Mail.app users with Hotmail or Yahoo Mail accounts have long had to use third-party plugins to get hold of their emails.

MacFreePOPs is one such utility that is already Lion-compatible and supports an astonishing range of web-based mail servers, offering POP-like access to your accounts.

Another plugin, mBox Mail , is just for Hotmail users and claims to offer a more “IMAP-like” experience.

It allows mail.app (or any other IMAP-enabled mail client like Thunderbird or Entourage/Outlook) to access Hotmail messages and folders, syncs trash between your mail client and the server and also syncs up drafts, sent mail and message flags.

A patch to make the app Lion-friendly has just been released.

Unlike MacFreePOPs which is donation-ware, an mBox Mail licence costs USD 19.99, although a 30 day free trial is available to try it out first.

I ought to confess that (contrary to my usual commitment) I haven’t tested this out first to see how well it works.

Tags: Apple Mail, hotmail, macfreepops, plugins, Yahoo

A short and glorious life, or a long and dull one?

Owners of the new 3G iPhone face the same dilemma put to the Greek hero Achilles by the gods of Olympus. In the end, he chose glory. But iPhone users might take a different view.

The new phone has a more power-hungry chipset. Walt Mossberg is not the only one who has found “the battery indicator on the new 3G model slipping below 20% by early afternoon or midafternoon on some days, and it entirely ran out of juice on one day”.

I take and make much fewer calls than he does, and I notice it too.

Apple has published a page of tips to help users manage this Achilles’ heel.

Much of the advice is common sense: reduce the brightness of the screen, minimise or turn off the phone’s “push” features, turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth if you don’t need them, don’t play games on it, and so on.

But three of the suggestions were news to me.

First, you can turn off 3G and still receive calls and data via GPRS and EDGE. Makes sense, but it never occurred to me. You will find the option in the Network section of General Preferences.

Secondly, “applying an equalizer setting to song playback on your iPhone can decrease battery life.” You can switch that off, or set it to “flat” in the phone’s iPod settings.

Lastly, Location Services chews a lot of power. Switching it on only when you need it will prolong the life of your battery.

Finally, it surprised me with its advice on cycling the battery:

For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).

I have always thought—following someone’s sage advice when I was a gullible new Switcher—that it was important never to let the battery level fall too low. Now I know.

Luckily, just like Achilles my iPhone thirsts for a short and glorious life, so there will be no problem getting the battery charge down.

[Via InformationWeek ]iphone, 3G, battery life, tips, apple, achilles,

Tags: 3G, achilles, Apple, apple mail tips, battery life, iphone, Location Services, no Super Monkey Ball for you!, not apple mail

Given the recent rather rocky launch of MobileMe, it is no surprise that this week’s list of new and updated technotes from Apple contains a large number of support documents relating to MobileMe.

It is one thing to read the range of complaints in the MobileMe Apple Discussion Group . It’s another thing to get a sense of big problems from the horse’s mouth itself.

Apple’s new Support offerings for MobileMe are listed at the end of this post.

All MobileMe services get a look in, but there is a concentration on Sync issues and how to deal with them.

Some of the items are more useful than others. For example, I didn’t know what the maximum size of a MobileMe email message was until I read that “you can send and receive email messages up to 20 MB in size with your MobileMe Mail account.”

On the other hand, the technote on “How MobileMe filters spam messages” is less useful.

It tells you that

To minimize the impact of spam on MobileMe members, MobileMe employs several methods of detecting spam before it ever reaches your inbox. Spam prevention requires filtering mechanisms that include dynamic lists, trend analysis and content filtering.

However, it continues, “Filtering spam at the server is only part of the equation. You may find it helpful to use your mail application filtering to complement the server filtering.”

The only way to deal with false-positives is to contact MobileMe support:

If you feel that a friendly message was inadvertently deleted, you may want to ask your friend for a follow up email before you contact support, if you notice that multiple messages are being delayed, bounced, or not delivered, you should contact MobileMe Support directly.

Another cracker comes in the technote on viewing Mail.app’s Notes in MobileMe Mail:

Symptoms
If you create a Note with Mail in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, then view the note with MobileMe Mail, the text of the note will appear but the background color of the note will not be yellow.

Additionally, the notes cannot be edited in MobileMe Mail, and may appear to be from an “unspecified-domain” with no “To” address.

Products Affected
Mac OS X 10.5, MobileMe, MobileMe Mail

Resolution
This is expected behavior. For the best experience with Notes, use Mac OS X Mail only.

This document will be updated as more information becomes available.

Here is the full list of new notes relating to MobileMe:

New and Updated Knowledge Base Documents

Canceling your MobileMe account
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT2174

How MobileMe filters spam messages
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT1073

iDisk Syncing: Changes made directly to the iDisk may not immediately sync down to local iDisk
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1159

iDisk Syncing: iDisk may not sync if connected via a mobile high-speed connection
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1758

iDisk: iDisk Syncing takes up more hard drive space than expected in Mac OS X 10.5
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1771

iMovie and MobileMe Gallery: Some movie names may not work in MobileMe Gallery
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1038

iWeb: "This entry no longer exists" error when trying to add or remove comments on blogs published to MobileMe
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1763

iWeb: Default page fails to load & browser continuously refreshes
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1727

iWeb: In published site, Add Comment links don’t display or work correctly
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1762

iWeb: Preserving website comments when upgrading from iWeb 1.x to 2.0
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT2094

Mac OS X 10.5: About viewing Mail Notes in MobileMe Mail
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1756

Mac OS X 10.5: Address Book Sharing – clicking the sync icon does not start sync with MobileMe
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1757

Mac OS X 10.5: MobileMe Sync menu icon spins constantly
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1182

Mac OS X 10.5: Resetting the SyncServices folder
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1627

Mac OS X 10.5: Syncing preference settings with MobileMe Sync
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT2085

Mac OS X: Can’t connect to iDisk, get "Error Code -50"
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1429

Mac OS X: Do not remove or modify SyncServices folder
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT1865

Mac OS X: Mail – MobileMe account mailbox is dimmed
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1726

MacBook (Late 2007): iDisk, MobileMe or remote home directory sync unsuccessful
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1759

Maximum MobileMe message size
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT2069

MobileMe and Apple ID passwords cannot accept some characters
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1728

MobileMe iDisk: Cannot Check Disk Space in System Preferences
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1737

MobileMe mail messages are missing
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1730

MobileMe scans email for viruses
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT2076

MobileMe Sync, Mac OS X 10.5: Calendar syncing issues
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1200

MobileMe Sync: About syncing third-party Dashboard Widgets in Mac OS X 10.5
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1751

MobileMe Sync: Alert after merging contacts
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1178

MobileMe Sync: Conflict Resolver states that seemingly-identical contacts have conflicts after Mac OS X 10.5 upgrade
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1174

MobileMe Sync: iCal Group Calendar name may change when syncing in Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.5
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1188

MobileMe Sync: Initial syncing of Dashboard Widgets may result in duplicate widgets
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1750

MobileMe Sync: Non-functioning web clips may be deleted after syncing Dashboard widgets
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1171

MobileMe Sync: Removing third-party items from the MobileMe Sync pane in Mac OS X 10.5, 10.4
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1153

MobileMe Sync: RSS status doesn’t not sync between Mac OS X 10.4 and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1170

MobileMe Sync: Syncing contact addresses between Mac OS X 10.4 and Mac OS X 10.5 causes sync conflict or alert
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1754

MobileMe Sync: Syncing preferences may "hide" some application windows
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1199

MobileMe Sync: User moved via Migration Assistant does not register computer for syncing
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1183

MobileMe, Address Book Sharing: Contacts or Groups get out of sync
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1744

MobileMe, iDisk: About the invisible ".filler.idsff" file
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT1065

MobileMe, Mac OS X 10.5: "An error was returned from the server" alert after changing your MobileMe password
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1748

MobileMe, Mac OS X 10.5: iDisk Sync may not automatically sync changes
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1745

MobileMe, Mail: Copying MobileMe or IMAP email messages to your hard disk
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT1063

MobileMe: "iDisk full" error
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1764

MobileMe: "Temporarily unavailable" message when viewing a published calendar
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1658

MobileMe: "The size of the iDisk on your computer needs to be adjusted" alert in Mac OS X 10.4
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1160

MobileMe: About syncing more than one Mac to the same iDisk at the same time in Mac OS X 10.5
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1168

MobileMe: Arabic characters in file names change after iDisk sync in Mac OS X 10.4
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT2079

MobileMe: Changes on an iPhone/iPod touch made to your calendars, contacts, or bookmarks while a sync is occuring may not sync to MobileMe
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1794

MobileMe: Computer has less free disk space after turning on iDisk Syncing
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1154

MobileMe: Configuring third-party email applications
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT1625

MobileMe: Email message "bounces" back after sending
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1187

MobileMe: Empty browser cache if issues occur after a MobileMe Mail service interruption
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT2078

MobileMe: File contributed to a MobileMe Gallery via email doesn’t appear
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1747

MobileMe: Identifying fraudulent "phishing" email
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT2080

MobileMe: iDisk Sync – Items in non-synced folders cannot be opened
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1761

MobileMe: Issues sending messages in Mail or other email applications
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1152

MobileMe: MobileMe Gallery maximum photo size
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT1071

MobileMe: Prompted for password when opening some folders on your iDisk in Mac OS X 10.5
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1749

MobileMe: Prompted for password when syncing keychains
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1181

MobileMe: Providing MobileMe support with long email headers for troubleshooting
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT1066

MobileMe: Published photos or movies may take a long time to appear on your MobileMe Gallery
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1746

MobileMe: Troubleshooting Syncing from Mac OS X
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=TS1679

MobileMe: Using SSL encryption with your email
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT2082

Publishing a password-protected iCal calendar to iDisk
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT2071

Some items in Outlook may cause calendars to not sync
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306757

Why was I "spammed" at my MobileMe Mail address?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=HT2073 mobileme, technotes, apple, ical, idisk, sync, contacts, iweb, mail.app, apple mail, gallery, dotmac, the week from hell

Tags: Apple, Apple Mail, calendar, contacts, dotmac, gallery, iCal, iDisk, iweb, mail.app, mobileme, problems, support, sync, technotes, the week from hell

UPDATE: Apologies. I jumped the gun here. The article should have been headlined “MobileMe shows random signs of life”. It sputtered into life from time to time last night, but only long enough for me to grab some of the screenshots below.

MobileMe is live. Check it out for yourself at me.com

UPDATED UPDATE: Nope, gone again. This is too much for my nerves!

UPDATE: All good again! Go for it.

Well, it was live for a moment, long enough for me to grab the screenshot from my MobileMe Account page above. Now it’s gone, and the URL redirects to Apple’s MobileMe Promo page again.

In order to use it you will need to fire up Software Update first and download the MobileMe update that’s waiting there.

The update changes the icon in System Preferences to the new MobileMe one. And probably does more important things too. For example, it requires you to quit Mail.app before continuing, so it’s making some changes there as well.

More details if and when it revives itself again.

Hopefully, it was launched a little early, and is not quite ready. It didn’t look like the MobileMe Calendar knew about my CalDAV calendars.

UPDATE: Still doesn’t know about my CalDAV calendars.

And there’s bad news in the MobileMe Address Book Preferences for people who don’t live in the USA, France, Germany or Japan:

In answer to Harry’s question in the comments, it looks like the personal domain option in the Account Preferences only relates to web hosting, not to email:

But I can’t test that.mobileme, dotmac, .mac, mail.app, apple mail, apple, ical, address book, frustrating!

Tags: Address Book, Apple, Apple Mail, dotmac, frustrating!, iCal, mac, mail.app, mobileme

Someone, who seems to have some personal knowledge of Snow Leopard, claims to have solved the mystery of Snow Leopard’s shrinking mail.app.

In a post that details the various myths doing the rounds on the shrinking apps—no PPC code (false!), smaller binaries (false!), missing language files (false!)—the writer spills the beans:

When you look in Mail.app you see that language files use up most of the disc space. Inside the language folder (e.g. “German.lproj”) are a lot of .nib files (the extension of Interface Builder). Inside normally are two files. One is a very small “keyedobjects.nib” and the other is very big “designable.nib” file… Now the “designable.nib” is gone. It seems like it had no reason other than to give hackers a chance to mess with the application’s UI design.

I guess he is referring to these two files which are inside each (c. 84) folder within every (18) lproj localisation folder, as in this example from the English.lproj GeneralPreferences.nib folder:

Perhaps this is as false an explanation as all the others.

Still, it has enough specifics, specifics that only someone with access to a build of Snow Leopard could know, to lend the story credence. mail.app, apple mail, snow leopard, interface, nib files, apple, mac osx

Tags: Apple, Apple Mail, interface, mac osx, mail.app, nib files, snow leopard

UPDATE: A post today claims to explain it all.

According to a post on AppleInsider , the apps in Snow Leopard are going to be dramatically smaller and more efficient.

This weight-loss regime is prompted by the need to slim Mac OS X down for the growing number of mobile devices, so RoughlyDrafted (the source of the AppleInsider report) suggests.

As the graphic below demonstrates, the new apps are significantly smaller; Mail.app alone loses 196MB, over 68% of its current size:

Who would have thought that Mail.app had so much weight to lose?

According to AppleInsider some of the efficiency comes from a greater centralisation of resources in Snow Leopard:

Among the technologies believed to be aiding the downsizing are Resolution Independence, which substitutes bitmapped raster graphics with smaller vector graphics files, and Localization, which extracts the plethora of localized language files from each individual application and instills them into a centralized container accessible to each application.

Mail.app users can also look forward to more complete text handling features like auto word correction, smart dash insertion and more. mail.app, apple mail, snow leopard, leopard mail, apple, localization, resolution indendence

Tags: Apple, Apple Mail, leopard mail, localization, mail.app, resolution indendence, snow leopard

Apple’s iCal Team is looking to hire a software engineer.

The job description on Apple’s web site says that Cupertino is “looking for someone eager to take iCal to the next level and increase it’s integration with other applications in Mac OS X.”

It goes on: “iCal is a calendar and scheduling tool for Mac OS X that is one of the premiere applications in OS X, and we have great plans.”

I wonder if those plans include unwinding some of the changes made to the interface in Leopard.

Dennis Sellers at MacsimumNews is not the only person who believes that Leopard iCal is a “a downgrade of the product” because of “the extra clicks needed to enter an event or to, for example, correct an entry”.

MacNN takes it further:

Some are saying that this “downgrade” is the sole reason that they can not upgrade to Leopard, and that Apple should ask its users what they need to change instead of doing what it thinks is best for everyone. The largest complaint is that the information ‘bubble’ is too inconvenient to call up – requiring a double-click – in contrast to the old pane that would update as a new event is selected. Almost all are imploring Apple to either modify the current method or to re-instate the drawer, giving users a choice of how they want to use iCal.

If you were King (or Queen) of the iCal Team for a day, what would you ask the new employee to fix first? ical, apple, cupertino, the ical team, leopard, interface

Tags: Apple, Cupertino, iCal, interface, Leopard, the ical team