4 Messages
Comcast mail loading very slow on iPad and iPhone
For the last month or so, email is taking forever to download. My devices are running on the latest iOS and my mail setting is on IMAP. I have tried to delete my email account and reinstalled it, but no help. Some people suggested turning the iPad off and restarting. No improvement.
An iOS 18 issue and incompatibility with Comcast’s mail?
supposedly Apple is aware and the latest versions of iOS 18 were going to provide a fix….but no.
Anybody know about a way to fix this?
Accepted Solution
YukamoRan
Contributor
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26 Messages
2 months ago
EDIT: You will need to have Third Party Access Security checked in your settings to allow 3rd party clients (outlook, thunderbird, etc) to access your comcast email. Adding this for clarification
Hi Aleve! Im a freelance IT guy not affiliated with Xfinity or Comcast.
IMAP wouldn't cause any issues for your mail settings. That just means any changes to your mail on one device syncs on all connected devices, plus on comcast's email site. I did also hear other folks had issues with IOS 18 and just comcast too, so you're not alone
I would check this:
https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/third-party-email-access
Also this might help: https://www.xfinity.com/mobile/support/device-troubleshooting?page=device/apple/iphone-xs-max-ios-18/topic/e-mail/setup-email/choice/xfinity-imap
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XfinityRaf
Official Employee
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880 Messages
2 months ago
Good evening @Aleve. Are you using the default iOS Mail app or a 3rd party app like Outlook?
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paroina
Frequent Visitor
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8 Messages
2 months ago
I have the same issues with iOS and Thunderbird on Windows 11. Outlook on Windows 11 works fine. Something is up for sure.
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Aleve
4 Messages
2 months ago
Unchecking the third party access is NOT a solution. If you uncheck it and go to your email on the iPhone or iPad you immediately get an error message. If you are lucky you may get a box to pop up asking you for your Comcast/Xfinity email password, but that gets you right back to an error. In the end you have no choice but to go back to your email settings and check the box for third party access. At least this restores your access to your mail on your iPad, but you have wait a long time again for your mail to load. Very frustrating.
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brandongc1
Visitor
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3 Messages
2 months ago
I have had this issue for months on iOS 18 and I can’t find a solution. I have messed with the fetch data settings and removed and added the account back and on or off wifi it doesn’t seem to help at all.
It’s very annoying and takes minutes to load very basic emails.
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user_dj551z
9 Messages
1 month ago
I haven’t found a fix. It takes several minutes for even a simple “test” email to load. It’s ridiculous. It’s
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user_mdel
2 Messages
1 month ago
Has anyone been able to get this resolved? I’ve tried all the recommended steps numerous times and nothing helps. We need a legitimate solution, this has been months now.
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user_di71
1 Message
30 days ago
Experiencing the same thing with email content that takes forever to load — super annoying.
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KJkinPA
New Poster
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2 Messages
26 days ago
I’m having the same problem, I have tried all the solutions but my Comcast email is taking forever to load on new iPad and iPhone 14. Very frustrating
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Wynd
Visitor
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6 Messages
23 days ago
Same issue for me.
Comcast email works fine on my iPhone 14 w/IOS 17, but two iPads w/IOS 18 are SUPER slow. This behavior started with the upgrade from IOS 17 to 18.
Apple Support (advanced) was no help and effectively threw their hands in the air with no resolution and no willingness to escalate to the developers.
Can Xfinity work w/Apple on giving this some attention??
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Wynd
Visitor
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6 Messages
22 days ago
Edited...
I may have (NOT) have found a solution:
Comcast IMAP email can use SMTP ports 587 (considered more modern) or 465 (legacy, but still secure). I tried switching to SMTP port 465 and my iPads returned to normal email flow. Something seems very wrong with IOS18's handling of port 587.
I'm working with a senior Apple Support tech, and may get this escalated to Apple Engineering. Will update here as it progresses.
Update, 4/11/2025:
As others have reported, the change to SMTP ports 465 doesn't really work. In my case, it's a bit faster to connect and grab subject lines, but still WAY slow at loading content. Will continue to press Apple to escalate and find a solution.
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Wynd
Visitor
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6 Messages
20 days ago
Update 4/11/2025 w/Apple Support:
I just completed a followup support call w/Advanced Support at Apple.
She had me record and upload video of the problem for submission to Apple Engineering.
As she worked this, she found it may already be in their queue. A bit of progress.
She promised to reconnect in 2-weeks with an update unless a fix is completed sooner.
I'll update here as I learn more.
Update 4/26/2025:
Email update from Apple support: "There is no update yet."
I responded that we need confidence that this is actively being worked-on by Apple. Will continue to press for a solution.
Fellow users with this problem: PLEASE contact Apple support, refer them to this forum thread, and press for a solution! We need to be the collective squeaky wheel to get their attention and bubble this onto their priority list. Passive complaining here won't get it done.
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dcgriswold
Regular Visitor
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6 Messages
12 days ago
I am having the same issues. Takes forever to connect and load. Sometimes the popup occurs asking for login and password. No issue with Gmail. Long time customer…Comcast last answer to me..contact Apple. Contacted them…guess what…not their problem. Come on Comcast.
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user_zqu42x
Visitor
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2 Messages
12 days ago
OMG Would somebody at Comcast please fix this. Here I’m sitting this morning and my email just spins and loads and spins and loads. Been doing this for months now and I’m about ready to cancel everything with Xfinity Comcast. I know it is their system and yet they just can’t seem to acknowledge it and fix it.
I actually had to set up an email account to use for anything I find remotely important because this email issue was ridiculous with Comcast.
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