iCloud as email provider
 

I think people in here overlook very simple email provider - Apple. Obviously their email service is very spartan but I think for common Joe who wants to keep their emails private they are the best free email service out there. Unlike google they don't sell personal information to ad companies. They make their profit from selling hardware and from app store. Both Google and Microsoft have business model based on ad service. Google is obvious search engine. Microsoft has Bing.

It may be OK for someone with minimal needs (or simple needs as a570767 indicates). In my experience, obvious spam frequently gets through to my inbox, and there are fewer mail controls compared to other services. I receive messages purportedly addressed to other .mac or .me users. These are likely a form of spam. I want the service to be good, but I'm hesitant to fully commit to it. It certainly has a pretty face.
I think Apple's mail client is satisfactory and should be for most people who do not need the features and complexity of clients such as Postbox, Thunderbird, Outlook, etc.

I am curious about web-only access. Imagine, for instance, someone who doesn't own Apple hardware, or someone whose Apple hardware was never (and never will be) used with an Apple ID.

@emebrs . I don't think it is possible to have an iCloud email account unless you have at some time had an Apple device.

It is true that the ad free web interface is welcome although I have found it (the web interface) a bit slow.

It's possible now, it used to not be..

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH2609?locale=en_US

I don't use them for important email tho, I use it for contact/calendar syncing. I use fastmail for everything else important.

I've had emails eatin by their blackhole before with icloud/.mac/me

I think the new policy is only for Pages, Numbers and Keynote. Not sure email is included.

It's possible to have icloud webmail without actual apple product. I just opened 2nd account and without pairing to any apple device I got 1GB of storage and basic webmail. After pairing it with my iphone my storage automatically went up to 5GB and I can create up to 3 aliases.
Their web client also has basic rules that you can set up and select which folder gets which emails.
At the end you can remove your iphone from associated account and keep all the bonuses.

@570767. Thanks for clarifying

I read some discussion about iCloud mail and the conclusion is that is not very reliable because of the sole t filtrare that delete some email without motivation

I tested the service many times, it's not a reliable provider at all.
all see what google says,
https://www.google.com/search?q=iclo...lent+filtering

I tested myself: I sent to my icloud email account a message with a pdf file attached and one with the blocked words (as reported here: http://www.macworld.com/article/2029...le-option.html ). However both emails arrived into my email account. It seems that at least those two problems regarding silent filtering was fixed.

not fixed. I tested it just two days ago with a news article (chinese language) from 163.com
the message was dropped silently by apple.

I created a iCloud account a year ago, but could not do anything without an iDevice. I now see those three apps, but no email.

I just created iCloud account and there definitely is webmail. It is in pretty basic form but usable and has ability to create rules for filtering. Given Apple's profit are from selling hardware seems like their email service is probably most private out of all the major free ones.

I've had an icloud email account for years, and rarely (maybe once a year) log into it. It was just too spartan and minimalist for my type of usage. I also found it annoying when I would log in it would send me an email that someone logged in.