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Comment by TylerE | Hacker News Reader

A top level settings item called “Passwords and Accounts” is obscure?

And if you type "Mail" in the search field in settings, "Add Mail Account" is the 5th search result. It's not that hard.

Why wouldn't you manage email accounts through the email app? It makes enough sense that it's what all other email apps do...

Because “email” accounts aren’t actually email accounts. They typically include Notes, Contacts, Calendars, and many other associated pieces of functionality that span multiple independent apps, and you don’t want to have to log in 4 different times.

On an Android phone you don't have to re-log in. You can share accounts across apps. Accounts are also in the settings. You can still manage your email accounts through the emails apps however, and the makers of most apps allow you to manage your account in the app itself, even if the login spans multiple apps. It just makes no sense to not have it in the app at all.

Sharing accounts across apps also works on iOS, FWIW. Most Google-branded apps will offer a “Continue as _____” button on the first open if you’ve signed in to another one of their apps.

That's not the issue. The issue is the lack of account management in the Apple email app itself. For example, let's say you're using mail to manage a Gmail account and Outlook account. You can't simply manage those accounts from the email app. Odds are you don't have an Outlook login across multiple apps on an iPhone (fuck MS), so why can't you access it from the app itself?

Anyhow, this is becoming circular. I guess if you've used an iOS device forever you get used to its quirks, but it makes no damn sense if you use other OSes. Gmail, you can manage accounts within the app. Apple's app, you can't. Makes no sense.

> Odds are you don't have an Outlook login across multiple apps on an iPhone (fuck MS), so why can't you access it from the app itself?

HUH?? This is exactly why Accounts are a global setting.

What you are describing it literally EXACTLY HOW IT WORKS on iOS. Set it up once and it will work in Mail and Calendar

Historically on built-in iOS apps settings go in the Settings app. With that pattern in mind, it makes no sense to have settings in the app itself because the user would be looking in the Settings app.

Fine, but an item in the email settings that says "Manage Accounts" that links to the appropriate section of the Settings app would go a long way.

The "Mail" menu item in "Settings" is immediately below "Passwords & Accounts".

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