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works great.
pros:
eMail push
same possibilities like the built-in message system
cons:
needs permanent data connection
-> battery life sucks ...
I created a free AOL account and I have all my incoming Gmail messages automatically forwarded to this account. As the incoming server, I use imap.aol.com with the AOL account credentials. As the outgoing server, I use smtp.gmail.com with the Gmail credentials.
The beauty of this setup is that Google is nice enough to keep all parts of the message header untouched when forwarding e-mails, so the message once you receive it looks like it came to Gmail and not to AOL. And when you reply to a message, the recipient gets your message from your Gmail account as well, not AOL. In fact, you NEVER see that AOL account again after you set it up.
What does this give me?
Well, I have thousands and thousands of messages in my Gmail account that I don't want to deal with in a mobile client, so I receive messages, reply to them and delete them right away. They are simply deleted from the AOL account, but remain in the Gmail account (you can choose to have them archived by Gmail as soon as they're forwarded to AOL if you prefer). So I keep my phone inbox clean on my phone.
Because of this same behavior explained above, I have a second layer of protection for messages deleted by mistake on my phone. They remain in my Gmail box.
The main drawback here is that, since I am not accessing my Gmail account directly, I cannot delete messages there from my phone. However, I usually go on Gmail through a browser everyday or every other day and do some maintenance, delete messages I don't want to keep (which I rarely do) or archive the ones I want to archive (and, as I said, if you archive everything you receive, you can have Gmail do this automatically).
In all honestly, this setup I created when Gmail had no IMAP support and I had no other choice, but I liked it so much, I kept it even after Gmail allowed you to access your mailbox via IMAP.
http://mail.google.com/mail/h/
Well there are cons to that:
* Slow in some way (non AJAX and not so mobile oriented)
* The navigation is not as easy because of the full width page
And if you want to be alerted about new email, just set up IMAP and use it for alerts only.
What do you say about it ?
Another important con for me of the IMAP method is that it won't allow you to archive a message (or label it).
@The Guru: Full GMail also gives you the ability to download attachments, or see it as HTML (useful for pdf,doc, ...)
How about display/block images from the sender ? Multilanguage anyone ?
Doesn't the mobile version and the application lack ads :)
I just miss them!
That's unfortunately another con for "my way", but have to be honest.
@Razor1973: Your method is almost like using the POP3 connection to GMail. Which I was using before IMAP support came in. Didn't like it very much. I think there was a problem with the S60 implementation of POP3 client, it could sometimes stuck while receiving new mails.
BTW, even if you delete a message it's still in your trash for 30 days.
Also you don't have to login each time if you have cookies.
BTW Full Gmail allows attachments for composed emails. A big plus!
@Vitaly: In a way, it is almost like POP3. You do work disconnected from your Gmail account (which is not necessarily a bad thing for the reasons I mentioned above). But what this setup gives you is IMAP IDLE (where the server and client support it; AOL and the native S60 mail client both do). Like I said before, instant notifications are paramount for me. This setup achieves just that.
I use Gmail with Evolution client (linux), and prior to that with Thunderbird. After you set up imap for google, they both create a folder marked Gmail with all the gmail labels as folders. I just send the messages to specific folders I want, or if I don't have a label, just throw it in the "all mail" folder, which archives it. With IMAP, it even cleans up the inbox on my phone as well.
It sounds like you are going to LA via Omaha to accomplish the same thing.
to archive an email from your phone delete it from "phone and server". it won't be deleted from gmail, just simply archived.
I understand what you are doing now. Yes, I regularly archive almost all my mail to keep the inbox clean. It is still searchable and indexed by label, so for me it is no big deal. I could see how the inbox on your phone would become a big mass of old mail if you kept everything in the inbox.
Before the last software update, somehow I had all the folders under gmail on my phone, but it didn't happen after I updated the firmware. Since I didn't use that feature on the phone, I didn't think anything of it, but now that you mention it, I remember it being there. When I open the messaging app, I have and inbox and a gmail box on the phone. The new messages go into the inbox, so I just ignore the gmail box. Since I'm on a PC often, I usually just read/post a quick reply on my phone and archive at the PC later. That's why I like IMAP so much... keeping everything in sync is almost as real-time as my old windows mobile/outlook/exchange system years ago.
Now if the N800 guys can figure out why Google IMAP is so darn slow on OS2008...
However, that was on my N95. Since reading this article, I decided to give it a go on my N82, and the bug does not seem to be present.
I have lost my signal on a number of occasions, and the auto-retrieve is still active.
So looks like it may be a handset issue, rather than, what I expected it to be, an S60 wide issue.
After my institution started offering Exchange, I switched to Mail for Exchange, and I think this is by far the best solution. You set it up just like your desktop version, there's a variety of options for periodic checking, and as a bonus, your calendar and contacts are synced too.
If you don't have Exchange through your employer, there are some companies which will provide hosted exchange. It's an extra level of setup, but it only has to be done once, and makes things far more useable.
What you've indicated about the "IMAP Bug" in the N95 / E61 phones really makes sense in that they are both Symbian 9.1. Its good to know that the N82 (Symbian 9.2) does NOT have the bug. I wonder if the Symbian 9.2 phones got rid of the call log showing only "mobile" type icons?
Hmm.....
The other problem (and IMAP alternative have the same problem) is that you cannot mark an email as spam.
clemare
I dont know why nokia does'nt listen to this. I have been using Nokia mobile email for years now. For at least 3 years I've used my N72 with the setup but I stopped using the built in Nokia client. Reason? Auto-retrieval gets disabled when in low signal area. I dont know what benefit it gives by disabling the option. If my phone keeps trying, let it be so, its my headache that I set it up that way. I'm extremely unhappy that even the newest client does the same nonsense.
I used the Java client on N95 a lot and loved it.
On N97, the keyboard shortcuts require for the most part to type in the key followed by the number, which is 2 key strokes versus 1.
Unless Google offers a different client for the N97, I cannot use the keyboard letters like 'D' to Delete.
Have a BB for work and have reverted to this device for Gmail by installing its dedicated client. The keyboard shortcuts are much better. I've configured the active BB profile to alert me with a distinct tone of new mails. I think the alert comes in around 15mins after the mail has actually arrived.
On both Nokia's, if by some wrong manipulation or other unwanted input, I lose my composed message, it is lost. On the BB, when I mess up, the message is stored in the (mobile?) drafts automatically.
For my part, I dont use attachments a lot but I wish there was a built-in method to send photos.
I have not tried IMAP connection on the Nokia for sending attachments such as images. I will surely give it that a try in the future and perhaps adapt my already segmented use.
Seems we are all toying with all the various methods and adjusting each to our personal use.
Thank you for the comparison, it is very useful!
This leaves me with no ability to clean up the inbox on my phone which is a real issue. Any ideas?