Connecting Your Mailbox

On the Boha Reminder web app you can connect your own mailbox, read and reply to your mail here, turn a message into a task, or file an attachment straight onto a vehicle or property record. You start from Add Account on the Mail page, and it asks for four things: your e-mail address, the incoming (IMAP) server, the outgoing (SMTP) server, and a password.

The password is usually the tricky part: most providers no longer accept your normal account password and want an app password you create just for this. Below is how to do that, provider by provider.

What is an app password, and why is it needed?

An app password is a separate password you hand to one application instead of your real one, and it only works for reading and sending mail. Your real password stays yours, two-step verification keeps working, and whenever you want to cut the connection you revoke just that password; none of your other devices are affected. So if your provider offers app passwords, use one even when your normal password would be accepted.

Gmail

Gmail will not accept your normal account password over IMAP; an app password is required.

1. 2-Step Verification must be on for your Google account (Google Account → Security). Without it the app password option doesn't appear at all.
2. On that same Security page open App passwords, give it a name (say "Boha Reminder") and create the password.
3. Google shows you a 16-character password, with or without spaces; either works. It is shown only once.
4. In Boha Reminder pick Gmail as the provider, then enter your address and that 16-character password.

• Incoming (IMAP): imap.gmail.com · Port 993 · SSL
• Outgoing (SMTP): smtp.gmail.com · Port 465 · SSL

On Google Workspace accounts your administrator may have turned off IMAP access or app passwords, in which case you'll need to ask your IT department.

Yandex

Yandex needs two things: IMAP switched on for your mailbox, and an app password.

1. Open Yandex Mail, go to Settings → E-mail clients and tick the IMAP protocol option.
2. On your Yandex ID page, under Security → App passwords, create one of type E-mail (IMAP, SMTP).
3. In Boha Reminder pick Yandex as the provider, then enter your address and that password.

• Incoming (IMAP): imap.yandex.com · Port 993 · SSL
• Outgoing (SMTP): smtp.yandex.com · Port 465 · SSL

The same servers apply if your address ends in @yandex.com.tr or @yandex.ru; use your full address as the user name.

Your own domain, or business mail

To connect a company mailbox or an address on your own domain, pick Standard IMAP server from the provider list and type the servers in yourself. On most hosting providers they follow this pattern:

• Incoming (IMAP): mail.yourdomain.com · Port 993 · SSL
• Outgoing (SMTP): mail.yourdomain.com · Port 465 · SSL (some servers use 587 with STARTTLS)
• User name: usually your full e-mail address

Your hosting panel has the exact values: in cPanel under Email Accounts → Connect Devices, in Plesk on the Mail → Email addresses page. If you can't find them, ask your IT department or your host four things: the IMAP host and port, the SMTP host and port, the encryption (SSL or STARTTLS), and whether the user name is the full address or a short name.

Other providers

With the Standard IMAP server option any mailbox that speaks IMAP can be connected. Two common examples:

• iCloud Mail: imap.mail.me.com · Port 993 · SSL / smtp.mail.me.com · Port 587 · STARTTLS. You'll need an app-specific password from your Apple account.
• Yahoo Mail: imap.mail.yahoo.com · Port 993 · SSL / smtp.mail.yahoo.com · Port 465 · SSL. Yahoo asks for an app password too.

Insecure connections (plain, unencrypted IMAP) are never attempted: Boha Reminder connects only over SSL or STARTTLS, so your password never crosses the network in the clear.

Accounts that can't be connected yet

Outlook.com, Hotmail, Live and Microsoft 365 addresses can't be connected for now. Microsoft has turned off password-based IMAP for these accounts; they can only be reached through Microsoft's own authorisation flow (OAuth2). We'll add that flow in a later update.

If the connection fails

• "User name or password was not accepted": by far the most common one, and it almost always means an app password is required. Check that the user name is your full e-mail address, too.
• "Could not reach the server": the host or port may be wrong, or IMAP is switched off for your mailbox (this catches out Yandex users in particular).
• "The server's identity could not be verified": the security certificate couldn't be validated the usual way. Boha Reminder shows you its fingerprint; on company systems using their own certificate this is normal, and approving it connects you. If that fingerprint later changes on its own, the connection stops and you are asked again.
• After three failed attempts in a row the account waits an hour. That's to keep your provider from blocking you; fix the password and hit Reconnect and it carries on without the wait.
• If you change your password at the provider, syncing stops and the account moves to "waiting to reconnect". Just edit the account and enter the new password.

Still stuck?

Write to reminder@boha.pro with a screenshot; telling us which provider you're on and what the error said gets you an answer faster. Please don't e-mail us your password; we never need it.