I'm considering the Droid because I want mobile email access with good IMAP support. How good is Android's support for IMAP? In particular, does it support sub-folders well?
The current version of Android does support IMAP sub-folders. The reviews have shown that the mail client coming with the Droid has been polished, so it will be even better on the Droid.
One nice thing about Android is the fact that the phone is open, so you can choose to use a 3rd party mail application if it suits your needs better than the one that comes with the phone. I think you'll like the mail support you get with the Droid.
My wife got one yesterday and thus far we haven't been able to connect to our IMAP server - running on the mail server that comes with Leopard Server (the server hasn't been upgraded to snow leopard). We've tried all of the combinations of settings for incoming server, but continue to get the same error - "setup could not finish - unable to open connection to server." We've even turned on all of the IMAP security protocols on the server, including login, plain, clear, and changed the SSL setting for IMAP from require to use.
I'm running my own mail server at home and didn't have any issues connecting via IMAP. The only problem I did have with the setup was not seeing the field where you put the mail server (that usually helps). And then I had to alter the SSL settings since I'm not using a public cert.
One complaint I do have, is how the h*** do you move a message from your inbox to another folder? I don't see any option to do that. And one would think that would be standard for a mail app (I really don't want to keep ALL my mail in the inbox).
An issue with the password maybe (shot in the dark, I'm pretty tired right now)? Maybe the SSL setting is fine but something is screwy with the password?
Do you get a different error message with the other types of encryption you can use? (SSL - accept any cert, etc)?
Yeah the mail client is certainly not bad. It's just lacking some modern features. I'd love to be able to push E-Mail to my device via IMAP. I can only hope that feature is on the way. k9mail currently has a beta version out that supposedly supports IMAP push feature if anyone is interested in trying it, I'll probably try it out later today.
OK. I've got it showing sub-folders. However, I have some automated filtering going on that puts some things into certain folders. Is there a way for me to get notifications of new messages in certain sub-folders? It appears to be just for the inbox and I can't seem to find a way to do it for sub-folders.
Last edited by billd; November 15th, 2009 at 12:44 AM.
I was fairly disappointed in the Android 2.0 IMAP support on the Droid. While I can see my email in my inbox and other folders and I can reply or forward to any email, it seems to be missing all of the following standard email features:
Can't move a message from one folder to another (like from the inbox to another folder)
Doesn't support the notion of a Trash folder on the server so that when you delete an email it is moved to the server-based Trash folder.
Doesn't support the notion of a Sent Mail folder ont he server so that when you send an email, a copy of that email is placed in the server-based Sent Mail folder
Has a very rudimentary folder list that shows a flat list of all folders with the entire pathname of every folder rather than a classic hierarchical display of the folder hiearchy
Can't notify you of new email in folders. Like another poster in this thread, I use server-based filters to put all email from certain senders into certain folders. I'd like to be able to know when there is new email in those folders too.
Is there any work being done on the built-in IMAP support to improve it? Overall, I'm very impressed with the Droid and Android 2.0 - I was just surprised how rudimentary the IMAP support was.
Last edited by jfriend; November 19th, 2009 at 03:50 PM.
We still haven't solved our problems connecting to the IMAP server - does anyone have any idea of what we could try different, either on the phone, or on the Leopard Server?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by audioi
Try K9 mail.
Has all the features and works great.
I've been using K-9 for past 2-3 days, and solved all the issues from the native POP3 mail app. I'm not sure about IMAP accounts, but I have no sync nor delivery issues. If you use it, just be sure to look at the folder sync settings. They use a "class" system, to determine what is displayed, and what is synched...all new to me as far as the "Classes".
Things K-9 could use:
- Multi select (just because I have too many email accounts and less time)
- Message Move between folders
- Archive
- HTML support (sending)
- Undelete
Its cool how different color LED lights, depending on which account receives mail.
IMAP incoming server worked fine, but setting up the outgoing server still hasn't worked for me. I use TLS for outgoing. every time I get an error stating "TLS Required but not supported by server." Funny thing is though that it works just fine on the K-9 app. K-9 e-mails look bad when they are received by others though so I can't send e-mail through K-9 on my IMAP email because it looks like crap.
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K9 is okay. I just hate how the interface crams everything on the screen. You can't change the email list to have a bigger font and fit less emails on the screen so it's more finger friendly.
I really don't understand how Android doesn't have simple IMAP folder support at this point for moving emails around. jfriend's 1st and only post points out the deficiencies quite well, and 3rd party apps should not have to be the answer. This functionality should be built in and not just reserved for their precious gmail app. It should be integrated at this point. One of the areas where webOS just gets it.
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thanks. It's funny, BB is the same way, and they tout themselves as the phone to get for email. They fail to mention it's only if you want to spend more money for BES. Basic webmail users get hosed. Just makes no sense to me. It's one of the reasons I have a hard time going back to my Moment from the Pixi and just might wait till the Evo comes out to get back into Android because (if i'm not mistaken) Sense adds in IMAP folder support if I remember my days owning the Hero correctly.
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as in create? Don't believe so. And you can't move emails to your current ones either. You're stuck leaving them in your mailbox till you get to a computer unless you use webmail.
I'm a bit surprised that the stock Android e-mail app doesn't have IMAP IDLE support. Of course, you can use Gmail accounts and have instant notifications of new e-mails, but for all of the other IMAP accounts, your only option within the stock app is to set the polling frequency, the shortest being five minutes between checks.
I use K-9 Mail because it does have IMAP IDLE support, but I wish the default mail app would do it. K-9 isn't real easy to deal with, and I think the stock app is faster anyway. But, for now, if I want IMAP IDLE (instant notification of e-mails) for non-Gmail addresses, it seems like K-9 is my only option.
Has anybody else come up with any other solutions?
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I try to like K-9, but it's still quite clunky. Takes too many steps to move messages around and doesn't sync well with the servers. I have on average about 30 extra emails on my phone than I do on the server.
Stock Android email should be as functional as their gmail, plain and simple. By not having all email completely integrated with the same functionality, it just alienates the users that need that functionality and drives them elsewhere.
The solution? Go with HTC and Sense. Stock Android sucks. Email and the phone app top that list. And third party phone apps/dialers are laggy if they even work well. The more I play around with my Pixi, the more I hate stock Android and the more I wish HTC would get off their @sses and make another keyboard oriented phone ala Dell's Smoke and Lightning.
The only issue I have with IMAP support in the stock Email, is there is no way to limit the number of messages per folder, or limit the folders. I have thousands of messages filed in folders on the corporate IMAP server, and I do not want them to be on the Droid. K-9 does have the ability to limit messages per folder and select which folders to have on the phone.
The Motorola Droid - the first ever Verizon Android Phone - exploded onto the mobile market with an incredibly successful ad campaign that brough Android to the masses. With a huge and vibrant touchscreen, solid metal body, full QWERTY keyboard, 5M... Read More
How good is the IMAP support?
