Very detailed question - Why won't my email show up on my phone in certain folders?

[MacManInLA]

I have my email account hosted by Rackspace. I setup the IMAP account on my iphone 4. I have several folders in my Rackspace account with each one working off of a certain filter setting. I will try to explain:

Inbox Folder - my inbox folder is where any email not set to a filter goes when I receive it

Work Folder - this is another folder, that I have work related email addresses in. For example, a coworker named Mike will have mike@mike.com for his email address. In my filtering settings, I have it set so when I get an email from mike@mike.com, it bypasses my "Inbox Folder" and goes straight to my "Work Folder" and it shows one unread email in the "Work Folder."

On the computer, when I check my mail through rackspace, the emails all go to their respective folders and do not go to the "Inbox Folder" unless it is an email address not recognized.

Here is what my folders might look like on rackspace:

Inbox Folder (2)
Work Folder (1)
Friend Folder (2)

This means, I got two emails from people not specified in my filter settings that went to the Inbox Folder. I got one email from a work address that is specified in the filter settings. I got two emails from friend addresses that are specified in my filter settings.

Problem is, on my iphone, I only receive the ones that go to my inbox. If I went through manually and opened the work folder and the friend folder, the emails will pop up, but they will not just go to my phone if it is sitting there.

Is there anyway to get my iphone folders to act like the rackspace folders?

 

[Roo Zilla]

I believe multiple folder sync and push only works if you set up your email as Exchange and your email is hosted on an Exchange server.

 

[m3coolpix]

Where did you define the filters (rackspace control panel software or local email app on your computer)?

It's not completely apparent in your description, at least to me.

Also would help to know your email application (Entourage, Mail.app, etc.).

I have made this work....albeit a long time ago on my 3G. Have since consolidated my email setup a bit.....

 

[MacManInLA]

I believe multiple folder sync and push only works if you set up your email as Exchange and your email is hosted on an Exchange server.

What's "exchange" ?

Where did you define the filters (rackspace control panel software or local email app on your computer)?

The filters have been defined and functioning through my Rackspace account on my PC, and are defined in the Rackspace control panel.

Also would help to know your email application (Entourage, Mail.app, etc.).

I am just using the mail icon that was here on my iphone already.

 

[Roo Zilla]

What's "exchange" ?

The filters have been defined and functioning through my Rackspace account on my PC, and are defined in the Rackspace control panel.

I am just using the mail icon that was here on my iphone already.

Microsoft Exchange is email server software. Many companies use it to host their email. iPhone can sync emails, including multiple folders, via Exchange. Exchange also pushes email to iPhone using a protocol called Activesync.

 

[MacManInLA]

Anyway to figure out if I use Exchange?

 

[m3coolpix]

Anyway to figure out if I use Exchange?

If you don't know, then you likely aren't. Exchange is usually setup by larger corporations' IT departments.

IMAP will do what you want 'almost'.

I currently have 4 email accounts syncing on my iPhone (3 server setup IMAP, 1 MobileMe IMAP). The 3 server setup IMAP accounts have emails sorted into various folders. One email address specifically sorts to 6 subfolders, some of those setup to be 'stored on the server', others are 'stored locally'.

However, only the main /INBOX of these email accounts automatically syncs via iPhone's Fetch setup. You can set this however you want from manual to every 15 minutes on the iPhone.

Subfolders 'stored on the server' for this same email account will only sync the new email when I open that subfolder on my iPhone. The 'stored locally' folders and emails just sit and wait until I actually have my laptop also connected via IMAP, and those are then downloaded.

To get all this enabled to Push, you'd have to do like Roo Zilla said, and get a MS Exchange server setup.

 

[Roo Zilla]

If you don't know, then you likely aren't. Exchange is usually setup by larger corporations' IT departments.

Not anymore. Lot of small/medium businesses and individuals are using Exchange via Google Apps, since it's free.

 

[m3coolpix]

Not anymore. Lot of small/medium businesses and individuals are using Exchange via Google Apps, since it's free.

I'm not doubting this....just more along the lines of the way this was originally described, it sounds like the OP is managing his own domain and email setup.

I did find this:

Google Mobile Sync info

Now....does this have to use a GMail email address? Or can it use joeusername@joeuserdomain.com email address? And....I'm guessing that now all these emails do a pass through Google (possibly even with password information).....don't know enough about it.

 

[MacManInLA]

So there is no way for my phone to automatically bring emails into my subfolders, without me manually going to that folder?

 

[Roo Zilla]

So there is no way for my phone to automatically bring emails into my subfolders, without me manually going to that folder?

If you're using basic IMAP, I don't think so. If you are using your own domain, perhaps you would consider switching to Google Apps to host your email. It's free to host email up to like 7GB. If you pay like $50 a year, you get 25GB. The whole process takes two steps of about 10 minutes each.

 

[Roo Zilla]

I'm not doubting this....just more along the lines of the way this was originally described, it sounds like the OP is managing his own domain and email setup.

I did find this:

Google Mobile Sync info

Now....does this have to use a GMail email address? Or can it use joeusername@joeuserdomain.com email address? And....I'm guessing that now all these emails do a pass through Google (possibly even with password information).....don't know enough about it.

If you have your own domain and you want to use it with Google Apps, you just have to change to MX pointers to the Google mail servers after you sign up. There's really clear instructions on how to do it. Then you have to activate Mobile Sync.

Gmail by default, has Mobile Sync activated so any Gmail account can be set up as an Exchange account on iPhone. Since the introduction of iOS 4, you can have multiple Exchange accounts on your iPhone too.

 

[m3coolpix]

If you have your own domain and you want to use it with Google Apps, you just have to change to MX pointers to the Google mail servers after you sign up. There's really clear instructions on how to do it. Then you have to activate Mobile Sync.

Gmail by default, has Mobile Sync activated so any Gmail account can be set up as an Exchange account on iPhone. Since the introduction of iOS 4, you can have multiple Exchange accounts on your iPhone too.

Linky please. I could not find much other than the link I posted above.

 

[MacManInLA]

I set up my email account using the "other" option (when you can pick from exchange, gmail, etc.) Just found out that we are using exchange. Should I pick the exchange option and delete the other account then?

 

[Roo Zilla]

Linky please. I could not find much other than the link I posted above.

Here's something I found.

http://www.htmlcenter.com/blog/setting-up-google-apps-gmail-for-your-domain/

The instructions are a bit different for each domain registrar. For example, Godaddy's instructions are a bit different than for Enum. When you sign up, it'll ask who you registered your domain with, then it'll give very explicit instructions on how to do it. You can also register a new domain with a Google partner, in which case a lot of the work is done for you.

 

[Roo Zilla]

I set up my email account using the "other" option (when you can pick from exchange, gmail, etc.) Just found out that we are using exchange. Should I pick the exchange option and delete the other account then?

Yes you should as long as Activesync is activated on your Exchange server. Then in the email options, you can choose the folders you want synced. Once set up this way, Activesync will sync and push as many folders as you want. There is one small issue, battery life suffers a little when using push email. If you usually have very weak reception, battery life could suffer a lot as the phone struggles to maintain the data connection.

 

[m3coolpix]

Here's something I found.

http://www.htmlcenter.com/blog/setting-up-google-apps-gmail-for-your-domain/

Thank you!

Will look into this in-depth.....looks promising for PUSH email and very small business users (like me with 1-3 employees).

 

[Roo Zilla]

Thank you!

Will look into this in-depth.....looks promising for PUSH email and very small business users (like me with 1-3 employees).

You're welcome. Almost every small business owner I know has moved their email to Google Apps. There are a lot of reasons, the main ones being it's free and is a very robust service with a lot of features. Most paid services can't beat Google Apps for mail.