Q: Does downloaded mail on iPhone sync back to Mac-based Mail?
Hi,
Sorry if this has been asked and answered.
What happens about Mail coming to me during the day via my iPhone then appearing in my main Mail app on my iMac at home? I'd want to have it in there for reference when working from home. Presumably once it's downloaded off the Gmail server to iPhone it doesn't re-download to my home Mail app? If that's the case, can I sync it over when I dock my iPhone?
Many thanks,
Owen
[473 byte] By [
owen-b] at [2007-11-11 20:48:53]
# 1 Re: Q: Does downloaded mail on iPhone sync back to Mac-based Mail?
No, mail does not sync between the iPhone and your computer at all. Only the mail settings are synced.
Normally, if you're using an IMAP server, this isn't an issue, as the mail is just re-downloaded again on your home computer (or vice-versa), but obviously since GMail is POP3, this creates a different issue. You would have to adjust your POP3 settings in GMail to not archive or delete your e-mail after downloading it. This way it would still be there in your GMail inbox for both of your POP3 clients to retrieve.
The POP3 client itself (the iPhone, Mail.app, or whatever else) will keep track of what it has already downloaded, so you won't get any duplication. You should also still be able to delete items from either device if you don't want to keep them, and they will be removed from GMail and then not be redownloaded.
While GMail has a very nice interface for people who are primarily web-based users, if you're primarily using Mail.app rather than the web interface, you might want to consider an IMAP-based solution rather than GMail. It's so much simpler to manage, since you get full folder synchronization between your devices, and things like read/unread status gets updated as well.
# 2 Re: Q: Does downloaded mail on iPhone sync back to Mac-based Mail?
No, mail does not sync between the iPhone and your computer at all. Only the mail settings are synced.
Normally, if you're using an IMAP server, this isn't an issue, as the mail is just re-downloaded again on your home computer (or vice-versa), but obviously since GMail is POP3, this creates a different issue. You would have to adjust your POP3 settings in GMail to not archive or delete your e-mail after downloading it. This way it would still be there in your GMail inbox for both of your POP3 clients to retrieve.
The POP3 client itself (the iPhone, Mail.app, or whatever else) will keep track of what it has already downloaded, so you won't get any duplication. You should also still be able to delete items from either device if you don't want to keep them, and they will be removed from GMail and then not be redownloaded.
While GMail has a very nice interface for people who are primarily web-based users, if you're primarily using Mail.app rather than the web interface, you might want to consider an IMAP-based solution rather than GMail. It's so much simpler to manage, since you get full folder synchronization between your devices, and things like read/unread status gets updated as well.
Well my email address on all my cards etc is my Gmail one. :(
I suppose I could one of these new-fangled IMAP ones and have my Gmail forward to my IMAP and then have Mail deal with the IMAP one?
owen-b at 2007-11-15 13:00:00 >
# 3 Re: Q: Does downloaded mail on iPhone sync back to Mac-based Mail?
Yes, that would probably be the simplest way to change over to an IMAP account. GMail provides reasonable forwarding capabilities, and I've been doing that with my GMail address for some time now. As an added bonus, you can still get a benefit from their spam filtering on the front-end.
Unfortunately, free IMAP accounts are a bit more limited than GMail in terms of storage, but you get what you pay for. www.fastmail.fm is a great e-mail service that offers a basic free IMAP account, and some reasonably-priced paid accounts ($50/yr or so for their highest-level account).
As I mentioned, GMail is a great solution if you want to live primarily in their web interface, but if the majority of your e-mail work is done with a normal e-mail client, an IMAP-based service is the way to go. Unfortunately, GMail will probably never provide IMAP access, as their bread and butter is based on your spending time on their web pages where they can properly bombard you with Google ads... :)
# 4 Re: Q: Does downloaded mail on iPhone sync back to Mac-based Mail?
I rarely, if ever, use the web side of it though. I just pipe it through to my Apple Mail, or use the mobile Gmail app on my Nokia 6680. That only gives me mail if I remembered to turn Mail off at home before I left the house though... ;)
Accessing the web page has been practically impossible using Mobile Opera recently, on my crappy old Nokia at least. At the moment it's iPod touch and new Blackberry Pearl, or an iPhone hacktivated to work on my O2 sim...
Cheers.
owen-b at 2007-11-15 13:02:03 >
