4.6.19   Faster Apple Mail Training

macOS 10.10 and Later

The issue described below for macOS 10.9 rarely affects later versions, but there are still some cases where Mail is slow at moving messages when you train them as spam or as good. To speed up the training, you can enable the workarounds by using these special esoteric preferences links:

AppleMailTrainSpamGUIScriptingYosemite

Click this link to enable the workaround for making SpamSieve - Train as Spam faster. The first time you try to train a message, SpamSieve will ask you to give it accessibility privileges. Then it will ask you to add your Spam mailbox as a favorite in Mail. Thereafter, it will move the trained messages via GUI scripting. If an error occurs, SpamSieve will move the message via the more reliable but slower method. Click this link to disable the workaround.

AppleMailTrainGoodGUIScriptingYosemite

Click this link to enable the workaround for making SpamSieve - Train as Good faster. SpamSieve it will ask you to add your inbox as a favorite in Mail. Trained messages will now move to the inbox that you added in the favorites bar, whereas without the workaround SpamSieve will try to find the appropriate account’s inbox. Click this link to disable the workaround.

AppleMailChangeJunkStatus

Another potential slowdown is that Mail can hang when it’s telling its own junk filter that the message is junk. Normally, SpamSieve tries to keep Mail in the loop so that when you train a message as spam, SpamSieve tells Mail that the message is junk. However, in rare circumstances a bug in Mail or a slow mail server can cause Mail to freeze when setting the message as junk. You can tell SpamSieve not to tell Mail’s filter that the message is junk by clicking this link. Or, click this link to go back to the default behavior.

macOS 10.9

There is a known issue where Apple Mail on macOS 10.9 is slower at moving messages via AppleScript. This can cause delays/freezes of up to 10 seconds when using the SpamSieve - Train as Spam and SpamSieve - Train as Good commands. SpamSieve includes workarounds to move messages faster by using GUI scripting instead of regular AppleScript.

You can enable one or both workarounds by using these special esoteric preferences links:

AppleMailTrainSpamGUIScripting

Click this link to enable the workaround for making SpamSieve - Train as Spam faster. The first time you try to train a message, SpamSieve will ask you to give it accessibility privileges. Then it will ask you to add your Spam mailbox as a favorite in Mail. Thereafter, it will move the trained messages via GUI scripting. If an error occurs, SpamSieve will move the message via the more reliable but slower method. Click this link to disable the workaround.

AppleMailTrainGoodGUIScripting

Click this link to enable the workaround for making SpamSieve - Train as Good faster. SpamSieve it will ask you to add your inbox as a favorite in Mail. Trained messages will now move to the inbox that you added in the favorites bar, whereas without the workaround SpamSieve will try to find the appropriate account’s inbox. Click this link to disable the workaround.

Accessibility Troubleshooting

• Due to an OS bug, SpamSieveHelper may not automatically appear in the list of Accessibility applications. To add it manually, you can:

  1. If necessary, click the lock button next to Click the lock to make changes.
  2. Command-click on the SpamSieve icon in the Dock to reveal the SpamSieve application file in the Finder.
  3. Control-click on the SpamSieve application file and choose Show Package Contents.
  4. Open the Contents folder and then the MacOS folder.
  5. Drag and drop the SpamSieveHelper file into the Allow the apps below to control your computer list in System Settings.

• In rare cases, SpamSieve may report that SpamSieveHelper is not checked in the Accessibility settings, even though it actually is. This typically means that macOS’s privacy database has been corrupted. You can reset the database by entering this command in Terminal:

  tccutil reset Accessibility
  

The Drone Setup

Aside from the GUI Scripting workaround (above), you can also speed up training by following the Setting Up a Spam Filtering Drone instructions. Instead of using the Message menu commands to train messages, you would move the messages into the special TrainGood and TrainSpam mailboxes.