Gmail fanatics not only use the service heavily, but also tweak it to fit their specific needs. Here are just some examples of how flexible and customizable Gmail has become. Yet there is one aspect of Gmail that doesn’t get discussed too frequently, eventhough it’s one of the most common ways we experience Gmail.
Modern smartphones might appear more like toys or entertainment devices rather than serious productivity tools, but at the backbone of every smartphone platform is the email. In the past few years, tablets have joined smartphones as an alternative accessing the Web and your emails while on the move. It’s no surprise then that no matter what tablet or smartphone you use, Gmail is available for you in some form or another. On Android smartphones and tablets, the Gmail app sits front and center.
It is Google’s own creation, and it provides you with nearly every function characterized by the web version of Gmail. That’s sensible because Android devices run Google’s software - it’s with other mobile platforms that a dilemma arises. On the iPhone many, if not most, users run Gmail through the default Mail app. The interface is nice and simple. It runs fast, and gives you all the basics of your email right in your inbox. You can even run multiple accounts through the Mail app, so you can have all of your emails in one place.
Yet there is plenty missing from a Gmail perspective. To compensate for this, Google has released a Gmail app for the iPhone. But the question remains: which provides the better Gmail experience, First, here’s how you can set up your Gmail account on your iPhone’s Mail app. There’s just one hitch to this process: your iPhone will pull messages from the server at a certain interval (which you can set). That means your phone’s battery will drain faster and you won’t be able to see new messages instantly.
Thankfully, there’s an easy workaround to this issue. If you want instant push email, you can check out this Google support doc that goes over the process. Essentially, you’ll set up your Gmail as a ‘Microsoft Exchange’ account. You’ll select this from the Add Account… menu, rather than Gmail. Once you’ve set up your Gmail as a Microsoft Exchange account, you can enjoy instant emails on your iPhone. Still, there are some inadequacies. The Mail app lacks several features that Gmail users love.
Yes, they import your labels as folders and sync them both ways, so you can still label every bit of mail you receive. Have you ever tried to do the following on the Mail app, Granted that some of these are possible with the Mail app, but the process isn’t easy.
It’s enough to frustrate a loyal Gmail user. I’ve often wondered how many have jumped ship to Android, just for the easier use of Gmail. Last year Google released a dedicated app for the iPhone. It launched to lukewarm and even poor reviews, but Google did make improvements in the following few months. What they have now is a usable app that is in many ways superior to Apple’s Mail app. Any dedicated Gmail user would do well to use it instead of Mail. Why use the Gmail mobile app,
The reasons could fill pages and pages, but here are the best ones. When you get a new email, the badge on the Gmail app updates. This is pretty standard, of course, but it’s something the app has over the standard Gmail setup on iPhone. One of the greatest Gmail features Google ever introduced was priority Inbox. This means nothing on the iPhone Mail app, but it means everything in the Gmail app. With just a tap, you can filter your important and unread emails, your starred emails, or just view everything in traditional mode.
If you’re a compulsive email archiver, the Mail app might frustrate you. But with the Gmail app there’s an archive icon right on the screen. You can also search through your archived mails with ease. On the Mail app, the search doesn’t work too well unless the email is actually on the device. Tap the down arrow in any email and you’ll see many familiar options.
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