- May 28, 2007
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Okay, I know this is not exactly a new issue, but coming from an iPhone 4S, it is new to me. I use gmail and used EAS to access my gmail seamlessly from my iPhone including push notifications etc.
EAS support in free accounts was pulled by Google years ago (I think 2012?) but they continued to support EAS on devices that already used it, and Government, Eductation, and Business accounts, which are not free (I believe $50 year). The reason that Google gave for pulling support is that they now provide syncronization of contacts and calendars using CardDAV and CalDAV - open protocols where Exchange is a proprietary Microsoft protocol. For email they simply recommend using the Gmail app. (https://support.google.com/mail/answer/3008051)
The upshot is that when you setup "Mail" on your new iOS phone to work with your Gmail account, you can no longer use the Exchange option, you must set it up as a Google account, and that means that emails will no longer push from the mail server to your phone. Some cursory web searches did not reveal any straightforward fixes, I'd like to use this thread to document the options for iPhone (or other iOS) users that want tight email integration and use an existing.
1. Simply Use the Gmail App - I don't think this is a good option. The Gmail app is not integrated into the operating system the way Mail is. For example, clicking a mailto link in Safari will not launch the Gmail app. I don't think you can change the default mail client to the gmail app, unless I'm mistaken.
2. Setup Mail With Your Google Account - You lose push notifications, which is a non-starter.
3. Setup Mail with your Google Account, but also setup Gmail App - This is what I'm doing now. I use the Mail app to send and receive gmail, but I also have the Gmail app installed so when new emails come in they push to my lock screen. I can then go into the Mail app and messages will download. This is not ideal - I can't swipe directly into the Mail app like I could with EAS. I don't like it, it's clunky and I believe the messages are stored on my phone twice, but it's what I'm doing right now.
4. Pay For a Premium Account - I don't even know if this is really an option. A quick search suggests it's not. But if I can pay a reasonable annual fee for a premium account that will permit EAS, I'd probably be willing to do it. I believe in paying for services and I think one reason Google can get away with dumping support for EAS is that their users are not paying for their accounts.
5. Change Email Providors - I want to avoid doing this. Mostly because it would be a PITA for everyone else that has me as a contact in their clients or phones. But I might consider it if I can't improve on the experience I have now. I figure I would just have all my gmail forwarded to my new email address, put a note at the bottom with my new email address along with a little sentence stateing something like "I have changed my email address because Gmail no longer supports Exchange ActiveSync".
6. Use an Email Proxy - I don't know how difficult this would be, but I'm hesitant to put anything too convoluded in place. But it might be the only way to acheive complete integration with Mail and still keep my @gmail address.
7. Use Chrome Along With Gmail - Same as 1, but using Chrome instead of Safari for browsing. This solves the problem of links and mail-tos. Probably not what I'll do because again, I'm looking for a more integrated experience and Chrome and Gmail can never be as integrated as Safari and Mail. Thanks Red Storm
8. Mailbox.app - 3rd party email client. From Wikipedia: The application uses its own server to repeatedly query Gmail about the contents of your inbox using Google's API. It then uses its server to push information to the device, as a POP3 email provider would, without the user actively fetching the email. Thanks JavaMomma
Thoughts? I'll try to keep the op updated with any corrections or additional information.
EAS support in free accounts was pulled by Google years ago (I think 2012?) but they continued to support EAS on devices that already used it, and Government, Eductation, and Business accounts, which are not free (I believe $50 year). The reason that Google gave for pulling support is that they now provide syncronization of contacts and calendars using CardDAV and CalDAV - open protocols where Exchange is a proprietary Microsoft protocol. For email they simply recommend using the Gmail app. (https://support.google.com/mail/answer/3008051)
The upshot is that when you setup "Mail" on your new iOS phone to work with your Gmail account, you can no longer use the Exchange option, you must set it up as a Google account, and that means that emails will no longer push from the mail server to your phone. Some cursory web searches did not reveal any straightforward fixes, I'd like to use this thread to document the options for iPhone (or other iOS) users that want tight email integration and use an existing.
1. Simply Use the Gmail App - I don't think this is a good option. The Gmail app is not integrated into the operating system the way Mail is. For example, clicking a mailto link in Safari will not launch the Gmail app. I don't think you can change the default mail client to the gmail app, unless I'm mistaken.
2. Setup Mail With Your Google Account - You lose push notifications, which is a non-starter.
3. Setup Mail with your Google Account, but also setup Gmail App - This is what I'm doing now. I use the Mail app to send and receive gmail, but I also have the Gmail app installed so when new emails come in they push to my lock screen. I can then go into the Mail app and messages will download. This is not ideal - I can't swipe directly into the Mail app like I could with EAS. I don't like it, it's clunky and I believe the messages are stored on my phone twice, but it's what I'm doing right now.
4. Pay For a Premium Account - I don't even know if this is really an option. A quick search suggests it's not. But if I can pay a reasonable annual fee for a premium account that will permit EAS, I'd probably be willing to do it. I believe in paying for services and I think one reason Google can get away with dumping support for EAS is that their users are not paying for their accounts.
5. Change Email Providors - I want to avoid doing this. Mostly because it would be a PITA for everyone else that has me as a contact in their clients or phones. But I might consider it if I can't improve on the experience I have now. I figure I would just have all my gmail forwarded to my new email address, put a note at the bottom with my new email address along with a little sentence stateing something like "I have changed my email address because Gmail no longer supports Exchange ActiveSync".
6. Use an Email Proxy - I don't know how difficult this would be, but I'm hesitant to put anything too convoluded in place. But it might be the only way to acheive complete integration with Mail and still keep my @gmail address.
7. Use Chrome Along With Gmail - Same as 1, but using Chrome instead of Safari for browsing. This solves the problem of links and mail-tos. Probably not what I'll do because again, I'm looking for a more integrated experience and Chrome and Gmail can never be as integrated as Safari and Mail. Thanks Red Storm
8. Mailbox.app - 3rd party email client. From Wikipedia: The application uses its own server to repeatedly query Gmail about the contents of your inbox using Google's API. It then uses its server to push information to the device, as a POP3 email provider would, without the user actively fetching the email. Thanks JavaMomma
Thoughts? I'll try to keep the op updated with any corrections or additional information.
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