing (working) GMail IMAP in exactly the same way as soon as they installed the same 2.1 upgrade.
I've tried all of the possible solutions posted above, and none work. Resetting the network settings makes no difference, and neither does changing the GMail password on a PC. And you can't even get in to the Mail, Contacts, Calendars area to delete the GMail account, because it crashes.
So the only way out of the mess is a restore to factory settings and use a different email configuration until Apple and/or Google get this worked out. VERY ANNOYING!!
Here's the solution that worked for me, step by step:
1. Delete all Gmail email accounts from the iPhone.
Probably the only way you'll be able to do this is by restoring the iPhone using iTunes. If you want to restore from a backup rather than starting from scratch again, make sure you delete the Gmail accounts quickly, because the Mail, Contacts, Calendars app usually breaks shortly after the restore process finishes.
2. Clean up your Gmail Inbox and Spam folders.
Log in to your Gmail account from a computer, ensuring that you are only logged in from the one computer, and in one browser window/tab. Click on Inbox, and then at the top of the list of messages click on All Unread. From the drop-down list, click on New Label, and enter a unique name (+Return to Inbox+ for example) so it will be easy for you to locate and return them to the Inbox after this step. Click OK.
At the top of the list of messages in the Inbox, click on All. Then click on Select all ???? conversations in Inbox. Click the Archive button. All the messages disappear from your Inbox. (Don't freak out - they're moved, not deleted!)
Go to the Spam folder, and at the top of the list of messages click to select All. Then click Select all ???? conversations in Spam. From the drop-down list, click on Mark as Read. (Don't click Delete unless you're absolutely certain there's nothing but Spam in the folder!)
Do a search for
is:unread label:All Mail
in the search box at the top of the page, and click Search Mail. You should see all your unread messages. Click on Select All, then click on the Move to Inbox button. Your Gmail inbox is now nice and clean, with only your unread messages in it.
3. Reset IMAP and reduce the number of IMAP folders visible to iPhone. (And other IMAP clients).
Click on Settings, Forwarding and POP/IMAP, and then click Disable IMAP. Save the change, then click Enable IMAP and save the change.
Enable Google Labs if you haven't already. When Labs are activated for the account (this can take up to 24 hours) click on Settings, Labs and enable the Labs feature called Advanced IMAP Controls. Click on the Labels tab in the Settings area and you'll see a checkbox beside each label, which allows you to select which labels will be shown as folders to IMAP clients. Uncheck every folder except Inbox, then log out of Gmail.
4. Test and Tweak.
Create your Gmail account on the iPhone as per the standard instructions, and test it for a few hours. Make sure you can still scroll to the end of your Contact List, search for contacts, and view settings in the Mail, Contacts, Calendars app without any crashes, before you go any further.
If everything is working OK, do a backup of the iPhone in iTunes. If you want, you can now go back and start tweaking the Advanced IMAP Controls to add folders back in, one at a time. Start with Sent Mail, then Spam, and wait a couple of hours after adding each one to see if anything breaks before you add any more. If it all turns ugly again at some point, uncheck the folder that caused the problem and restore your iPhone from the last backup. Hopefully you won't have to go through the whole procedure again, but you'll need to try and identify the problem with that folder/label before you can allow it to show to IMAP clients again.
It's entirely possible that some steps in this list aren't necessary. I've included all of them because it's what I did on this occasion, while I was basically trying to smash the problem from every possible angle, and I have no way of knowing which steps actually made a difference.
Hope it works for you!
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After seven weeks of costly frustration and wasted time, I've finally found a way to work around this problem without dumping the(Google Apps) Gmail that I?m physically and emotionally dependent on. (Apple and Google - maybe you could remember me at Christmas time?)
It?s a bit long, but here's the solution that worked for me - step by step:
1. Delete all Gmail email accounts from the iPhone.
Probably the only way you'll be able to do this is by restoring the iPhone using iTunes. If you want to restore from a backup rather than starting from scratch again, make sure you delete the Gmail accounts quickly, because the Mail, Contacts, Calendars app usually breaks shortly after the restore process finishes. Press and hold down the Home button and the On/Off button together for about 10 seconds until the iPhone resets.
2. Clean up your Gmail Inbox and Spam folders.
Log in to your Gmail account from a computer, ensuring that you are only logged in from the one machine and have only one browser window/tab open.
First we need to label all the unread emails in your inbox, so that we can find them easily to put them back after we?ve cleaned up. To do that you need to enter
in:inbox is:unread
in the search box at the top of the Gmail page and click on Search Mail. You should see all your unread messages. At the top of the list, click on Select All, then on Select all conversations that match this search. From the drop-down list, choose New Label, and call it Return to Inbox. Click OK.
Click on the Inbox again, and at the top of the list of messages click Select All then Select all (number of) conversations in Inbox. From the drop-down list, click on New Label, and enter a unique name so it will be easy for you to locate all these messages you?re about to archive if you ever need to. Click OK. Then click the Archive button, and all the messages disappear from your Inbox. (Don't freak out - they're only moved, not deleted!)
Go to the Labels box and click on Return to Inbox. Click Select All, then the Move to Inbox button. Check that the unread messages have been moved back to your Inbox before you delete the Return to Inbox label.
Now go to the Spam folder, and at the top of the list of messages click Select All then Select all (number of) conversations in Spam. From the drop-down list, choose Mark as Read. (Obviously deleting could be better, but don't do that unless you're absolutely certain there's nothing but Spam in the folder!)
Your Gmail mailbox is now nice and clean.
3. Reset IMAP and reduce the number of IMAP folders visible to iPhone. (And other IMAP clients).
Click on Settings, Forwarding and POP/IMAP, and then select Disable IMAP. Save the change, then click Enable IMAP and save the change again.
Enable Google Labs if you haven't already. (It can take up to 24 hours for Labs to be activated). Go to Settings and click on the Labs tab. Enable the Labs item called Advanced IMAP Controls, click Save, then go to the Labels tab and you'll see a checkbox beside each label, enabling you to select which labels will be shown as folders to IMAP clients. Uncheck every folder except Inbox at this stage, then log out of Gmail.
4. Try Again, Test and Tweak.
Create your Gmail account on the iPhone as per the standard instructions, and test it for a few hours. Make sure you can still scroll to the end of your Contact List, search for contacts, and view settings in the Mail, Contacts, Calendars app without any crashes, before you go any further.
If everything is working OK, you can (optionally) now go back and start tweaking the Advanced IMAP Controls to add folders back in, one at a time. Start with Sent Mail, then Spam, and wait a couple of hours after adding each one to see if anything breaks before you add any more.
If it all turns ugly again at some point, uncheck the folder that caused the problem and restore your iPhone from the last backup. Hopefully you won't have to go through the whole procedure again, but you will need to try and identify the problem with that folder/label before you can allow IMAP clients to see it again.
It's entirely possible that some of these steps aren't necessary. I've only included all of them because I have no way of knowing which ones actually made a difference - I was basically just trying to smash the problem from every possible angle.
Hope it works for you!
I will try your suggested approach and report back with progress.
This bug has really soured my iPhone experience -- fingers crossed your advice helps. I am infuriated by the lack of a 'diagnostic' mode or similar to actually have the phone tell you why it crashes out of an app.....
Michael.
Many thanks to Rowan --- to anyone else experiencing the same gmail difficulties, I suggest you read the earlier posts and follow them to the letter.
The only remaining task this weekend is to see Ireland beat NZ ;-)
Michael.
I use my iPhone to check my Gmail Apps email account, it had worked flawless up until the 2.1 upgrade. After the 2.1 upgrade the phone began to crash back to home when I would click on Mail.app (it would go to the mail screen with no messages, lock up, and then crash to Home). The first time this happened I ended up doing a restore and that appeared to have fixed it. Then the problem came back. What I did to temporarily resolve the problem was delete my email account close back to home and then recreate my email account. That would randomly solve the problem for 5 minutes to a couple days. Next I started noticing random crashes to Home when doing other various tasks, such as; attempting to send a photo via email, attempting to delete my email account, trying to changed advanced settings for Fetch. So I went to the Apple Store and then suggested we reset the iPhone back to original state. That appeared to fix the problem for about 4 hours. Problem back back the next day. This brought me back to the Apple Store, where I explained everything that had happened thus far and they offered to exchange my iPhone. This fixed the problem for about 3 hours. Once again the issue is happening again. It's VERY annoying considering I have to constantly delete my email account to get it to work again, and I can't email any pictures from my phone.
I'm going to try Rowan's suggestion and see if this resolves my problem. I thought I was the only one, glad I finally decided to search for a solution.
THANKS!
Basicly because i want to restore from a backup :(
and thus, can't remove my accounts. Tried twice with no luck ...
is a full restore the only way ?
(a problem with that is that i cannot seem to copy my contacts to outlook... so this will be alot of manual labour i guess... )
- by znuttyone February 28, 2010 12:36 PM PST
- Similar issue with Exchange Corp account.. worked with iPhone support.. looks like iphone does not like large emails..
- Like this Reply to this comment
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(13 Comments)Issues
Environment: New phone, updated to 3.1.3. Configure an Exchange EMAIL account, authenticate and allow mail to sync.
Symptoms: Mail client crashes send user back to home screen
? Open Mail client, status at the bottom of screen will show updating, then updated with the working icon disappearing from the bottom status bar, but continuing to show communication on the upper status bar, randomly the mail app crashes. Sometimes this occurs in 10~15 secs other times it may take 20 secs. Also if you attempt to move a message, mail app will crash everytime.
Troubleshooting steps and resolution.
1. Settings/General/Reset/Reset Network Settings : Still Unresolved
2. Shutdown any other mail clients accessing the email account: Still Unresolved
3. Settings/Mail/Select Account/Delete Account , Recreate Account, selecting only Mail (no contacts, calendars): Still Unresolved
4. Performed Backup and restore to factory 3.1.3. : Still unresolved.
5. Deleted all messages larger than 7MB and moved all but 400 messages out of mail box.
6. Problem solved.
Although now that I understand the root cause of the issue I had, there are some steps that they had me go through that where unnecessary, but that is hind sight and I digress, I will just say that they could have reordered (Outlook/exchange allows you to easily move message, simply doing step 5 first would have identified the issue in less time) and eliminated the need for some of the more drastic steps taken(wiping the phone and reload) in a shorter amount of time (spent 3 hours with them working this issue, probably could have resolved in an hour if we reorder the steps.)
Overall one of the best support experiences I have ever had. No language barriers, prompt and efficient, superb experience, both the initial call handler (Level 1) as well as subsequent level 3 support. Even have the ability to schedule a call back, awesome!!. Other companies need to pay attention to the APPLE support results.