End of push Gmail on iOS

[C DM]

Originally Posted by apollo1444

Gmail was a stupid trend I've used it and it's a horrible experience

Outlook (new hotmail) is a great alternative and it is better (yes microsoft did a good job)

and for others Gmail is still better in one way or another. And for some it's Yahoo! Mail.

[sbailey4]

Originally Posted by bigjnyc

Thats a good option, but alot of people like myself have been using Gmail for ever and have handed out that email to many people and used it for many services. So it's not feasible to switch to a new email address. But for the more casual users who only give their email to a few friends this is a good option..... Problem is that those users usually dont really need push.

True and changing to a new address is a PITA I would agree (I went to gmail some time ago to get away from having my ISP provided email in case I changed) Anyway you can forward gmail to outlook as an alternative. Maybe not the best solution but I have my ISP email forwarding to gmail and just manage it via Gmail exclusively. Works fine. Also the Gmail APP will still support push as I understand. And there is a new Mailbox app that was just released that supposed to support push as well and have some pretty neat features. Mailbox is the name of the app and is in a reservation system to get it.

[bubba*nix]

Originally Posted by silver8ack

I don't get it. I'm still getting push email on my iPhone and iPad. Also, when I read te message on one device, it's marked as read on the other.

In other words, no difference.

Works fine. I just tested my @gmail and @domain free apps accounts on a new device that has never had ActiveSync on it. It also happens to be Jailbroken. I understood the policy change to mean existing users with new devices wouldn't be able to use ActiveSync. I even enabled ActiveSync on an account that has NEVER had ActiveSync enabled on it before today, but the account is a few years old. So perhaps Google meant new accounts created after 1/30 wouldn't have this functionality, but existing accounts could use it forever, even on new devices... either that or the "Windows Mobile" extension is applying to everyone.

[spyguy10709]

Originally Posted by dinggus

I never noticed the difference. So, I'm assuming Google is trying to make iPhone users switch to Android?

No, they're trying to get users to use the Gmail app --- they get Ad revenue from it.

[Ancaster]

I'm not clearly understanding the specifics here.

I'm in the process of jb'ing all my iOS devices and they are restored as new.
I create Gmail push accounts through MicrosoftExchange... Gmail seems to push on all of them.

This is for 'new' gmail accounts?
And will affect 'new' devices in the future?

In other words, it won't work on the next iPhone? Or now if I create a new gmail account?

[dinggus]

Originally Posted by spyguy10709

No, they're trying to get users to use the Gmail app --- they get Ad revenue from it.

Does the Gmail app allow push?

[powerwagon]

Originally Posted by dinggus

Does the Gmail app allow push?

Yes it does

[chestvrg]

Originally Posted by bubba*nix

Works fine. I just tested my @gmail and @domain free apps accounts on a new device that has never had ActiveSync on it. It also happens to be Jailbroken. I understood the policy change to mean existing users with new devices wouldn't be able to use ActiveSync. I even enabled ActiveSync on an account that has NEVER had ActiveSync enabled on it before today, but the account is a few years old. So perhaps Google meant new accounts created after 1/30 wouldn't have this functionality, but existing accounts could use it forever, even on new devices... either that or the "Windows Mobile" extension is applying to everyone.

One way to test this is to open a brand new gmail account and try to activate EAS.

Other thing maybe happening that google decided to extend the cut out date. Mine is still working, although I have already migrated my contacts and calendars to icloud. If it still works on my current gmail account I might bring everything back to gmail EAS.

----------

On the weekend I will also go to to Apple store and try activating my gmail exchange on the iPhones and iPads there and will let you guys if it works still ok.

[madmaxmedia]

Originally Posted by powerwagon

Yes it does

It's also really, really fast (in terms of getting notifications), and uses less battery life.

Originally Posted by chestvrg

One way to test this is to open a brand new gmail account and try to activate EAS.

Other thing maybe happening that google decided to extend the cut out date. Mine is still working, although I have already migrated my contacts and calendars to icloud. If it still works on my current gmail account I might bring everything back to gmail EAS.

I am guessing that the cut-off date wasn't really 'hard' from their end, meaning they announced the end of the service but will cut it off when they get around to it. Another possibility is that when they said the extended the date for Windows Phone devices only, it was less work for them to just leave the service open than re-configure it to only accept new Windows Phone devices.

On the weekend I will also go to to Apple store and try activating my gmail exchange on the iPhones and iPads there and will let you guys if it works still ok.

LOL I had posted that idea a few pages back on this thread, thanks for doing it.

[indyzzzz]

I switched to the gmail app. OMG! Very user-friendly compared to the crappy Apple-default mail app.

Love:

The notifications on Lockscreen
How I can "label"
Love priority inbox
Love the speed
Love how smooth it feels compared to default mail app. Like the graphics better too, have one complaint about new messages not being bold enough.
Eats up less battery (I'd be down to 20% by the end of the day on my 4S, now I have more than 40% remaining after 3 days of regular usage)
Love how it opens its own browser window inside the app instead of going to safari.

Im extremely happy that google decide to do this "pull the plug" maneuver, would not have tried Gmail app if it were not so (yah i know it would not have affected me, but I was going to get another 4S, so it might have). I was on the verge of asking Apple to replace my 4S because of how the battery would be down to 20% in 10 hours without much use.

Im beginning to find out that most of the default apple apps are absolute rubbish , the free alternatives like Gmail, Chrome, Mercury browser are several grades better than the default crap that Apple tries to push upon us.

[xraydoc]

Originally Posted by indyzzzz

I switched to the gmail app. OMG! Very user-friendly compared to the crappy Apple-default mail app.

Love:

The notifications on Lockscreen
How I can "label"
Love priority inbox
Love the speed
Love how smooth it feels compared to default mail app. Like the graphics better too, have one complaint about new messages not being bold enough.
Eats up less battery (I'd be down to 20% by the end of the day on my 4S, now I have more than 40% remaining after 3 days of regular usage)
Love how it opens its own browser window inside the app instead of going to safari.

Im extremely happy that google decide to do this "pull the plug" maneuver, would not have tried Gmail app if it were not so (yah i know it would not have affected me, but I was going to get another 4S, so it might have). I was on the verge of asking Apple to replace my 4S because of how the battery would be down to 20% in 10 hours without much use.

Im beginning to find out that most of the default apple apps are absolute rubbish , the free alternatives like Gmail, Chrome, Mercury browser are several grades better than the default crap that Apple tries to push upon us.

FYI, you can get notifications on the lockscreen for the standard iOS email app as well.

[madmaxmedia]

I don't think the default apps are 'rubbish', but they are pretty basic without too much design put into them.

That might partly be out of necessity, in that it needs to support many different types of email accounts, and sort of need to be designed for a lowest common denominator since it is a default app that comes with the phone.

I really would like to see them put more design into them though, and by that I don't mean leather and lace trim.

[C DM]

Originally Posted by indyzzzz

I switched to the gmail app. OMG! Very user-friendly compared to the crappy Apple-default mail app.

Love:

The notifications on Lockscreen
How I can "label"
Love priority inbox
Love the speed
Love how smooth it feels compared to default mail app. Like the graphics better too, have one complaint about new messages not being bold enough.
Eats up less battery (I'd be down to 20% by the end of the day on my 4S, now I have more than 40% remaining after 3 days of regular usage)
Love how it opens its own browser window inside the app instead of going to safari.

Im extremely happy that google decide to do this "pull the plug" maneuver, would not have tried Gmail app if it were not so (yah i know it would not have affected me, but I was going to get another 4S, so it might have). I was on the verge of asking Apple to replace my 4S because of how the battery would be down to 20% in 10 hours without much use.

Im beginning to find out that most of the default apple apps are absolute rubbish , the free alternatives like Gmail, Chrome, Mercury browser are several grades better than the default crap that Apple tries to push upon us.

No offline capability is a big thing that missing from the official Gmail app compared to Apple's Mail app though.

[Dented]

I've been using Gmail forever, all set up to push mail, contacts and calendars with the iphone ever since iOS became capable, and have been thoroughly dependent on it - the only saving grace was that I didn't actually use my gmail address, but my own domain address routed through it.

As soon as Google announced this little manoeuvre, I dropped them like a stone and moved the whole lot onto icloud. I'm not interested in using their app; the built in client works well for me, I have other email accounts and like having them all in the same place. More than that, it's just a ****** move - if they didn't want to be giving people a generic push email service they can use on all devices, then they should never have offered that in the first place. If you're going to force me to pick sides, and corral me into one pen or the other, then I'm going to pick Apple's simply because their hardware and overall user experience is better (good luck getting me to swap my MBP for a chromebook).

Of course with icloud I've had to pretty much give up my domain address (I receive from it but can't send) so I really am locked into Apple's platform, more so than I ever was with google. But, like most of their ecosystem, it's a comfortable enough place to be.

[dontpannic]

Originally Posted by chrtran

This is exactly what I'm trying to figure out! I'm scared that if I do anything (restoring the iPhone, jailbreaking, etc) I'll lose my ActiveSync setup. Google says no new activations of ActiveSync, but current devices will stay syncing. *Technically*, restoring doesn't alter the device identifiers right? Ahhhh the paranoia

This is per account, not per device. If you are currently using Google ActiveSync then your account will be enabled for Google ActiveSync until Google decide to retire the service completely, which is not now.

If it makes you feel any better I restored my device YESTERDAY (12/2) and re-added my Google ActiveSync account - it still works.

[bohbot16]

Originally Posted by bubba*nix

So perhaps Google meant new accounts created after 1/30 wouldn't have this functionality, but existing accounts could use it forever, even on new devices... either that or the "Windows Mobile" extension is applying to everyone.

I think both are true. Google will let everyone who previously set up ActiveSync to have it going forward, plus the deadline for new accounts probably got moved for everyone so they didn't have to create a temporary infrastructure to only allow Windows Mobile devices.

[spyguy10709]

Originally Posted by dinggus

Does the Gmail app allow push?

Yep, it uses apple push notifications.

[bubba*nix]

I think I spoke too soon. I cannot add an old google apps for domain free account to a new device today, nor can my mom who upgraded her phone. It *appears* to add fine, but I get the "Cannot Get Mail. Connection to the server failed" error. I've even tried with the same @gmail address that I tried the other day that worked on Monday, it doesn't work today. Seems like something has changed since Monday. Can someone else try to add a new gmail account to their device or existing gmail account to a new device and see if it works?

[madmaxmedia]

Originally Posted by bubba*nix

I think I spoke too soon. I cannot add an old google apps for domain free account to a new device today, nor can my mom who upgraded her phone. It *appears* to add fine, but I get the "Cannot Get Mail. Connection to the server failed" error. I've even tried with the same @gmail address that I tried the other day that worked on Monday, it doesn't work today. Seems like something has changed since Monday. Can someone else try to add a new gmail account to their device or existing gmail account to a new device and see if it works?

I guess there are a few different variables to be tested-

1. Has the device ever been set up with Exchange for Google?
2. Has the Gmail account ever been set up with Exchange on any iOS device?

I think I have an alternative Gmail account, that I've never used with Exchange. I will try setting that up on my iPhone, which I currently have set up with Exchange for my main Gmail account.

[bubba*nix]

Originally Posted by madmaxmedia

I guess there are a few different variables to be tested-

1. Has the device ever been set up with Exchange for Google?
2. Has the Gmail account ever been set up with Exchange on any iOS device?

I think I have an alternative Gmail account, that I've never used with Exchange. I will try setting that up on my iPhone, which I currently have set up with Exchange for my main Gmail account.

1) No and Yes. I couldn't add my moms account on my phone, and my phone is authorized for activesync for my Gmail account. Her phone has never been activated for activesync since it's new. Also verified with a new iPad that has never been activated for activesync. None of my Gmail or Google Apps accounts work.
2) Yes

To me, it means that Google is now limiting activations on new devices, even if that account was previously authorized for activesync on an older device.

Bummer.

[madmaxmedia]

Ah, I see. I think they might have belatedly flipped the switch then.

I can't log into my other Gmail account, I forgot the password. But based on your results, I doubt it would work anyway.

I'm sure we'll get more feedback soon.

[Ancaster]

Originally Posted by bubba*nix

1) No and Yes. I couldn't add my moms account on my phone, and my phone is authorized for activesync for my Gmail account. Her phone has never been activated for activesync since it's new. Also verified with a new iPad that has never been activated for activesync. None of my Gmail or Google Apps accounts work.
2) Yes

To me, it means that Google is now limiting activations on new devices, even if that account was previously authorized for activesync on an older device.

Bummer.

That sucks.

I tried switching to the gmail app and I don't like it.

Having multiple gmail accounts, in iOS, they are nicknamed and you see which one has a new email. Whereas in the app, I have to keep the dropdown open showing all accounts. Even then, it does not have a notification number on the account that has the new email unless I tap it (am I doing something wrong?).

So if we restore, will activesync still work?

[bigjnyc]

Originally Posted by C DM

No offline capability is a big thing that missing from the official Gmail app compared to Apple's Mail app though.

Living in NYC and riding the subway to and from work, this is a deal breaker for me. Often I use my commute to go through emails when offline.

[powerwagon]

Long time gmail user, first time EAS user and it's a no go for me unfortunately. Just says something to the effect of cannot communicate with server. Good luck !!

[BlaqkAudio]

Originally Posted by dontpannic

This is per account, not per device. If you are currently using Google ActiveSync then your account will be enabled for Google ActiveSync until Google decide to retire the service completely, which is not now.

If it makes you feel any better I restored my device YESTERDAY (12/2) and re-added my Google ActiveSync account - it still works.

This is false. Google Sync will only work on existing devices. If you get a new device or a new account, then you're SOL.

The reason why your device works after restore is because it still has the same device ID.