Have you ever tried to look at an e-mail on your iPhone only to find that it seems to take forever to display the content of the message as you watch a wheel spin at the top of your screen, and then when something finally does appear, it is just an error message? Sometimes your iPhone tells you that the message cannot be displayed because of the way it is formatted. Other times it tells you that this message has not been downloaded from the server. Here is an example of one such error message that I encountered yesterday:
Once you get an error message like that, even if you go to another e-mail and then come back, you'll still see the error message.
The solution: restart the Mail app. To force a restart of any app on your iPhone, hold down the Sleep/Wake button until a red slider appears, but don't touch that slider. Instead, next hold down the Home button for a few seconds. This will force the app to quit. You can then tap the Mail icon to launch the app again and Mail will try again to download the content of that message.
In my experience, the most likely cause of this problem is a poor data signal. I encountered this problem yesterday the same place that I encounter it most of the time — at the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, right after my plane landed while taxiing to the gate. I frequently have a hard time getting a reliable AT&T data signal on the runways of that airport, which means that it often takes a long time for new message to appear, and even when I finally see my list of new messages, I sometimes run into error messages like the one noted above.
Here are two related tips. First, sometimes you will see the content of an e-mail message, but your iPhone will have trouble downloading an attachment. After trying for a while, it will give up, and instead of seeing the correct icon for the attachment (such as Word file icon) you will see a blank box. Tapping that blank box does nothing. The solution is the same; restart the Mail app, and then let the iPhone try to download the attachment again.
Second, when you are in an area with poor data coverage and you get tired of waiting and waiting for Mail to appear, I often have good luck putting the iPhone into Airport Mode for a few seconds. (Go to the Settings app and then Airport Mode is the first option at the top.) Then turn off Airplane Mode, and the iPhone will try to get a new 3G signal. In my experience, I often have luck getting a better 3G signal for at least a little while, although sometimes in an area like an airport where there is heavy demand for limited resources, the signal will get worse over time. When that happens, I just use this same trick again and turn on Airplane Mode for a few seconds.
By the way, for new readers of iPhone J.D., here are some of the prior iPhone tips that I've covered on this website:
- My favorite iPhone shortcuts: 11/24/08
- More iPhone Shortcuts: 12/12/08
- Tips on iPhone Software 3.0: 6/23/09
- More iPhone 3.0 tips and shortcuts: 7/6/09
- Create an Apple folder: 6/30/10
- Vanity mirror: 7/1/10
- Create a folder with a color Emoji icon: 7/5/10
- How many apps do you have?: 11/15/10
- Zoom: 12/14/10
- Invite out-of-town relatives to the party: 1/18/11
- The iPhone as a boarding pass: 2/15/11
- Track changes metadata: 5/16/11
