Yahoo said at fault for WP7 and iPhone mail bugs

A hunt late Wednesday has discovered that the Yahoo mail flaw behind inflated Windows Phone 7 data use also affects iPhone owners. Despite protestations from Yahoo, a test of its IMAP server with an iPhone returns the same overinflated response, which supplies about 25 times as much data as necessary. The hike spotted by Rafael Rivera could lead to those using Yahoo's push e-mail on the iPhone to accrue much more data use than they should if they receive enough messages.

In a statement, Yahoo had noted that other platforms, at first including iOS as well as Android, BlackBerry OS and Symbian, weren't subject to the same problem. It tried a quick fix at first and blamed Microsoft for using a non-standard method of connecting to Yahoo's servers. It's unclear if Microsoft was copying Apple's method or if any phone OS designer was responsible.

Whether or not Android encounters the same problem isn't clear, since the basic e-mail check doesn't show the unusual response.

The early search developer had been identified earlier as the source of the issues after Microsoft refused to identify it by name. Owners attacked Microsoft for leaving the problem a secret as it left them uncertain of what to do and potentially liable for large overage fees they couldn't avoid.

Neither Apple nor Yahoo has commented on the new findings, but any iOS user who notices a problem with a Yahoo account can either turn off cellular data or set the Yahoo account to fewer or manual-only checks.

By Electronista Staff

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