I did a search and didn't find the software anywhere on XDA -
For those who don't know - you can have your exchange account synced with your G1 in real time.
The only catch, the software is $50/year - a bit expensive but I'm sure something will come out open source eventually.
The software basically grabs all your outlook data for your exchange account and syncs it into gmail contacts/calendar/mail - folders work and using googles send as 2nd email address - you can send mails via the G1 as the email address you use with exchange. It's really a pretty flawless integration of all your exchange data, quite impressive.
I've been using it for a few days and it works flawlessly - they have a free trial too if you aren't sure.
The software is called MailShadowG and can be downloaded from - www.cemaphore.com
Their support is really good too if you require it.
Sorry if this is has been mentioned before, I couldn't find it on search anywhere and wanted to share the info with others who may not have known this was here.
if all you need is the exchange calendar, then u can use google's calendar sync application to sync between google's calendar and the exchange calendar.
Hmmm. This program seems odd. I'm going to stick with TouchDown. www.nitrodesk.com
Mi|enko said:
Hmmm. This program seems odd. I'm going to stick with TouchDown. www.nitrodesk.com
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't even know TouchDown existed.
A few issues I see with touchdown though - it only gives you the calendar events for one single day, and there is no real-time updating, you have to manually go in and refresh to get new email.
One thing I like about MailShadowG - is that, essentially, you are getting all the real-time push and same features of having your exchange with outlook on a Win Mo phone. Full calendar, contacts, and email in real time synced with your exchange.
Even touchdown admits to all these faults, MailShadow does virtually all these -
* Exchange 2003 support has some limitations
* Does not push email (but we're pulling hard for it)
* You have to poll periodically (please dont do it too frequently 3G downloads are rather drain'y on the battery)
* Calendar shows just one day of events (today)
* You have to refresh the calendar yourself. (the only time the calendar refreshes itself if you made a change to a non-recurring event ocurring on the same day)
* You cannot add bcc to email
* You cannot create or edit appointments
aardvark is working on exchange with full push capabilities.
Anyone offering anything that doesn't do real push email, is not worth bothering with IMO.
Push is crucial.
MailShadowG DOES do real push - since your G1 already does push with the Gmail contacts/calendar/gmail.
aad4321-
You might be out of luck then for now, just have to wait for Aardvark. MailShadow is an outlook add-on, roughly. So your PC must be on with outlook running. You must have Exchange Caching enabled as well as the ability to open imap.gmail.com to port 993 - if you can do these things you should have no problem getting it to work.
Do you get exchange at home as well on your outlook?
I was skeptical of MailShadowG at first so I used the trial, but it works extremely well, everything is near instantaneous - it syncs with the phones contacts/calendar/mail and feels just like real-time exchange like I had on my 8525.
However, due to their stupid 1 year license and rather expensive price - I'm banking on there being a cheaper/free exchange solution within the next year or so. Although I do love having all my exchange data backed up in my gmail which is kind of cool.
vr24 said:
MailShadowG DOES do real push - since your G1 already does push with the Gmail contacts/calendar/gmail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use Gmail. I use exchange 2003
Henchman said:
I don't use Gmail. I use exchange 2003
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The program sync's your exchange data into gmail and makes it accessible via the G1 - you are still using exchange - in fact, the email you send on your G1 will be sent via your exchange email address. A major benefit to this setup is that all your exchange data is backed up on gmail servers as well. Plus, if exchange should go down, you can send via gmail (setting in the mailshadow config).
vr24 said:
The program sync's your exchange data into gmail and makes it accessible via the G1 - you are still using exchange - in fact, the email you send on your G1 will be sent via your exchange email address.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Greta, so now I have duplicate emails everywhere, that I then need to delete form my original exchange mailbox.
No thanks.
Henchman said:
Greta, so now I have duplicate emails everywhere, that I then need to delete form my original exchange mailbox.
No thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why such negativity? It's like you just want to hate a nice piece of software.
Your only duplicate is a BACKUP.. If you delete a message in gmail (on your G1) then that message is deleted in outlook/exchange. Heck, if you READ a message on your G1 in gmail, it will instantly show up in outlook as read. And vice versa. If you move a file to a different folder on your phone, it moves that file in outlook/exchange as well.
This truly is a pretty all-encompassing exchange solution for the G1. I use it for my business and work email that's on exchange and it works really well.
aad4321 said:
I can only access my webmail client outside of work
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well your work sucks. Lol. Guess you'll have to keep using the Wing for now until Aardvark is finished - and that is considering Aardvark even works.
It's a shame the company won't let you sync gmail with exchange.
vr24 said:
Why such negativity? It's like you just want to hate a nice piece of software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, but if they're going to charge $50,- A YEAR, then I expect a proper working App, that syncs to Exchange dureclty using proper push, and not same half baked hacked together workaround using ANOTHER email client.
I think that's a pretty reasonable expectation.
If they were offering it for free, it would be an acceptable compromise for now.
Henchman said:
No, but if they're going to charge $50,- A YEAR, then I expect a proper working App, that syncs to Exchange dureclty using proper push, and not same half baked hacked together workaround using ANOTHER email client.
I think that's a pretty reasonable expectation.
If they were offering it for free, it would be an acceptable compromise for now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But thats the thing, it's really not "half baked" - I would prefer a one time license fee and also believe it's a bit expensive for what the program does... but they are the ONLY company with a real exchange solution right now. And at the end of the day, my contacts/calendar/email is sync'd with my exchange account 100% with a backup on gmail.
I think it's overpriced but I have to have my exchange on my phone so I don't have a choice. Because of their pricing, as soon as exchange support is released I will be dumping MailShadow - if it was fairly priced, I'd probably actually keep it over a true exchange support due to the backup and gmail integration.
I would rather pay (and I did) $19 for a license from Touchdown and have my phone poll and look actually work like a real program than what this program does for $50/year. If Touchdown doesnt get some things resolved like push (most important) or the options to see or open attachments/embedded jpg's, I will hope that Aardvark comes in where Touchdown falters. But as of now, I am happy with Touchdown until something better comes along....and MailShadow is not it.
somebody7 said:
I would rather pay (and I did) $19 for a license from Touchdown and have my phone poll and look actually work like a real program than what this program does for $50/year. If Touchdown doesnt get some things resolved like push (most important) or the options to see or open attachments/embedded jpg's, I will hope that Aardvark comes in where Touchdown falters. But as of now, I am happy with Touchdown until something better comes along....and MailShadow is not it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've actually been using TouchDown and it's not that bad. I just set it to pull data every hour. One thing I'll warn you about is that it only pulls down data that hits the server after the initial connection and refresh. So, any back email you might have in your box won't be downloaded. Personally, at work I have everything on a 3 day archive, so my mailbox in 3 days won't have anything I received today, which makes it a non problem for me. But I have a feeling they'll probably fix it in the future anyway.
vr24 said:
But thats the thing, it's really not "half baked" - I would prefer a one time license fee and also believe it's a bit expensive for what the program does... but they are the ONLY company with a real exchange solution right now. And at the end of the day, my contacts/calendar/email is sync'd with my exchange account 100% with a backup on gmail.
I think it's overpriced but I have to have my exchange on my phone so I don't have a choice. Because of their pricing, as soon as exchange support is released I will be dumping MailShadow - if it was fairly priced, I'd probably actually keep it over a true exchange support due to the backup and gmail integration.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It may not be "half baked" but a user agent that dumps the exchange data to gmail is not a "real exchange solution." This thing would get you all sorts of static from a corporate IT department!
If it works for you, great, but it's definitely not an ideal workaround by any stretch.
It is a real exchange solution. It may not be a real exchange solution for every company - but it is for others.
For me, it actually turned my G1 into a phone that has all my exchange data in real-time push. To me, that is a solution
somebody7 said:
I would rather pay (and I did) $19 for a license from Touchdown and have my phone poll and look actually work like a real program than what this program does for $50/year. If Touchdown doesnt get some things resolved like push (most important) or the options to see or open attachments/embedded jpg's, I will hope that Aardvark comes in where Touchdown falters. But as of now, I am happy with Touchdown until something better comes along....and MailShadow is not it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touchdown is extremely limited with no push, whereas MailShadow gives you all your exchange data - both in AND out of the phone in real time. To me, that seems like a pretty ideal solution.
Considering you are using gmail/calendar/contacts - you are definitely getting a "real" program with MailShadow.
I think MailShadow is expensive, but you definitely get what they say you do, and that is ALL your exchange features you are used to, in real-time push - on the G1. You can set appointments on the calendar, get multiple days, instant notification of new emails, integrates with your phones contacts, etc.
Thats true that it doesnt have any push. But at the same time, I wont get in trouble w/my supervisors. Im in IT and we dont allow any corporate email to be forwarded anywhere (especially gmail). I work for a pharmaceutical company so obviously all email has to be secure. Company email going to Gmail is a really big concern for any big corporation, especially in the healthcare field. While I think its a good idea if its a small company or a company that doesnt care about security, it wont cut it for the others. That, on top of a 1 time fee as opposed to a yearly fee....its a no brainer. I change my polling to change by how often I need my email. If Im stepping away from my office, I have it polling every minute. If Im in the office and on my computer, I dont really need for it to be checked, so I can change it to every 5 or 10 minutes. I just hope that either they or Aardvark roll out push Exchange soon, in the meantime, I will continue to use Touchdown.
Yup, hopefully Aardvark comes out soon with a sweet Exchange solution soon.
Related
I'm looking to partake of some vendor's service for the purpose of PUSH functionality. What does everyone here use? Their own MSE box, hosted Exchange, 4smartphone.net, web2mail.com, or some other service?
Personal Notes
- 4smartphone.net looks like the best, but you have to pay a year in advance (no monthly payments). Forget that.
- web2mail.com doesn't look like it supports SP2 which enables Push.
- I don't have a license to run my own Exchange box
- Other hosting services chanrge $15+/month and mostly without SP2.
What else are the choices out there? Now that we have ROM's that support it, I would assume MANY people will be looking for a solution on the server side.
Use vgsmail and keep your current mail server.
http://www.vgsmail.com/ppc/
Anyone else? This should be a pretty active thread... but only one response.
BTW, I saw someone mentioned www.utica.nl
jeremyjoslin said:
Anyone else? This should be a pretty active thread... but only one response.
BTW, I saw someone mentioned www.utica.nl
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use 4smartphone.net as of yesterday -
I've set up mail forwarding from my belfast-biker.com domain to the 4smartphone one, it sync beautifully, BUT...!
It syncs lovely between OWA (I think that's it, the web-based Outlook thing) and the Exec, but there seems no link with my normal Outlook, and I'm sure there should be.
Also, when I receive emails, they go to my device, and my OWN, but not to my normal Outlook anymore, I'm sure it's coz I've failed to establish a link I should have done.... any help?
IMO, what's really needed for these phones, and might even be on the cards with Google's licensing of the Exchange ActiveSync protocol, is a BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server)-like relay package.
A piece of software that sits on a computer or server (or the server) in the office, and stays logged into each of your user's Exchange mailboxes via MAPI, then syncs messages, calendar, contacts etc. realtime to the Google Mail / Gmail account.
Shouldn't be very hard to create, especially for those who have written apps like GsyncIT.
I believe there already is one such package, I found it a few days ago, can't remember the name - it has an M in it ( ), but it looked a bit pricey and like it was intended to do more than just Exchange -> Gmail (was a generic Cloud-sync package).
A fairly simple extension of something like GsyncIT I should think. The Exchange Information Store ACLs would be modified so that user "GoogleSyncAdmin" has Full Mailbox access to the mailboxes concerned, and the users would be mapped to GoogleMail accounts. Job done, proper push synchronisation on Android. The handsets would just be registered to a Gmail account.
The alternative, which may also be on the cards for the same reason, is that Google develop a BIS (Blackberry Internet Service)-like extension to Gmail, whereby Gmail stays logged into your Exchange Account via ExchangeActiveSync, and pulls changes down. This would require working EAS on the user's Exchange Server, and would require providing Exchange credentials to Gmail. I guess it'd be just like their current POP-downloading facility, but for Exchange, and hopefully including Calendar & Contacts sync.
I prefer the BES-like solution personally. No ports need to be opened on the user's Exchange server, you could run multiple Exchange servers behind a no-inbound firewall, and it's probably less troublesome overall. The BES-like package could also inject hidden instruction-messages that control features of the handset, IT policy, block downloads, wipe data etc.
Doing exchange->[beslike software]->gmail->phone would mean that any messages sent from the device would come from your gmail account though, not your exchange account.
Much better to have a true exchange client on the device, then it works both ways.
Deicist said:
Doing exchange->[beslike software]->gmail->phone would mean that any messages sent from the device would come from your gmail account though, not your exchange account.
Much better to have a true exchange client on the device, then it works both ways.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, they would just allow you to set Reply-To/From: just like they do with your other existing emails addresses at the moment.
I think this device rapidly needs Exchange/Activesync support, Office Documents and USB internet sharing for free and quick.
I am testing this device for our company and unless it can do these well and ideally free then its a non-starter for us.
This is the product I had seen: http://www.cemaphore.com/index.html
Lowest pricing is $325/yr for 5 users with the online service, which isn't so expensive, but annual pricing is a pain, and can't buy less than 5 users.
cemaphore is buggy.
Their client crashes constantly, and says mail is sent that never really was. Avoid or wait till it's more stable in later versions.
Anyone out there use Companionlink/DejaOffice to sync their Outlook contact, calendar, notes and task to the Infuse?
Coming from years on Windows Mobile, I felt like I couldn't live without it as I like to do my planning on Outlook 2010 but now and then, I need to do it on my phone.
While far from perfect, Companionlink/DejaOffice does a good job...the latest update to DejaOffice seems a little quirky though...the sync progress goes away after 10 seconds and you can only see the progress on the PC.
I'm sorry I can' help you with Outlook. I'm just surprised anybody does this anymore. There are so many web-based / network-based solutions to choose from:
Google (the one built right into your phone)
Windows Live
Yahoo
Sync with your work Exchange server
Etc.
Now that you aren't on Windows Mobile anymore, you might want to consider this as being a great time to move to one of the aforementioned options.
My company blocked all non-company owned devices from using web synch since it was too easy to bypass the remote wipe and password requirements.
The only way to synch is by using Outlook on my home PC that connects into my Work account. Of course I have not tried that with an Android device yet, just used to be able to do it with WM devices.
tankmorph said:
I'm sorry I can' help you with Outlook. I'm just surprised anybody does this anymore. There are so many web-based / network-based solutions to choose from:
Google (the one built right into your phone)
Windows Live
Yahoo
Sync with your work Exchange server
Etc.
Now that you aren't on Windows Mobile anymore, you might want to consider this as being a great time to move to one of the aforementioned options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the_nite_owl said:
My company blocked all non-company owned devices from using web synch since it was too easy to bypass the remote wipe and password requirements.
The only way to synch is by using Outlook on my home PC that connects into my Work account. Of course I have not tried that with an Android device yet, just used to be able to do it with WM devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, CompanionLink/DejaOffice works pretty good...a little quirky and needs some adjustment but it works quite well...you still have to pay $40.00 for CompanionLink but it was worth it...not ready yet to NOT sync with Outlook...
I hear ya, the contacts are one thing but not having my calendar is a PITA.
garak0410 said:
Well, CompanionLink/DejaOffice works pretty good...a little quirky and needs some adjustment but it works quite well...you still have to pay $40.00 for CompanionLink but it was worth it...not ready yet to NOT sync with Outlook...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's unfortunate your company blocks the use of non-company devices to sync. I guess it depends on how strict the IT dept policies are. I'm lucky. I have my work exchange email, contacts and calendar with me all the time. I just use the built in email app.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk
I am using android sync. It is just usb sync though. You have to connect to sync.
http://www.android-sync.com/
I just got the InFuse and I downloaded the trial version of Touchdown app for Exchange. You should give it a try it is free to try and I really like this app. It syncs everything over the air and downloaded every single folder I have plus all the emails in them. I think for the corporate user this is THE app for email syncing.
Touchdown is very good...I don't do exchange at home so CompanionLink is the way to go for me to sync my Outlook contacts, tasks and notes.
I have been using Touchdown for a year it so, but yesterday I gave Moxier Email a try, and though it misses a few tricks Touchdown has, the UI and overall feeling is newer and more polished.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA Premium App
So before I buy an infuse.
I currently use a tilt2 with windows mobile, and active sync software.
For my work, I cannot live without exchange server access to my:
email (use outlook on the laptop but it all comes from the exchange server)
calender: exchange server
contacts: exchange server
tasks: exchange server
I'm able to access emails, attachments, forward, reply, etc. I'm able to modify conference meeting times, and send updates from exchange to all participants. I'm able to schedule new meetings and invite attendees on the work exchange/network from my work/exchange contacts, etc, etc, etc.
I'm basically able to do everything I would do from my laptop on my phone, but with a smaller screen and keyboard.
Again I need to have all the same options that I have within outlook on my PC with email/calender/contact functions and exchange access.
Before I dive into an infuse, is this possible via the included software? or touchdown?
or do you have experiences that would lead you do suggest a different software, or a different phone all together?
I may have to wait to see if ATT will carry the HTC Titan since that will have a windows OS, but if the infuse will work well I may take the plunge sooner and wait for LTE devices to take hold for another couple years.
Thanks for any insight!!!
Did you guys know this?
I think I am screwed for my email accounts.
Trying to sort out email alternatives with forwarding and such. MS has really come up with a convoluted email system, with their Outlook.com alias, etc.
I like the Surface, but I am a techy - I can see where the average user will have issues wit hthe way they do things and the lack of easy help.
It has options for pop3...What type of email do you have that it's giving issues with??
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
eorsini said:
It has options for pop3...What type of email do you have that it's giving issues with??
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has an option for Pop, but when you choose it, it will come up with an error saying its not supported . I see there are workarounds with forwarding and such but not as clean.
Until I can sort out I am forwarding all my mail through Gmail which I can pull into the Surface
The email that is causing all this is roadrunner.com
I didn't have any issues setting up my pop3 account hosted with ipower
you may need update the build-in mail app in Windows Store to newest version.
its not only RT. The windows 8 mail app doesnt support pop...... yet.
That is a curious decision by Microsoft. I haven't used a pop account in at least three years so no big deal for me.
Sent from my Lumia 900 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Windows Live Mail
Windows Live Mail supports POP3, so there's a free alternative. I haven't used POP3 in a long time, except with my comcast account, which I don't need to check everywhere, but I do have it configured in WLM.
So, I just checked my Surface, and sure enough, it does NOT support POP mail accounts. It actually tells you right when you choose POP that it's not supported and requests you ask your provider to supply IMAP or Exchange accounts.
I bought the surface two days ago on the Microsoft Store opening on San Juan. I did it tomuse it more to work and the first think I did was try to installs my work email. It is a pop3 and I really can't believe is not working... this should be a business oriented tablet.
I tried the work around but I need when I replay an email to go with my work email, not my Hotmail account.
If some one know an app that do it please let me know.
PRTEQ said:
I bought the surface two days ago on the Microsoft Store opening on San Juan. I did it tomuse it more to work and the first think I did was try to installs my work email. It is a pop3 and I really can't believe is not working... this should be a business oriented tablet.
I tried the work around but I need when I replay an email to go with my work email, not my Hotmail account.
If some one know an app that do it please let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MS is supposed to be releasing an update to Mail to fix this.
guitar1969 said:
MS is supposed to be releasing an update to Mail to fix this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hope it comes before 12 days that I have to return it...
Sent from my HTC One XL using Tapatalk 2
The Mail app is generally complete junk for any non-EAS accounts. It literally would've been more fully-featured if they just ported over the Windows Phone 7.5 mail app (which supports POP3). IMAP support is horrendous (WP7's is also not great, but less atrocious), and lots of certificate-related issues.
Currently my main email account (IMAP) half-works-- sometimes emails load, but nothing sends (permanently stuck in outbox), and two other IMAP accounts don't work at all (doesn't accept the settings, which work fine on Outlook and WP7.5). Exchange accounts generally work fine.
The message they give you after you select POP3 might as well have a trollface on there.
I don't have the surface. But in add and remove, Windows companies, mail service, you need to check the pop protocol. I know my orders aren't as it is on the screen. But it's what I can remember.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
arieil said:
I don't have the surface. But in add and remove, Windows companies, mail service, you need to check the pop protocol. I know my orders aren't as it is on the screen. But it's what I can remember.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That menu 1) doesn't exist in Windows RT and 2) even on Windows 8, it only affects Outlook, not the Metro Mail app.
I can't believe we are now a month after release of the Surface and still no POP3, or Mail program fix. On other forums and MS' own support forum, people are fuming about this stupid decision to ignore POP3 and people are returning. I know moit email providers have gone IMAP, but there are plenty of big ones who haven't yet and isn't MS all about customer choices.
Another thing - even in IMAP, if your SMTP outgoing server doesn't have SSL then you won't be able to send mail either. The only email I have that works is Gmail, and its the one I don't use much. Can't send business mail from my Surface.
I guess they want this thing to fail so they can upsell us all to the Surface Pro. . .
I am totally agreed. I read that MS push updates every second Tuesday of the month, so hopefully they fix it...
Sent from my Windows 8 device using Board Express
"Oh no! MS prioritized the better, faster, more secure protocol instead of the vestigial sack of puss my primary email still uses! How ridiculous!" -Everyone in this thread.
They'll get around to pop3, but is forwarding your mail to an imap account really a nuisance? You'll get all the advantages of imap AND the original pop account acts as a backup for all mail in case something goes wrong.
link68759 said:
"Oh no! MS prioritized the better, faster, more secure protocol instead of the vestigial sack of puss my primary email still uses! How ridiculous!" -Everyone in this thread.
They'll get around to pop3, but is forwarding your mail to an imap account really a nuisance? You'll get all the advantages of imap AND the original pop account acts as a backup for all mail in case something goes wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it is - SMTP is broken too for some mail servers - I can't send a stupid work email with my real email address, which is IMPA on incoming.
Your response of get around to it sounds absurd a month after launch. Believe it or not some mail providers still do use POP3, and we shouldn't have to change our email to use the surface. Its things like this that will kill RT before it even gets off the ground.
News is that MS is already cutting back on production of the Surface - Here we go.
Anyone else found the stock mail appto be a complete pos?
I understand that the Surface RT is more a "Home" device than a "Work" one but still, a better mail app is needed, hell I've even settle on Outlook Express than this lol...
what specifically are you not liking about it? "pos" isn't very useful feedback.
It seems to handle multiple accounts OK - my suggestions:
unified inbox
message preview on/off
image download on/off
Unified Inbox is the number one feature I would like to have in the Mail app.
Trig0r said:
Anyone else found the stock mail appto be a complete pos?
I understand that the Surface RT is more a "Home" device than a "Work" one but still, a better mail app is needed, hell I've even settle on Outlook Express than this lol...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is junk, especially coming from the people who created Outlook. POP3 support is the biggest issue. I thought by now we would see an update, but no go
guitar1969 said:
It is junk, especially coming from the people who created Outlook. POP3 support is the biggest issue. I thought by now we would see an update, but no go
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought by now pop3 would be dead. Horrible protocol for mail
Hello,
i miss a "reading confirmation" for sendet items.
also i think the app has a big failure in syncing imap-directorys.
so on my "surface rt" or my desktop "windows 8 pro 64bit" i have the following issues.
- not all directorys are synct.
(i think there must be a restriction to the count of directorys, becouse new emails in the exist directorys are synct correct.
i have only a overall of 20 root-directory and a 222 down-under-directorys
i missing a count of 14 root-directorys with 71 down-under-directorys
can anyone confirm a restriction of syncing a count of directorys???
For me, the killer lack is the complete inability to send plain text. Too many automated systems, and a few of the people I'm in touch with, can't handle HTML email. Given the simplicity of supporting plain text vs. supporting HTML, it's a very annoying thing to not have.
I also really wish there was some support for user filters. Full integration with Exchange (server-side filters) would be great, but I'd settle for (a lot) less to have anything at all.
The inability to view the compose message window along with any other window at the same time is very annoying. I get that on a low-res display this might be difficult, but while the app is very good at scaling its display as resolution decreases on something like my Surface (right down to being usable while side-snapped!) it's terrible at using the resolution on my desktop.
I'm not experiencing any issues with the mail app. I use Hotmail, so I can set up filters at the Outlook.com website. I have a filter set up to route job-related mails into a specific folder and that's working well. Outlook.com also handles my sender blocking. I have a few folders and they all sync fine. I can view the "compose email" dialogue side-snapped on my surface without difficulty. It's not the most full featured app ever but there's nothing I need to do that I can't. *shrug*.
I think if there's one feature I'd like, it would be to be able to highlight a spam message and select "block future emails from this domain/address" to save me needing to do that on outlook.com
The only thing I now use the Outlook desktop app for is a weekly download & offline backup of my emails.
schettj said:
I thought by now pop3 would be dead. Horrible protocol for mail
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree but unfortunately some big providers still only offer it, like Roadrunner Mail(time warner). I understand the argument to set up a gmail account but MS should be all about flexibility and shouldn't dictate what email service we can use with their devices.
I personally use email pretty much all day every day, for a Microsoft app, it lacks so many features. As a simple start, flagging emails, every email client and their dog can flag emails and show flagged emails, the mail app however can't, its not exactly rocket Science!
Secondly, as mentioned before hand the lack of plain text emails.
The fact it isn't integrated in any way with the calendar, I mean I don't expect a complete replacement for outlook, but even windows phone applications can do these simple things, so why doesn't windows 8 get possibly the worst excuse for a mail app I've ever used?
I only managed to get the built-in Mail app to sync with my Gmail once, after that it throws generic connection errors. It was slow and obnoxious to use, I gave up and just use the web mail interface.
Trig0r said:
Anyone else found the stock mail appto be a complete pos?
I understand that the Surface RT is more a "Home" device than a "Work" one but still, a better mail app is needed, hell I've even settle on Outlook Express than this lol...
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I put my gmail accounts on the surface mail app and all I want is the "send mail as" option.
When you open a new email you will find your email adress in the left bottom corner. and there is also the possibility to use an another email adress.
@feygor: I agree in general, but there is actually some calendar integration. You can receive calendar invites via the mail app, and respond to them (yes/tentative/no). It's not perfect but it's no worse than on my phone, so far as I can tell, in terms of *that* feature.
Now, the lack of support for flagging (or, especially, the Importance flags)... that's annoying. You can't even filter the mail list to show only the unread messages! That's an option out of the box on WP7...
feygor said:
I personally use email pretty much all day every day, for a Microsoft app, it lacks so many features. As a simple start, flagging emails, every email client and their dog can flag emails and show flagged emails, the mail app however can't, its not exactly rocket Science!
Secondly, as mentioned before hand the lack of plain text emails.
The fact it isn't integrated in any way with the calendar, I mean I don't expect a complete replacement for outlook, but even windows phone applications can do these simple things, so why doesn't windows 8 get possibly the worst excuse for a mail app I've ever used?
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I agree its not a full featured mail client - it's the first release of the windows 8 store (gag) mail client. There's nothing saying it can't grow into something better, or even that other clients that are better won't show up in the store. As an "adjunct" email client its good enough for now - given I have my phone with me always and it "owns" my calendar, I can manage it there. The calendar sync does work fine with my various calendars, at least
Give it a rev or two. You may not remember the first versions of email and calendar in iOS, but I do. Yeah, they sucked pretty bad too.
Yeah, it's poor enough that I have to use webmail for all my non-Exchange accounts. Kind of sad that my phone is better for email triage than the Surface.
I'm actually tempted to write a new mail app. I have some POP3 and IMAP code sitting around from a few years ago when I was writing a replacement mail client for WM 6.5, so if I get a chance, might see if I can use some of that.
@amb9800: That would be great. It should even be possible to publish it on the store; MS seems willing to let people duplicate the functionality of built-in apps, and the required Capabilities already exist (really, just network access and File Picker, with Share integration if you want to get fancy). Just make sure (especially if it's C/C++ code) that it's reasonably secure...
I only had a problem with the mail app when using it to access my ISP mail account directly. Since setting up Gmail and forwarding my accounts to there I've had no problems with syncing my mails, contacts, calendar entries, chats etc. Strangely my surface is more reliable for chats than my win8 laptop... the laptop is constantly saying it can't connect to various services but the surface is okay.....just my personal experience.
amb9800 said:
I'm actually tempted to write a new mail app.
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Porting some existing app over should be fairly easy. Let's hope for yours and/or others to arrive
One thing I have noticed people complaining about and I may have an answer.
GMail only allows a certain number of IMAP connections.
If you exceed this, you will get errors. So, if you use Outlook, an iPhone, and a few other devices, you hit the limit.
Additionally, some apps are not following the rules and will open more than one IMAP connection. For example, Thunderbird will use 4 by default!
http://kb.mozillazine.org/IMAP:_advanced_account_configuration
Reducing the number of apps that are hitting your IMAP may help.