I have one (non-Apple) email account on my iPhone, so I can manually check when out and about if I expect a specific email.
So in iOS 18 and 26 I have, with several restarts of device along the way:
Settings > Mail> Mail Accounts > Fetch New Data (Off indicated in gray) >
• Push (slider white oval on left, apparently off, but text below says will be pushed when possible);
• (account) Manual in gray > Select Schedule: Manual with checkmark;
• Fetch section: Manually has a checkmark
So, like, I have four settings indicating manual checking yet mail is still pushed. Are there other settings I am forgetting that override these?
This Topic from Nov 2021 is related so it seems it really is a long standing issue.
Per that Topic I have adjusted the Notification Settings, which in themself are confusing:
Notifications appears to consist of Alerts, Lock Screen Appearance and Customised Notifications;
I deselected all three styles of Notification, left the Sound and Badge on as I would like those to indicate if the App is following my instructions;
Lock Screen I put to never show Previous and automatic Grouping;
But in Customise Notifications > Accounts I can turn on/off “Alerts” and “Badges” for a specific account. But I have higher up the Settings Alert Sound and Badge on in the Alerts section. This seems to be a conflict.
If I was to, on first screen, turn all alerting functions off, how can I turn them on for a specific Mail account for instance.
Anyway, I’ll see if the changes in Notifications helps.
Unfortunately my reply from that 2021 topic still applies, thru even a few more iPhones and iOS releases:
“FWIW this has been the case with my iPhone for years (always just once or twice a day, every day), through multiple iOS updates. I eventually gave up trying to resolve it because it doesn’t present a problem other than being annoying. I didn’t report it as a bug.”
Is the mail actually being delivered to the in box when you open the mail app, or are you just getting alerts?
I think push notifications and pushed email are two different things. The push notification alerts you when you have received an email, based on your notification settings, whether or not the message has been delivered to your device; pushed email just means that the phone will collect the mail when it is available, whether you are using the mail app or not, and if you turn that off, it means that you need to refresh the mail app to actually collect the mail when you open the mail.
That said: I have no idea if that is what actually happens, because I want my email pushed so that it’s there when I open the app. What happens with me is that I have several mail accounts, most are not pushed but fetched ( Gmail/Google mail), and when I open the mail app in the unified All Inbox view and go to do something like swipe to delete an email thread, all of a sudden a thread from one of the non-pushed accounts will show up at that spot just as I am starting the swipe - so now I have learned to wait a few seconds before I start to triage my email.
I was the OP in that thread. Mail still (mis)behaves and downloads mail even though the app is closed and the settings are set to download manually.
If the device is on Wi-Fi and powered on a charger or similar it downloads mail overnight. If either of those two conditions are not met it does not download.
That’s a good question @ddmiller , I have been looking at the App icon when I hear the sound assigned to the Alert for new mail and was thinking the number in the Badge had changed. Now that I’m more aware of the difference and have changed notification settings I’ll see what happens.
Hang on, I can test that by sending an email from the Mac now and see what happens. Notification Settings for Mail are to Allow, three styles all deselected, Sound is selected as is Badges on.
refreshed and closed app on iphone
locked screen with a Shortcut
sending mail from Mac… waiting 10 minutes and… no Alert sound or any iPhone activity
wake and unlock iphone… no change in Badge count, no Notifications
opened the App, pulled to refresh and there is the test email
Hm so that means it’s as @ddmiller wrote, the Notification is what I’ve been getting, not a pushed email.
Turned on all three Notification styles, app quit, screen locked. New test email from Mac… 25 minutes later no sound or Notification but second test mail is there. Hm. So… I’ve allowed Notifications but am not getting them. Now I’m really confused.
Set the Mail Account’s Fetch New Data to Push: on, but Fetch Manually for the account. Test Mail 3, badge on Mail on home screen had not changed, launched and pulled the app and mail 3 arrived.
Changed Fetch to Automatic. Test 4… no Notification, sound, Badge change.
Good grief, I give up this is all too confusing with overlapping terminology and functionality. I turned off Notifications and Fetch and Push and everywhere a “Manual” choice was set it to that. Getting email on the phone is not that important in my use case.
Sorry to have disturbed y’all with this and thanks to those who so nicely replied.
I don’t think you can draw any definite conclusions from testing it like that because at least in my experience it’s always been pretty random. Although it consistently has always done it (almost every day), the once or twice a day it happens could be almost anytime, although most frequently overnight. Also doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s charging or not.
Thanks @BrianW , “pretty random” is right! Sounds like this is going on for years, so I’ll just revert to opening the App and refreshing when I am expecting a Mail or if bored. That technique, at least, is pretty reliable.
Gmail/Google mail), and when I open the mail app in the unified All Inbox view and go to do something like swipe to delete an email thread, all of a sudden a thread from one of the non-pushed accounts will show up at that spot just as I am starting the swipe - so now I have learned to wait a few seconds before I start to triage my email.