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Info on k-9 email (or alternative email clients)

cdl

Android Enthusiast
Feb 4, 2010
448
60
Hi all,

I'm considering moving from Nokia to Android, probably to a Motorola Droid/Milestone and have a few questions on k-9 email:

does k-9 run on Android 2.x?

does it support imap idle for true push email? what is the battery drain with imap idle on?

does it support html email?

when I delete an email from the phone, does it get deleted from the imap server, too? When I send an email from the phone, does it get uploaded to the 'sent items' folder in the server?

can k-9 access the full contact list stored in the phone?

Alternatively, are there other email programs which would meet my needs?

Thanks!
 
does k-9 run on Android 2.x?
Runs on mu Nexus fine.

does it support imap idle for true push email? what is the battery drain with imap idle on?
It does support IMAP and seems to notify of new email very quickly.

does it support html email?
Yes, but it sometimes gets confused with tables.

when I delete an email from the phone, does it get deleted from the imap server, too?
Not sure, I never delete.

When I send an email from the phone, does it get uploaded to the 'sent items' folder in the server?
I use Google Apps, and yes it does using that system

can k-9 access the full contact list stored in the phone?
Not sure.

Alternatively, are there other email programs which would meet my needs?
I'd switch if I could. The problem with tables is a killer. I'd love a decent alternative but I don't know of one.
 
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does k-9 run on Android 2.x?

does it support imap idle for true push email? what is the battery drain with imap idle on?
It does support IMAP and seems to notify of new email very quickly.

Thanks for all your answers. Do you know if you set k-9 to connect to the mail server every, say, 5 minutes, or if you set up imap idle?
Sorry to be a little paranoid on this, but it's really important, as I often get very urgent business emails which I need to be notified on instantly...

Thanks!
 
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Hi all,

I'm considering moving from Nokia to Android, probably to a Motorola Droid/Milestone and have a few questions on k-9 email:

A few more questions:

does k-9 support attachments? Can I, for example, download and open a jpg, pdf, doc file etc?

can k-9 be set to download only the first, say, 20 KB of each message, or not to download attachments? Roaming charges would rise to the sky otherwise!

how does k-9 notify of new emails?
 
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K-9 has access to my full contact list, but I am running MotoBlur.
It can be set to access the server as often as you like...1 minute, 5, 15...etc.
It does support attachments.
I'm not sure about only downloading the first 20k. I think it downloads all the text and the attachments.
It notifies of emails with whatever tone you want with also the option to vibrate.
 
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K-9 has access to my full contact list, but I am running MotoBlur.
It can be set to access the server as often as you like...1 minute, 5, 15...etc.
It does support attachments.
I'm not sure about only downloading the first 20k. I think it downloads all the text and the attachments.
It notifies of emails with whatever tone you want with also the option to vibrate.

Thanks a lot!

As for IMAP idle, I found confirmation that it is supported here:
ReleaseNotes - k9mail - Changes in each revision of K-9 - Project Hosting on Google Codehttp://androidforums.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=320418

I would have expected it to be mentioned in the home page of k-9, but anyway...

It's useful; because, if I understand correctly, polling every minute drains the battery, whereas with imap idle the connection stays on and the software is notified instantly of any incoming message.

Can I set it to download attachments only on request? I get a number of large emails, and I wouldn't want my phone to download every single 20MB attachment I get!
 
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Sounds like you have most of your answers, but I use K-9 Mail and it's great. I use it to access my Gmail via IMAP (hate the built in Gmail app), my own domain IMAP emails and Hotmail via POP3.

POP3 works as expected, no problems at all. IMAP account set-up has an option to enable push email if your IMAP server supports it - Gmail and my hosting companies both do and my IMAP emails are delivered instantly. I've not seen any hit on battery life doing this.

Attachments - I have found that trying to open a .doc or .pdf file direct from the email causes errors but think this may be in QuickOffice, not K-9 Mail. All I do is save the attachment to SD and open from there instead.

Don't think there's an option to only download headers or limit size of email. Not noticed it in settings anywere.
 
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Ok so I am coming over from BB curve and I know that this whole droid experience will take some getting used and I love it so far but I really need to get my emailing under control before I can truly get obsessed with this device...

I am used to using outlook on both my phone and computer and from what I understand they really dont communicate well together on the droids. I tried using a push program called Daves website which is supposed to sync my calendar and contacts but I am actually more concerned about email syncing...

Is there an app that I can use that will sync with my home computer either wirelessly or when I plug it in? I need to be able to separate into folders save certain emails do forwarding etc. and I've tried K9 but I haven't found anything in the settings that enables me to do those things and I still have outlook on my computer... I don’t believe they are compatible. I am currently receiving three different copies of each email until I figure this situation out... Gotta say that's getting old quick.
Here's a review of my questions since this is a bit long...
1. Is there anything comparable as an email client that communicates with the droid as outlook and BB do
2. Does K9 offer folders etc. to sort my emails with
3. Is there a really good way to get the droid to communicate with outlook and sync when I plug it in that I am not aware of???

PLease help I really want to keep this phone and I am willing to deal without outlook if there is something similar…but I can have three different sources all collecting email for the same account and not communicating with each other or my home computer. Aren't these smart phones there's gotta be a way!!! :(

Thanks for the help in advance
 
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Ok so I am coming over from BB curve and I know that this whole droid experience will take some getting used and I love it so far but I really need to get my emailing under control before I can truly get obsessed with this device..


Honestly, I couldn't follow much after this point in your post ;)

What email service are you using (gmail, hotmail, pop3 etc)

Is it work/personal etc?

Multiple accounts?

For accessing mail from multiple devices, you may want to learn how to use IMAP. POP3 has some serious limitations when using multiple access points. Some of these shortcomings could easily be overcome using a BB, but Android doesn't offer the same flexibility as far as managing mail on the server.

As with everything else on Android, if "possible", moving your email accounts to gmail will simplify things considerably. If you cannot (and cannot forward) then it may take a few more steps to get you going, but it is still doable.
 
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Hi all,

I'm considering moving from Nokia to Android, probably to a Motorola Droid/Milestone and have a few questions on k-9 email:

does k-9 run on Android 2.x?

does it support imap idle for true push email? what is the battery drain with imap idle on?

does it support html email?

when I delete an email from the phone, does it get deleted from the imap server, too? When I send an email from the phone, does it get uploaded to the 'sent items' folder in the server?

can k-9 access the full contact list stored in the phone?

Alternatively, are there other email programs which would meet my needs?

Thanks!

I've looked everywhere and can't find an email client where you can do two simple things:

1. create additional email folders
2. save an email

Hard to believe that the stock will not allow you to save an email to a "saved" folder or whatever - unless I'm missing something very basic.

So can K9 do these things? If not, anything out there - again, a 1st level function of saving an email on your device seems sort of basic, at least to me.

Thanks.

Jack
 
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Any specific reason you want to save your email on your device?

If it's just a matter of pulling messages off of a server and putting it someplace where you have permanent access to it, I would suggest using a "dummy" gmail account.

That would allow you to create whatever folders you want and either automatically or manually move messages into them. It would "work" just like they were local and they would be available from any of your devices.

If there are other reasons for what you want to do let us know and maybe there is a solution for the need if not the process.
 
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Any specific reason you want to save your email on your device?

If it's just a matter of pulling messages off of a server and putting it someplace where you have permanent access to it, I would suggest using a "dummy" gmail account.

That would allow you to create whatever folders you want and either automatically or manually move messages into them. It would "work" just like they were local and they would be available from any of your devices.

If there are other reasons for what you want to do let us know and maybe there is a solution for the need if not the process.

I was able to create emails folders on my Mogul under WM6. Actually, here's my thing - I like to save jokes so I can be the big hit of the party reading them -'cause I can never remember the punch line :)

And other things like, airline/hotel reservations for the future, etc.

Maybe there's a work around?

Jack
 
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I was able to create emails folders on my Mogul under WM6. Actually, here's my thing - I like to save jokes so I can be the big hit of the party reading them -'cause I can never remember the punch line :)

And other things like, airline/hotel reservations for the future, etc.

Maybe there's a work around?

Jack

If you use gmail with IMAP, you could create a "jokes" label and move emails into it when desired.

You could them access them in the same way you could if they were local. only "catch" would be if you didn't have data connectivity, which I would guess would be rare at a party ;)

One key to maximizing the function of Android, is to treat the Google "cloud" (and the "cloud" in general) less like the Internet and more like extension of your local network.
 
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Thank you Nightfishing .... I have been looking for the place to make a change and may be blind - can you direct me? Thanks

Depends on which version you are running. On the latest build from the K9 site (K9-APG-Beta), go to Menu->More->Settings->Settings->Font Size.

On earlier versions, from my memory, which might be shaky, you have to be on the accounts page, then go Menu->Settings and you will find the Font Size setting.

Hope this helps!
 
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