Hi, my 89-year-old Dad just bought himself a 2018 iPad Pro. I wanted to get it totally set up for him during the time I had (live about 100 miles away), and ran into an annoying snag.
He has an imap email account that's been successfully set up on the iPad. All the messages are there, folders, etc. Can send/receive mail fine.
(The iPad is up to date on iOS software. Just installed an update while I was there, so there's nothing more to do on that end.)
I created an iCloud account for him. I exported his current email contact list as vCard, and imported them into iCloud. Fine and dandy - no issues. All the contacts show up in iCloud correctly. They have been synced to his Mail app on the iPad normally.
Here's the issue: When we go to create a new message in the mail app, the contacts in the mail app show up grayed out. They can't be added to the email message(s). They don't auto-populate when typing the first few letters of the person's name in the To: or CC: fields. They cannot be tapped on when tapping the " + " sign. The contact list shows up when tapping the " + " sign, but again, the complete list is grayed out. We can't add any contacts either manually or automatically.
Note: The contacts look normal and not grayed when you open up the actual Contacts app on the iPad. They are grayed out in the mail app, however.
Of course, this is going to be a huge issue for him, and it's a big annoyance in my book.
OK, what's been done - my internet searches about this issue always come back to "Restrictions". Restrictions weren't even on, so there was nothing being restricted. I set a password for Restrictions and turned them on, and still no go. Everything is open when you first turn them on - nothing is restricted, in other words - and still no change. Contacts are grayed out.
I deleted all the contacts in iCloud and exported a new vCard list / imported back into iCloud. No problems. They imported fine.
There's no Apple store anywhere near where he lives, so that's not an option, and I can't get there often enough to do family tech support, lol. I did put on the Teamviewer Quick Support screen sharing app, so hopefully if there's a fix I can do, I will be able to see his screen, at least, and walk him through steps. I'm actually hopeful that the fix is in iCloud, as that I can do remotely by logging in as him and doing what's necessary.
Thanks for any help!
He has an imap email account that's been successfully set up on the iPad. All the messages are there, folders, etc. Can send/receive mail fine.
(The iPad is up to date on iOS software. Just installed an update while I was there, so there's nothing more to do on that end.)
I created an iCloud account for him. I exported his current email contact list as vCard, and imported them into iCloud. Fine and dandy - no issues. All the contacts show up in iCloud correctly. They have been synced to his Mail app on the iPad normally.
Here's the issue: When we go to create a new message in the mail app, the contacts in the mail app show up grayed out. They can't be added to the email message(s). They don't auto-populate when typing the first few letters of the person's name in the To: or CC: fields. They cannot be tapped on when tapping the " + " sign. The contact list shows up when tapping the " + " sign, but again, the complete list is grayed out. We can't add any contacts either manually or automatically.
Note: The contacts look normal and not grayed when you open up the actual Contacts app on the iPad. They are grayed out in the mail app, however.
Of course, this is going to be a huge issue for him, and it's a big annoyance in my book.
OK, what's been done - my internet searches about this issue always come back to "Restrictions". Restrictions weren't even on, so there was nothing being restricted. I set a password for Restrictions and turned them on, and still no go. Everything is open when you first turn them on - nothing is restricted, in other words - and still no change. Contacts are grayed out.
I deleted all the contacts in iCloud and exported a new vCard list / imported back into iCloud. No problems. They imported fine.
There's no Apple store anywhere near where he lives, so that's not an option, and I can't get there often enough to do family tech support, lol. I did put on the Teamviewer Quick Support screen sharing app, so hopefully if there's a fix I can do, I will be able to see his screen, at least, and walk him through steps. I'm actually hopeful that the fix is in iCloud, as that I can do remotely by logging in as him and doing what's necessary.
Thanks for any help!