Existing users, 
iPhone Mail Suddenly Refuses to Fetch Messages
Posted 26 August 2008 @ 7am in Troubleshooting
Several users have reported an issue in which the iPhone’s Mail application suddenly fails to retrieve new messages, generally after switching from one connection method to another (e.g. WiFi to EDGE or vice versa).
As desribed by one Apple Discussions poster:
“If I switch from edge to wifi or visa versa, the phone will no longer retrieve new mail without me doing a restart. It seems whatever mode it’s in on startup won’t let go of the control of mail until a restarts.
“Last night I was using WiFi and receiving mail fine. Early this morning I turned WiFi off as I was going out and would not have WiFi access. A few minutes ago, back at home, I switched WifI back on and got a flood of several emails from as early as 10:30 this morning.”
The only genuine workaround for this issue appears to be a full restart of the iPhone. Hold the sleep/wake button then slide to power off the device, then turn it back on.
Alternatively, you can try force-quitting the Mail application by launching it (if it is not already active) then holding the home key for several seconds until the Mail app disappears and you are returned to the home screen.
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10 Comments
Posted by templetonrl
26 August 2008 @ 9am
I have nage 3 visits to the apple store Genius Bar and they have restored my phone 4 times then set it uo as a new phone. Nothing works and have not received a new email in 4 days. I think the Iphone 3g is a TURD
Posted by DustinFinn
26 August 2008 @ 9am
I have been seeing this since 2.01 update. And whats worse, I see it without switching to/from WiFi to Edge.
I have 3G turned off, the coverage with ATT is just not enough to be bothered by the battery drain and dropped calls.
Back to the e-mail fetching. The Mail application is “doing something” wether its to save battery life, or save data or whatever, it seems to go to sleep. It also tells you have mail, but then doesn’t download the mail until you’ve opened the e-mail. requiring you to wait while mail messages are downloaded as you open them…
Regardless, the iPhone just seems to lack the messaging features (downloading mail every 15 minutes) like Motorola Q9c used to do regularly…
Something is up, and I am not waiting around for the fix, I am jumping ship this week (with-in 14 days of my return period for apple)….
Posted by PandemicSoul
26 August 2008 @ 9am
Yeah, I’m having this issue as well. It seems like whenever you switch from Wifi to 3g, lots of stuff gets all messed up — AOL Radio/Pandora, for example, lose their connection and won’t get it back until you reboot.
I’ve just turned wifi off entirely unless I need it for something specific.
Posted by Wduncan--2008
26 August 2008 @ 6pm
I have exactly the same problem. I can only fix it by a full restart. I’ll try the force quit on the mail app. Love to hear if there’s a setting I can change to fix this
Posted by man290663
27 August 2008 @ 4am
This is not something i have ever come across but i regularly put my phone to power off at night then back on in the morning . being in the UK we have great 3G coverage and even the networks have admitted that they DO throttle back the 3G speeds due to lack of capacity on the network with france limiting it to 384kbps for all phones.
the only time I have not have mail is in the London underground where the is no phone coverage or WiFi at all.
otherwise its seamless.
Posted by iphoneatlas2
27 August 2008 @ 4am
I have a 2.0.1 jailbroken iPhone 3G and this started happening to me this morning. I haven’t changed anything over the last few weeks so I don’t really get why it could have only just started?
Posted by alfonsopulido1
27 August 2008 @ 9am
I don’t think this problem is exclusive to the iPhone 3G. I have a first generation iPhone with the latest software update and it happens all the time: I have to restart the phone to be able to receive mail again.
Posted by templetonrl
27 August 2008 @ 11pm
I was the first person to post- I learned that I have to proof read my posts or I look like an idiot. I went to the Apple store today- the 4th time in a week- with a problem of email not being fetched automatically. They restored my phone 3 times and each time it did not recognize that the phone had been restored and asked if I wanted to continue the restore which the Genius did 3 times. Finally they took my Macbook, turned it upside down, removed the battery and held the power button in for 30 seconds. They then activated my iphone as a new phone rather then a restore. That worked but they were unable to sync my music and photos so they uninstalled iTunes and then reinstalled it, then re-synced my phone and now I have music and pictures but the email still will not work. When they handed my Macbook back to me, there was a large scratch on the top cover, from where they had turned in over to remove the battery. Found out then that the employee that did this was not a genius just a helpful employee, who did the damage. They were going to replace my Macbook until they found out it was a 2.2 previous generation not the current 2.4. I then offered to pay the difference between my Macbook and a new Macbook Pro but the manager decided to order a new case for my Macbook meaning I will be without it for a while. I still want to pay the difference and get an undamaged computer so I am hoping for a positive outcome. I asked about returning the iPhone and was informed that only ATT has a 30 day return policy not Apple who has a 14 day return policy on all equipment. Apple stated I could terminate my ATT contract but could not return iPhone as the 14 days were up. I thought Apple was customer oriented but I am sorely disappointed.
Posted by lancenj76
1 September 2008 @ 8pm
I have found the exact same problem. The only work around is that when you switch from wifi to edge go to safari and get to any web site. This tells the iPhone software to get to the Internet. Once connected it will get email. I have had the problem of while retriving email I constently got caught up on the connectiing state. I figured it was switch from wifi to edge this happenend. This is the only work around found. Hopefully apple comes out with a bug fix for this
Posted by rfriedny
11 September 2008 @ 12pm
Ever since I upgraded to v2, my 1G iPhone will not fetch mail, unless I force it to with a full restart. I also then brings in all the old, previously read mail again too. I have restored the phone 3 times and manually entered all my mail account info.