Agreed! I don't use the mark messages as read anymore though I did for many years. I stopped because there are many emails I don't want to mark as read for various reasons. But, I also don't like emails being displayed when switching folders. BUT, I do want them displayed if I had previously selected an email, moved to another folder where I also previously selected one. I want all emails displayed that I previously selected, even if the email is at the bottom of a list. They should remain displays until I exit eM Client.
But, if we delete an email, no email should be selected. I wish they'd add that.

I would also like to suggest this and formulate it here in my own words:

When I switch to a folder, the first (topmost) mail is always selected automatically. If it is now set that a selected mail should be marked as read after a certain time, then this is not desired in this particular case. Is it possible to set somewhere that the top mail is not automatically selected when switching to another folder?

When switching to a folder I'd like to keep the last message selected, but the "Mark messages as read after x seconds" should not apply when switching folders.

Also when using search or when exiting a search.