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MobileMe email aliases will be supported in iPhone OS 4

by Michael Grothaus Apr 11th 2010 at 12:00PM


A reader has sent us a little tip that MobileMe email aliases are now supported in iPhone OS 4. Apple describes MobileMe email aliases as "nicknames" for your account. When you join MobileMe you have a primary user name/email address, but Apple also allows you to create five "nickname" aliases that you can send and receive email with. The advantage of this is that if you go to a site that requires you to register your email address to log in, but you're worried about getting spammed, you can create an email alias in MobileMe and use that new email alias as your email address.

All emails sent to that alias show up in your primary account's inbox. If you suddenly start getting spammed, you can just delete the email alias and any emails sent to that old alias will not make it to your inbox. Aliases are also good for shopping sites or using as separate personal and professional email addresses.

Since Apple introduced email aliases in MobileMe, you could always use them to send and receive email, but it had to be done in the Mac's desktop Mail client or on MobileMe's webmail site. It looks like you will also be able to send and receive emails from your MobileMe email addresses using the Mail app in iPhone OS 4.

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A reader has sent us a little tip that MobileMe email aliases are now supported in iPhone OS 4. Apple describes MobileMe email aliases as...
 

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Kara

Hi I have followed the above directions left by Montana a million times...and my iphone 3gs still comes up with an error message saying that there is a problem with the outgoing mail server not existing . I just set up my first alias today on mobileme so was under the impression that I had to use .me.com for everything. I have tried to set up with mac.com instead but with no luck.

If anyone has any further ideas it would be great...thanks in advance :-)

June 01 2010 at 11:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Andrew

All you have to do is set up an IMAP account with your alias as the e-mail address, then the usual login info for MobileMe. Voila!

April 11 2010 at 8:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Andrew's comment
Montana Leet

I think I love you. It was a tad of a hassle and took a couple tries until I figured it out, but it worked! This is something no Google search could help me with.

Detailed instructions *a baby can follow* (Do note that it appears Push notifications don't work using your alias. Damn. However all incoming messages whether to alias or original will go to your original inbox, so ultimately the e-mails do get pushed to you, and you can choose what address to reply to / send e-mails by tapping "From" in the compose window):

1) Tap the "Settings" app on your iDevice.
2) Tap "Mail, Contacts, Calendars".
3) Tap "Add Account..."
4) Tap "Other".
5) Tap "Add Mail Account".
6) Under "Name" enter your name.
7) Under "Address" enter whateveryouraliasis.mac.com (or whateveryouraliasis.me.com if you're stuck using @me.com).
8) Under "Password" enter the password for your MobileMe account.
9) Tap "Save".
10) On the next page it takes you to, things get tricky.
11) Under "Incoming Mail Server", for "Host Name" if you want your @mac.com address, enter "mail.mac.com"... That seems a tad odd, because Apple did make the me.com switch, but trust me here. If however you use @me.com, enter "mail.me.com".
12) Under username, enter your *non-alias* username. If you want to use your @mac.com address, your username should be originalusername@mac.com. For @me.com peeps, it should be originalusername@me.com
13) Under "Password", enter your MobileMe password.
14) "Outgoing Mail Server" is a tad tricky because what's "optional" isn't really "optional".
15) Under "Host Name", if you're an @mac.com peep, enter in smtp.mac.com. For @me users, smtp.me.com.
16) "Username" is your original account username. And it is required, not optional. For @mac.com users, your username is originalusername@mac.com. For @me.com peeps, it is originalusername@me.com.
17) "Password" is your account password.
18) Tap "Save" and then yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

April 11 2010 at 9:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Galley

Nice! I have aliases set up for my cats. My nieces like to send e-mails to my cats.

April 11 2010 at 6:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Steve.weinberg

I use all 5 aliases with my mobile me acct for the past 5 years and have been able to send and receive on any of them from my iPhone 3G ever since I first got it 15 months ago. They set it up for me in the Apple store when I got the phone. But glad to hear that using this feature will become even easier

Steve

April 11 2010 at 5:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Steve.weinberg's comment
Fudge

How did they "set it up?" I want to send and reply with my alias accounts.

April 11 2010 at 6:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sonola777

Loving that!

April 11 2010 at 5:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Greg

How many years do we need to continue waiting for Calendar Invites, or family calendars for family-pack subscribers? MobileMe is still totally bush league as an "Exchange for the rest of us."

April 11 2010 at 4:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
KP

Too late. I switched my email to Google Apps because of this, as well as the non-push issues mentioned above. I still enjoy almost all of the features of MobileMe, but the email sucks in comparison.

April 11 2010 at 4:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
kim.aldis

Forgive me but I have to have a two minute moment of cynicism. Everyone else's mail servers let you use plus addressing which gives you an infinite number of aliases. Apple give you five aliases and somehow manages to convince you they've done something better.

April 11 2010 at 3:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tom Crouse

I didn't know that you could do that...... This is really useful if you have multiple accounts and need to send them all to one place without them knowing your real address. I'm gonna have to give this a try later because I get so much spam in my other inboxes.

April 11 2010 at 2:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brian

I have a work-around on my iPhone that gives me this functionality, but I like the idea of it being built in. If you receive an email to an alias and reply to it, will Mail on iPhone automatically send the reply from the alias, or will it default to the main address? That's the one problem with my work-around,so I hope Apple can make that work. If so, this will so rock!

April 11 2010 at 2:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Brian's comment
Tom

Just checked it, when you receive an e-mail to an alias and reply to it, Mail.app does send this e-mail from the alias address.

April 11 2010 at 2:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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