Spoon

Guys,

It appears this is an Apple problem going back to 2012 and users are still unable to see certain email attachments despite the paperclip being displayed.

I've worn Google out searching and it is clear there is no apparent fix or workaround.

The attachments in question are sent from a DVR and displayed fine if viewed from either a PC or Mac online in Apple Mail, Gmail or a private server so they are valid until that point. However, when the emails get synced to both the iPad and iPhone a simple blank box is displayed in the email with no way of downloading or viewing the image.

I've had people email me other attached images and they do appear in both devices ready for download as normal.

I've utterly exhausted this one! Any ideas? Or is it a case of waiting until Apple decide it is worthy of their attention, though 3 years on, if search is anything to go on, I'm not sure it looks promising.

JackClark

What are the files? The extension would help.

Spoon

Just a simple .jpg

It clearly isn't the extension though as it works fine until passed to the iPad or iPhone. I just think the Apple mail IOS app is rather lacking.

I'm trying every single mail app at the moment but nothing shows the picture, as yet.

My iPhone is more Google than Apple anyway, due to their superior apps, and I'm inclined to just use Gmail as the mail app. The image shows in the Gmail app (just like viewing on a desktop), but then lacks the tone specific ability per email address like the Apple app allows. It would also mean opening another email address solely for my purposes.

It is one trade off for another. Of course I'm better off using the Apple mail app for audio alerts then just opening the Gmail app for visuals.

JackClark

.jpg's are definitely supported by the mail app, any way you can adjust the image output on the DVR?

JackClark

Might be as simple as this

To modify the settings on your iPhone to allow images:
Open the settings app.
Select "Mail, Contacts, Calendars."
Set the "Load Remote Images" to ON.

Spoon

That was my first port of call and is on, but thanks.

The DVR settings are factory programmed to grab a picture on alert. I can only change the size of picture and chose thumbnail for obvious reasons. The fact Apple receive it OK on a desktop but not a mobile device is just annoying but I doubt it qualifies as a bug for Apple to look at if the problem has existed since 2012.

JackClark

I can't find anyone else with the issue, really odd, have you tried mailing yourself a .jpg? That will narrow it down.

JackClark

https://ifttt.com/recipes/42567-take...hem-to-dropbox

Might be a good workaround. It will save images to Dropbox from Gmail.

Spoon

Yes, if I email myself from a desktop using any random image as an attachment it turns up on my iPad/iPhone as it should ready to press download in the box.

It is just these jpg images that aren't forwarded successfully, yet they always show up at the first stage. Apple must be missing something when it comes to syncing the images from a desktop to mobile devices.

I do think it is something that I have to live with or go Android. Like most things nowadays, getting heard is much more difficult than picking up the phone and speaking to someone slightly intelligent. Forums are littered with this problem and a similar PDF issue going back a few years, with the most recent this year and still no fix.

Spoon

That might work but if I have to add the above I might as well just open my Gmail app on my phone and tablet to view the emails with images. If the Gmail app works the Apple app should too though.

At the moment I use a dedicated Apple email address with a dedicated tone so I know when to take notice. With Gmail alone I'll need to open another email address and with the lack of tone choice won't be able to differentiate between emails. The tone is more important unless I want to look at every email. Fortunately I can check live images and rewind etc from another app but it is just all a bit of a fuss when it shouldn't be.

JackClark

It must be an error in the mail format that the Gmail app lets slide, too difficult to get .jpg wrong, maybe see if there's a choice on email format, sometimes they try to get fancy.

It's an interesting issue for sure.

Spoon

I can't see it as being an error that Gmail lets slide though if all servers allow it through to first base. I'd rather think it as an error on Apple's side being unable to forward it on to mobile devices.

Either way it is an interesting ballache as it stands. If only there was 1 email app that had the best parts of several I've tried!

Thanks for your input.

Spoon

Just to add.

After much testing I've logged into iCloud.com on a PC and forwarded my dedicated email address to Gmail. This way I receive 2 emails, 1 from Apple to give me the dedicated tone and the other from Gmail that gives me the image.

It is as good as it gets for now and possibly all time as I doubt Apple will fix it. It isn't perfect but at least with the Apple tone I only then have to open 1 app, the Gmail app to view the image. Fortunately both emails are received almost exactly at the same time so there's no waiting for the Gmail email to view the image.

JackClark

I doubt they'll fix it too, another option might be a firmware update for your DVR, something they're doing is odd, either the email or the image, it's such a fringe case I doubt you could recreate it without your DVR.

Spoon

How can it be a DVR issue though if every server accepts the image but Apple fail to sync it with their mobile platform? Surely at point of sync Apple are changing things incorrectly or aren't changing things and should be?

It is a high end DVR too. I have informed them though as originally I automatically assumed it was the DVR not collecting the image. The logs soon dispelled that one.

This workaround, however, is working slickly and just means my iPhone is more and more of a Goophone as time goes on.

JackClark

Well, we know that it's possible to create an email with a .jpg attachment and send it to an iCloud address which will then show that .jpg on an iPhone and well anything. Try from whatever operating system you like, I'm sure it will work. That alone points to the DVR, it must have some sort of embedded mail server and it's pretty likely that it has an error that's ignored everything but iOS mail. Now, you could say that Apple are in error for not letting the error slide, but that's a tricky one as it's letting things slide that creates security issues.

Spoon

Yes, but how can syncing to mobile devices be letting anything slide if it has already slid into emails? Surely if it was seen as a possible security issue it wouldn't pass stage one and happily land on a desktop? The syncing to mobile devices is just that, syncing.

That said, If there was an error I'd always side with Apple or whoever if it was if a security risk was flagged.

Spoon

Spoke too 'kin soon!

More than 24 hours after I redirected the Apple email address to a Gmail email address I received an Apple email notifying me of the redirect. Nothing unusual in that as Apple email you if anything changes in your account, although usually emails are far quicker.

What IS unusual though is the Gmail emails no longer contain an image. Every email pre the notification did, every email after the notification doesn't!

Marvellous!