Configure AOL email on the iPhone (POP3)

In another post, I detailed how to set up an AOL email account on the iPhone using default IMAP access. This was a very simple process and requiring minimal inputs from your end. Now you’ll get to know how to configure AOL email on iPhone using POP3, possibly a more popular email protocol.

So which one is better? Frankly, it depends on how you plan to use AOL email. IMAP synchronizes message folders on the server with those on your device and any email client on a computer. POP3, on the other hand, lets you preserve a copy of the email on the AOL server even when you delete it from the iPhone or the computer. To know more, read the differences between POP and IMAP.

Add and configure AOL using POP3 on your iPhone

Configuring the AOL email on iPhone using POP3 is quite simple, though not as straightforward as IMAP. You need to provide the AOL incoming and outgoing server information (mentioned below) with the basic login details.

• On the iPhone home, tap on the “Settings” icon and then move to “Mail, Contacts, Calendars” [Slides 1 and 2].
• To add the AOL email through POP3, tap “Add Accounts” and choose “Other” in the next screen [Slides 3 and 4].
• Tap “Add Mail Account” [Slide 5].
• Now enter your name, AOL email address, password and a short description [Slides 6 and 7]. Click “Save” when done.
• Since we don’t want to use IMAP, tap on “POP” in the following screen [Slides 8 and 9].
• AOL POP3 settings: Enter pop.aol.com in Host Name, the login ID (this should be the part before the @ sign in the AOL email address) and the account password [Slide 10]. Move down and provide the outgoing SMTP address – smtp.aol.com [Slide 11]. No other inputs are required so tap on the “Save” button.
• The iPhone takes a minute or so to verify the information you’ve provided [Slide 12].
• Great! The AOL email account has been configured on the iPhone with POP3 [Slide 13].
• To view the messages, move back to the iPhone Home screen and tap on the “Mail” icon [Slide 14].
• You’ll find AOL listed and the iPhone connects to the server and starts downloading email [Slides 14 and 15].
• Tap on the AOL account name to view the Inbox and then the list of emails [Slides 16 and 17].

Is there a benefit in configuring AOL on iPhone with POP3?

AOL provides unlimited storage space for all free email accounts. This means you never have to delete messages. Using POP3 to configure AOL email on the iPhone offers the benefit of preserving a copy of the message on the server. Thus, even when you delete the email from an iPhone or a computer (set up AOL email on a computer using POP), you can specify to leave a copy of the email on the server which is always available from any machine via webmail!