Eight days later, Microsoft's Outlook users on iOS devices still struggling
- Reference: 1741692188
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/03/11/outlook_ios_problems/
- Source link:
iOS users left refreshing in vain as Microsoft Outlook woes drag on [1]READ MORE
Since the early hours of March 3, the email service has been down for the count, and Microsoft continues to wrestle with returning operations to normality. The glitch centers on authentication.
The latest update posted on Microsoft's service health dashboard came at 2000 UTC yesterday, and a red cross is still placed next to the [2]current status of Outlook.com , amid a sea of green ticks for all other applications from Microsoft 365 to Skype.
"Users may be unable to access their email using the native mail app on iOS devices," Microsoft's update says. There is, however, some light at the end of the tunnel, according to the software biz.
"Our telemetry indicates that following the recommended mitigation steps successfully addresses the issue and that additional solutions may not be needed. We'll continue to monitor telemetry to ensure impact continues to decrease while simultaneously continuing our investigation into the underlying issue.
[3]
"As previously mentioned, users should click 'continue' when prompted and navigate back to re-entering their password to attempt to resolve impact. If users aren't prompted but are still experiencing impact, please follow the steps in the following [4]link ."
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Microsoft advises users to click Edit Settings in Apple Mail and re-enter their login credentials; if they don't see the message in the Apple Mail, open the Settings app, click on Apps > Mail > Mail Accounts and re-enter login creds.
[7]Windows 365 Disaster Recovery Plus promises Cloud PC comebacks in 30 minutes
[8]Even Windows 10 cannot escape the new Outlook
[9]Microsoft tests 45% M365 price hikes in Asia-Pacific to see how much you enjoy AI
[10]Microsoft: So what if it costs 4X as much to run Windows Server in AWS, Alibaba, and Google?
Alternatively, users could wait until there's a full moon and pray to the gods of Redmond for something that entirely resolves the glitch for all. Failing that, put on some music and turn the volume up to 11 so that if things still don't work, neighbors won't have to listen to screams of anguish.
Engineers have spent the past eight days searching for the "underlying cause of why users attempting to access their email using the native mail app on iOS are impacted." And here we are.
Microsoft has said in previous updates that it would outline "findings if pertinent." The whole mess can perhaps be traced back to a " [11]problematic code change " during the weekend before the issues began.
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For anyone still unable to access Outlook on iOS devices, we feel for you. Hope can keep you going in dark times and it can also crush your soul. Microsoft has promised another update on March 13 at 2000 UTC. Good luck. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/05/outlookcom_ios/
[2] https://portal.office.com/servicestatus
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Z9BsMnBf6DiqvlhPhXaHWQAAAVQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[4] https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/reconnecting-your-microsoft-365-account-to-apple-mail-83df246e-34d2-4dbb-8e37-23a90c13e16e
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z9BsMnBf6DiqvlhPhXaHWQAAAVQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Z9BsMnBf6DiqvlhPhXaHWQAAAVQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/04/windows_365_disaster_recovery_plus/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/30/outlook_arrives_on_windows_10/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/13/m365_price_rise_asia_pacific_test/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/04/microsoft_blasts_uk_market_regulator/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/03/microsoft_outlook_outage/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/applications&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Z9BsMnBf6DiqvlhPhXaHWQAAAVQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Dump Outlook and replace it
The Naughties called and they want their email client opinions back. For 99% of people including most users of iOS devices Mail is a commodity tool and standards are irrelevant. Are Thunderbird fanbois the same as Linux on the Desktop fanbois? A big cross over surely?
Re: Dump Outlook and replace it
You're right that mail is a commodity, but standards are what make things work. Standards are even more important for commodities than they are for niche products. No-one cares about niche product, but commodities, those gotta work!
Unless of course you like that suddenly all of your electrical socket would output 330 volts at 240Hz because 'electricity is a commodity', instead of whatever they are producing right now (and more importantly, what all your devices expect).
Maybe you'd like to also replace what traffic lights look like? Instead of a vertical red/orange/green, we'll have blue, pink, white, and violet and combine them to signal different things you MUST to do at the intersection. I can't tell you what each combination of those colors will mean though, because that's my proprietary intellectual priority that I'm strongly guarding so it'll suck to be you when you get ticketed.
Traffic lights
And why must they be in a vertical line - there are so many other options.
Re: Dump Outlook and replace it
This year will be year of the Thunderbird said no one ever. It's an email client. It's a very good email client. It's open source. What's not to like? People recommend it that's all. There are lots of good email clients.
As for standard they are always relevant. When you have standards you can have choice. Do you want to live in an eco-system with one single choice? Most toothpastes are pretty much the same bar some formula differences. Do you want to live in a world with only a single brand of toothpaste? What about a world with only one type of bread? Might as well lock bread to one eco-system.
Re: Dump Outlook and replace it
While I agree completely with the sentiment, this appears not to be about the "outlook" iOS app but the "outlook" mail service itself even using the default iOS mail app. Why anyone continues to use Microsoft for anything email related I have no idea - of all the major providers they seem to be easily the worst for reliability.
Re: Dump Outlook and replace it
Thunderbird doesn't work on iOS.
A Blessing
Since the Outlook native apps on iOS are a bag of shite compared to the Web Client - this outage seems rather like a blessing than a curse.
Re: A Blessing
It's the iOS mail client connecting to Office365 that's the problem; We've not had any complaints about Outlook App on iOS Connecting to Office365;
I always recommend the native phone app over a 3rd party one, even Outlook, because it's better supported; in this case, it's bitten me back with quite a few clients.
We have to use Outlook at work. Our Sys Admins have gone out of their way to block access to our work exchange 365 service by everything apart from Outlook.
Thankfully, I primarily use it on my work Mac or Laptop, and not my phone or iPad..
They used to support connection using the native apps on iOS and Android phones. This worked brilliantly on my iPhone. If I ever needed to set up my iPhone again, I just entered my account details once on my phone, and the accounts were available in every app I needed them, both on my phone and Apple watch (I have my Apple watch face displaying details of upcoming meetings and reminders).
I've got the Outlook app on my phone and it while it can show meetings on my watch, if I ever set up with watch or phone, installing and setting up Outlook is another step I need to do. Seems picky, I know. Especially as I don't generally set either device up again. They just work. But it does not integrate as well as I feel it should.
I have Outlook on my iPhone, iPad and Mac for a similar reason - the college I do some part-time work for restricts access such that only Outlook works. I use the Apple default Mail app for all my other email accounts - it's straightforward to use, has adequate in-built security, and works well (except for that college account). I could probably jump through some authentication hoops to get it working, but it's easier to just use Outlook (and that's all I use Outlook for).
It hasn't stopped working, either...
Clarifying opening line
It's the Apple's native iOS Mail app connecting to outlook that's the issue; Microsoft's iOS Outlook native client is running fine.
"The native Outlook email app for iOS" leaves a bit of ambiguity, but my support calls and the Status note on the 365 dashboard lines up with that way around.
Re: Clarifying opening line
Hi David, the author here. We've tweaked. You're summary is correct and my phrasing was clumsy. Thanks for pointing out.
Cheers,
Paul
Re: Clarifying opening line
"It's the Apple's native iOS Mail app connecting to outlook that's the issue"
Does this mean Microsoft has reached Extinguish for the iOS Mail client?
I did wonder why I wasn't receiving the usual spam
Given that the Apple mail clients (for iOS and macOS) are both dogshit I'm slighty not surprised. OK, maybe it's just me, but the way they try to second guess your mail config drives me insane. I know what my email server settings are, why can't I just type them in? Apple says no. So I have to go along with a forced route whilst it thinks it knows best, wait for it to fail, then go and change the settings to what I know is going to work.
Admittedly it's been a while since I've touched either as they don't do my blood pressure any good! Generally I use Thunderbird on macOS and Spark on iOS. And somewhere I have the Outlook app for iPhone/iPad but that's for some old Hotmail account I've still got lurking about.
Dump Outlook and replace it
Either with Thunderbird, or other standards based email readers!