Today I updated my self-hosted mailcow server, which mysteriously broke the app password on my iphone. So I had to set up a new one. When I moved from gmail to mailcow back in February I did not document the steps, so I did it now. Threw in a guide for Windows for good measure, with input from the mailcow docs.
Things I learned in the process:
- Willing to be convinced otherwise, but for now I am happy with apple’s own apps for email, contacts and calendaring are superior to the alternatives, especially on iphone.
- One reason is the easy configuration using configuration profiles. 1) Download configuration file from your mailcow user settings, 2) Open settings on your phone and install profile, 3) profit!
- Windows apps do not support configuration profiles and have to be configured manually. This can still be done with app passwords but you have to create them manually in mailcow and then use them to set up access to your app in windows.
Mozilla Thunderbird is the best email app for Windows when you are security conscious. The mailcow docs contain a warning about Outlook that I have not been able to verify but find credible.
I also use nextcloud on my devices and have turned off Apple features like icloud and passwords entirely, which I am hopeful means that Apple does not have access to my credentials.