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Gmail Users Bring Renewed Attention to Issue With Apple's Mail App Popping Open Sporadically on Mac

In a blog post shared on Reddit, software engineer Philipp Defner has brought renewed attention to a years-old issue that results in Apple's Mail app randomly popping open as the frontmost application on the Mac.

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"If you are in full screen mode — like when you are giving a talk or watching a movie — it opens itself up in split view mode where it takes up half the screen while your other main window is being resized," wrote Defner, in line with similar comments shared across the MacRumors Forums, Apple Support Communities, and elsewhere.

The issue appears to be related to a potential connectivity or syncing issue with certain Gmail accounts, with some users noting that creating an app-specific password for your Gmail account is an effective workaround. Other users simply keep the Mail app minimized in the Dock instead of closed entirely to avoid it from popping open sporadically.

Defner notes that the issue has been occurring since at least macOS Sierra and continues in macOS Catalina. Affected users are hopeful that Apple can implement a fix, although it is unclear if there is anything it can do on its end.

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Top Rated Comments

B4U Avatar
80 months ago
"Apple is going to implement a fix"? The issue has been here since Sierra FFS!
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
corrado7 Avatar
80 months ago
I thought it was just me that this is really annoying
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ojiisan Avatar
80 months ago
Nice to know others have been having this problem..
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4jasontv Avatar
80 months ago
This happened to a classmate of mine during a test. Thankfully the proctor saw the window open on its own, but yeah, that could have been really bad.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
80 months ago
I'm glad this is making news. It did my head in for ages. I think I solved it with the app-specific password workaround. Can't remember! It doesn't happen anymore though.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
uller6 Avatar
80 months ago
This is one of the most annoying bugs I've ever seen, and Apple really should have fixed this years ago.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)