Push Gmail in HTC Mail Application

[gatorjm7]

Ok, so I hadn't seen this question answered in either of the email threads so I figured I post the link because it seemed to be something several people were trying to figure out.

The link provides you with instructions on how to set up Gmail through an exchange server so that you can get push email in the HTC Mail app. I obviously can't be 100% sure this works, but the folks over at XDA seem to think this is the solution for the Desire. The instructions are for a Windows Mobile Device, but all of the information you need to fill in inside the HTC Mail app should be available at the link.

Hope this solves some push email problems on Thursday (or Wednesday for some of you lucky ones)!

Setting Up Your Windows Mobile Phone for Google Sync : Google Sync - Google Mobile Help

 

[yojoe600]

Ok, so I hadn't seen this question answered in either of the email threads so I figured I post the link because it seemed to be something several people were trying to figure out.

The link provides you with instructions on how to set up Gmail through an exchange server so that you can get push email in the HTC Mail app. I obviously can't be 100% sure this works, but the folks over at XDA seem to think this is the solution for the Desire. The instructions are for a Windows Mobile Device, but all of the information you need to fill in inside the HTC Mail app should be available at the link.

Hope this solves some push email problems on Thursday (or Wednesday for some of you lucky ones)!

Setting Up Your Windows Mobile Phone for Google Sync : Google Sync - Google Mobile Help

this is the same tutorial i used to sync my omnia contacts with gmail

 

[confluence]

Yea, I tried this with HTC mail on my Eris and I don't think it provides "push". Maybe it wil different on the Incredible. But this is what happened on my Eris:

First off, if you go into the account options, you are given the option: "download frequency". I had thought that setting "download frequency" to "as items arrive" meant that m.google.com would then push my email to me. Instead, it appeared as though HTC mail was simply checking for new mail every 5 seconds as I would see the sync icon pop up in my notification bar every time.

I'll be getting my Incredible on Wednesday and this is one of the first things I plan on trying.

 

[autolycus]

Setting gmail up as an exchange account w/ activesync is how you get push email on the iPhone OS as well. Apparently the Desire supports activesync (http://www.htc.com/europe/howto.aspx?id=666&type=1&p_id=312) so I don't see any reason this method wouldn't work.

 

[confluence]

Setting gmail up as an exchange account w/ activesync is how you get push email on the iPhone OS as well. Apparently the Desire supports activesync (HTC Desire - Synchronizing with a Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync account) so I don't see any reason this method wouldn't work.

I'm gonna try this again with my Eris and actually send a test email. Hopefully, this works regardless of what the download frequency is set to.

 

[confluence]

just tried to send an email to myself. it pushed to my gmail about ten minutes after it was sent. so it works but it's not perfect. my download frequency was set to manual.

 

[crspyjohn]

I thought this method makes the phone check the servers every few seconds? Which isn't true push?

 

[confluence]

I thought this method makes the phone check the servers every few seconds? Which isn't true push?

when i first tried i had thought that i had to set the download frequency to "as items arrive" in order to get push email. this setting simply forces the client to check every few seconds. i just changed it to "manual" and sent a test email to my gmail and it worked, but it took about ten minutes for my phone to get an email alert. so it took awhile.

 

[NKT]

I thought this method makes the phone check the servers every few seconds? Which isn't true push?

Correct, it's not really pushed.

Gmail uses IMAP Idle to simulate push.

 

[cardman827]

Is there any reason besides battery life not to set it up this way. I am coming from a storm and you wouldn't want a process running every few seconds because the phone would start to lag. I am a salesman who is never too far from a charger so I don't really care if it eats battery. I just want the nicer email client with more features and the ability to have my mail within 30 seconds of it being sent.

With that said should I just create a gmail address to use to activate the phone and use for the marketplace and then have my 2 regular gmail addresses go through the htc mail client. I hope this is not a confusing question.

 

[gatorjm7]

when i first tried i had thought that i had to set the download frequency to "as items arrive" in order to get push email. this setting simply forces the client to check every few seconds. i just changed it to "manual" and sent a test email to my gmail and it worked, but it took about ten minutes for my phone to get an email alert. so it took awhile.

Here's my question. If you use Gmail through the Gmail application you get Email almost instantly as if it was true "push". Why can't that technology be used in the HTC Mail Application as well? It doesn't make much sense? <--See what I did there?

 

[phositadc]

Guys, another option for your POP3 emails is to set up Gmail (via the web -- not on your phone) to pull in your POP3 emails to Gmail. You can even set it up so that when you reply to those emails it appears that you are sending them from that email address (not your Gmail address).

If you do this, the Gmail server (i.e., NOT your phone) polls your POP3 server every few minutes and then pushes your new POP3 emails to your phone. In this way you can get POP3 emails via true push.

The disadvantage, of course, is that you are still stuck using the Gmail app, which apparently is not as full-featured as the HTC mail app. The advantage is that you essentially have a unified inbox, and you get all the advantages of true push (except that your POP3 emails have a delay of a few minutes).

Article at Using Gmail as your own personal push mail server | Android Central

 

[Ladera]

Guys, another option for your POP3 emails is to set up Gmail (via the web -- not on your phone) to pull in your POP3 emails to Gmail. You can even set it up so that when you reply to those emails it appears that you are sending them from that email address (not your Gmail address).

If you do this, the Gmail server (i.e., NOT your phone) polls your POP3 server every few minutes and then pushes your new POP3 emails to your phone. In this way you can get POP3 emails via true push.

The disadvantage, of course, is that you are still stuck using the Gmail app, which apparently is not as full-featured as the HTC mail app. The advantage is that you essentially have a unified inbox, and you get all the advantages of true push (except that your POP3 emails have a delay of a few minutes).

Article at Using Gmail as your own personal push mail server | Android Central

This is what I plan to do. Have my yahoo forwarded to gmail and then set up my gmail to look as though I'm really sending the mail from my yahoo account.

 

[gatorjm7]

Is there any reason besides battery life not to set it up this way. I am coming from a storm and you wouldn't want a process running every few seconds because the phone would start to lag. I am a salesman who is never too far from a charger so I don't really care if it eats battery. I just want the nicer email client with more features and the ability to have my mail within 30 seconds of it being sent.

With that said should I just create a gmail address to use to activate the phone and use for the marketplace and then have my 2 regular gmail addresses go through the htc mail client. I hope this is not a confusing question.

According to the guys on XDA that have the Desire, setting up Gmail in the HTC Mail application as an Exchange ActiveSync seems to be working for them fine. In fact, some people were saying the battery life is better than if they ping the server every 5 minutes with standard IMAP in the HTC Mail application.

What I still can't figure out is how the OS supports "push" in the Gmail application, but that it doesn't support it in the HTC Mail application. If email from Gmail can be pushed to the phone, why can't it be pushed into the HTC Mail application?

 

[amarryat]

Guys, another option for your POP3 emails is to set up Gmail (via the web -- not on your phone) to pull in your POP3 emails to Gmail. You can even set it up so that when you reply to those emails it appears that you are sending them from that email address (not your Gmail address).

If you do this, the Gmail server (i.e., NOT your phone) polls your POP3 server every few minutes and then pushes your new POP3 emails to your phone. In this way you can get POP3 emails via true push.

The disadvantage, of course, is that you are still stuck using the Gmail app, which apparently is not as full-featured as the HTC mail app. The advantage is that you essentially have a unified inbox, and you get all the advantages of true push (except that your POP3 emails have a delay of a few minutes).

Article at Using Gmail as your own personal push mail server | Android Central

This won't help your speed much though as Google will only poll your 3rd party POP mail server at an infrequent rate. It could be as slow as once an hour, or as fast as every 15 minutes from what I have seen.

 

[amarryat]

This is what I plan to do. Have my yahoo forwarded to gmail and then set up my gmail to look as though I'm really sending the mail from my yahoo account.

That would definitely be faster way versus having Google poll your Yahoo account.

 

[phositadc]

This won't help your speed much though as Google will only poll your 3rd party POP mail server at an infrequent rate. It could be as slow as once an hour, or as fast as every 15 minutes from what I have seen.

True, but at least you would get the battery life benefits of push versus pull.

 

[amarryat]

True, but at least you would get the battery life benefits of push versus pull.

For sure. However after reading some other threads here and how Gmail "push" is implemented with "IMAP Idle", it sounds like even this is polling, just with far less overhead. Is that not true? Getting it to work like Blackberry push that has no battery drain would be great.

 

[gatorjm7]

For sure. However after reading some other threads here and how Gmail "push" is implemented with "IMAP Idle", it sounds like even this is polling, just with far less overhead. Is that not true? Getting it to work like Blackberry push that has no battery drain would be great.

Hopefully this is something Google does in the future. Lord knows they have enough server capacity. It would be pretty crazy to have another operating system that could handle email like BB. That's about all BB has going for it at this point.

 

[brain82]

Here's my question. If you use Gmail through the Gmail application you get Email almost instantly as if it was true "push". Why can't that technology be used in the HTC Mail Application as well? It doesn't make much sense? <--See what I did there?

Try this to configure push email for gmail. It has worked for me a couple of times.

http://androidforums.com/desire-hd-...etup-gmail-push-email-stock-htc-mail-app.html