Offline and message integrity
What FOLD shows without a connection, how the outbox holds your mail, and how incomplete messages are flagged and reloaded.
Working offline
Without a connection FOLD shows a notice at the bottom of the window. On the Mac it reads “Offline. Messages will be sent as soon as the connection is back.” with a button that retries the connection (⌥⌘R). On iPhone and iPad a small Offline capsule appears with Retry; while FOLD checks, it shows Checking connection …, and if the connection is still missing, “Still offline. Check your connection and try again.”
Messages already stored on the device remain readable, and you can write new ones.
The outbox
A message you send while offline waits in the Outbox and leaves automatically when the connection returns. FOLD tries each message up to three times. After that it is marked Failed and stays in the outbox until you choose Retry. A send that was interrupted, for example because the app quit, is resumed at the next start.
After a successful send, FOLD files a copy in the Sent folder; see Sent folder.
Messages that are not fully on the device
If the full message is not on the device yet, FOLD never passes off the list preview as the message. The reader shows the preview under the label Preview, together with a notice:
| Notice | Meaning |
|---|---|
| You’re offline | The full message loads once you are back online. |
| Couldn’t load message | The server did not respond or reported an error. |
| Download stopped | The server did not deliver the message in time. |
| Sign-in failed | The server does not accept this account’s credentials. |
| Message too large | The message exceeds FOLD’s size limit; the notice names both sizes. |
| No longer on the server | The message was deleted or moved on the server. |
| Account locked | The account uses Fortress encryption; unlock it to read. |
Integrity check
FOLD checks every downloaded message in two independent ways: it compares the received size with the size the server announced, and it checks that the MIME structure is closed and every part can be decoded. Some servers report sizes that are slightly off, so small differences with a complete structure are tolerated. Possible findings:
- Message incomplete: “The server delivered only part of this message” (with both sizes), or the message ends prematurely.
- Message not properly closed: the last part may be incomplete.
- Parts unreadable or Message can’t be displayed: FOLD could not read the content; Show source opens the raw message.
- Local copy unreadable: the stored copy is damaged or can’t be decrypted.
Reload fetches the message from the server again.
Until a message is complete, FOLD refuses to pass it on. Forward and Send Again then report, for example, “Message transferred incompletely. Reload it before passing it on.” A draft that is not fully loaded cannot be continued either.