Pretty disappointed with Gmail

[toddp]

The concept of everything being synced constantly via the web to desktop is a sweet concept. I wasn’t a big Gmail user on my blackberry but before I decided to switch I took a closer look at my rarely used Gmail. Wow. Had everything. Calendar, docs, etc. But what about that glorious push mail I loved on my curve? [and miss so much]

I noticed right away I could use the Gmail client to grab my pop and imap emails. Great. I can even reply via Gmail and it will use the email address it was sent to, awesome! Sold.

BUT. Gmail’s handling of these other accounts sucks total ass!! If I’m LUCKY, it will poll them every 15 – 20 minutes. Most of the time it floats around an hour or so, and sometimes several hours. This renders using Gmail for other accounts useless for business. I don’t have exchange. If I set my email app to poll every 5 minutes my battery drops bad.

Why, oh why, does Gmail not have a setting to poll these accounts more frequently? Gmail is shaping out to be a powerful setup. Even added tasks recently. But instead of adding a “genealogy” or “scrap book” feature [I’m exaggerating naturally] why wouldn’t they focus on email first before they add a 20th function? If they could come close to push for mail android could be a great office phone!

So rant aside, without exchange, what are a guys options to get his mail in a timely fashion with android? Is setting, say K9, to poll every 5 minutes going to destroy battery life? I dumped k9 after a couple days when I first got phone. But I was used to a 3 day battery so maybe I over reacted and blamed the email app. Push mail [or close] is pretty important. I have a few accounts I must stay close to and switching to Gmail accounts for them is just not an option. Mail2web has some kinda exchange option for $5 a month, but would like to skip the extra fee.

Any email tips from people that are heavy email users would be great. Thanx

[prettyboy85712]

Install the exchange email apk.

[The Maestro]

If you're rooted, you might try the most recent Cyanogen build, it includes push email and activesync exchange.

If you're not rooted, then try Exchange by Touchdown. It's an exchange app with full functionality and you can set the poll options for as often or not as you'd like. I have mine set for 10 minutes with no discernible drop in battery life. No monthly fee for that one, just a one time buy of $24.99 which could be worse and I'll vouch for the value of the program.

[toddp]

Thanks guys. But as I said, I dont have exchange server. So cant go that way.

Exchange is nice but not an option on my end sadly

[The Maestro]

My apologies, I missed the part where you mentioned you didn't have an exchange built in.

[JamesBarnes]

If i understand the problem correctly your gmail account fetches your emails from some other email account you use?

But only polls them every 15 minutes...

Solution? Go to your other email account and set up forwarding from that account.

i.e rather than have google fetch your emails, have your you@another.com account automatically forward all mail to your gmail account.

I have my university account do that and its instant.

Regards

James

[hondamx525]

Yeah, the actual Gmail client is push email for your Gmail email. Its not really gmails fault that it takes longer to grab your emails from another location. I would do what the poster above said though.

[kizer]

Thats what I did. I forward my mail from 3 domains to my gmail account. Then in gmail I set up 3 labels. So when mail comes in from:

A - Gets labeled A
B - Gets labeled B
C - Gets labeled C

When I look through my gmail I instantly know which account what email came from so I can address it accordingly. As well when I archive it, it goes into the correct virtual folder for later recovery and use.

The only problem you might encounter is now when you reply its going to show your gmail account instead of your previous email address.

However in most email you can setup filters say on account A so if your expecting super important email you could have it instantly send you a copy to your gmail account. Of course that would require some additional setup, but it might be worth it to you depending on the required speed of your needed replies.

[elingreen]

have you tried K9 recently?

for me, i need my work email 24/7 with checks every 5-10 minutes. when it first came out, the stock email pop3 app sucked and never worked. then K9 came out and worked a little better but still sucked. i then did what you did and forwarded my email to gmail but the hour delay killed me.

but a couple months ago, K9 started to work and now i have it fetch every 10 minutes and my battery still lasts all day with blutooth, 3g, and GPS on all day.

give K9 another try, it works great with my POP mail

[toddp]

Thanks guys

But only polls them every 15 minutes...

Solution? Go to your other email account and set up forwarding from that account.

James

15 minutes at best. More like an hour.
Forwarding is not a solution. If I reply, it will come from gmail account, not account sent to. I have a couple business accounts. So it needs to remain professional. Gmail app is supposed to be a complete online solution. With it’s built in contacts and calendar sync it almost is. But to have a business account that is xxx@gmail is unprofessional. It needs to be xxx@business.com

The best part about gmail being able to work with other accounts is everything is in one slick little online app. But grabbing mail every hour or so is crappy

Its not really gmails fault that it takes longer to grab your emails from another location.

Huh? Sure is! They have full control over polling period. Again, gmail is focusing on being a full featured online calendar, email, contact app that works seamlessly with Android. It fails miserably in this area. If you used business email or possibly blackberry you would realize the failure here. If RIM can get my mail instantly from a few accounts, the “little” Google outfit should be able too!
Sorry to sound a bit cranky, but what’s “good for you” doesn’t mean its right

for me, i need my work email 24/7 with checks every 5-10 minutes…. forwarded my email to gmail but the hour delay killed me.

Exactly! Blackberry has mail handling down perfectly. It’s instant. That for business is critical. Gmail mail is pretty instant. If they just polled other accounts every few minutes the world would be bright and sunny

have you tried K9 recently?

i have it fetch every 10 minutes and my battery still lasts all day with blutooth, 3g, and GPS on all day.

give K9 another try, it works great with my POP mail

Thanks! I just installed the new K9 beta app 1.05 and will set for every 5 minutes and see how it affects battery. Other then that, guess I will just buck up and pay the $5 month for mail2web exchange service. I don’t mind the $5, email is really important. Just don’t want to mess with another online app. Gmail has so much all tied in nicely with android it would have been cool to use it.

Thanks again for input!
Cheers