Push Gmail support for the iPhone is finally here. And you have Microsoft to thank.
No, Push support has not finally been added to Apple’s Mail app for the iPhone, that would be too easy and make too much sense. Instead, it appears that Google is once again working around Apple to provide customers with some functionality, this time by way of its Google Sync product.
Basically, to get it to work, you have to set up a Microsoft Exchange account on the iPhone using your Google account credentials. Read more about the process here. Previously, this option was available for some of the other Google apps like Calendar and Contacts, but now Gmail is supported, which is important, because it means that you will be instantly notified when a new message comes in.
This is a big deal to a lot of iPhone/Gmail users because with the iPhone’s built-in Gmail functionality, you can only manually pull messages from the servers. This means you have to wait longer to get your email depending on the time interval you set to check for new messages. Even though Apple offered Push support out of the box for Yahoo Mail, Gmail through the Mail app is still pull-only, for some unknown reason. Gmail push works fine on Android phones and the Palm Pre.
There have been several third-party apps that have come along to attempt to provide push support for your Gmail email. Gpush had one hell of a time getting accepted before it finally was, another, Boxcar 2.0, is still waiting.
The interesting side story to all of this is that Google is once again doing its own thing to bring a service to the iPhone. Apple would not allow a native Latitude application, so Google built a web app that would work with Safari on the iPhone. And, of course, we’re all still waiting to see what Google cooks up to get Google Voice funtionality on the iPhone, which Apple also won’t allow currently.
Google Sync works for all Google Apps accounts, and people with personal Gmail and Google Calendar accounts can also use it. Alongside push Gmail support for the iPhone and iPod touch, Google also launched it for Windows Mobile phones today.
Update: As several have noted, there is a downside to this method. The iPhone only supports one Exchange account, so if you happen to use one for something like work, you can’t also use it for your personal Google account.
Cool, will give it a try.
I tested it out online at Virtual iPhone before risking my own iPhone, and I keep having problems with my contacts being duplicated. I think I will wait cause I can still manually check my account as often as I like.
How is that a simulator? You just get a window with Google ads when you click around.
you actually went there?
Good you tested. How about mail usage? Did you find any difficulty in accessing?
Thanks, will give it a try!
actually it didnt work too good. I setup gmail using imap which works better IMO. get my emails within 1 – 5 minutes
this new push is taking almost exactly 40 seconds in my testing so far.
THIS IS HUGE.
Welcome to the game TechCrunch. Been doing this for a while now.
not really: http://googlemo...e.blogspot.com/
It’s been working the same way since this post back in Feb:
http://googlemo...-winmo-and.html
Well unlike nerd boy here, I haven’t so thanks. This is great.
TC could at least thank Apple for the Exchange support in OS 3.0.
Fantastic. Although this sucks for the makers of GPush.
gpush is still better, because google’s push doesn’t give you a badge notification
um..your email app puts a nice little # of emails you have unread…first day with the phone?
This is NOT HUGE. You can only have 1 exchange account configured, so for a lot of people with an exchange account for work already can not use this process.
This is awesome. Does it work with multiple Google apps accounts/domains?
I was really excited about this until I realized that the iPhone only supports 1 ActiveSync account. If you already have an Exchange account for work, you’ll have to choose.
Exactly. At first glance, this looks awesome but its not a complete fix. Unfortunately I have to leave my work account as the Exchange account and not gmail. Next fix…
This should provide significant battery life savings too for those who had their phones set to poll frequently for new mail.
Why would anyone want to be notified whenever they get an email? People are already incessantly and compulsively checking their email every few minutes, to the detriment of their sense of etiquette.
This makes email less fun. The few seconds of anticipation when you hit the refresh button and it starts downloading emails are enthralling; Did that girl from Match.com reply? or is it yet another spam from Amazon or Dell?
You can stop compulsively checking your email every few minutes when your email devices automatically inform you in realtime when new email arrives. WHAT A CRAZY IDEA!
email isnt supposed to be “fun”. its communication.
I bet you use Incredimail, dont you?
this is horribly slow for me. NuevaSync.com was much faster.
I too use NuevaSync and enjoy it. Does the new google sync allow you to push multiple folders to the device?
it basically works exactly like NuevaSync except it’s free and MUCH SLOWER.
Ah man! The iPhone only supports one Exchange account. That kinda makes this worthless for me as I also use my phone with the Exchange server at my work.
Still, it’s a nice function even if I cannot use it.
The iPhone only supports one exchange account, apparently. That’s annoying, but having push on one of my Gmail accounts is still pretty cool.
agreed.
I’ve been trying to find a way to temporarily disable or switch to IMAP the existing exchange account but it looks like you have to delete that account. I wish the Exchange accounts on the iPhone had an Account On/Off switch like the other types of accounts.
Do other mobile phones allow you to have more than one exchange account configured? This really sucks that I can only use one, and unfortunately my “work” account gets priority.
Yes. I was speaking to one of my co-workers and one of the reasons many people haven’t switched to the iPhone. Especially for contractors, having the ability to have more than one exchange account would be great.
HAHA, the hate for Apple at the beginning of this post is ridiculous.
I thought the iPhone’s mail app supported push as long as your were using Exchange?
Also– MobileMe’s mail has been push for awhile now no?
The significance of this news is that now GMail in particular can be pushed too (via Activesync).
Also, your mention of MobileMe in a non-ironic context automatically invalidated your entire post.
Right, but the article reads as if Apple has done absolutely nothing to support push email and google has come to the rescue and added push capabilities to the iPhone.
I just find it funny that TC idolizes google at every chance they can get and the last few months has been giving Apple a s**t storm of hate on every front (not that they don’t deserve a bit of it).
Regardless of MobileMe’s crappiness, it has supported push consistently for a few months now.
The point is that IMAP supports a form of push called IDLE which Gmail has supported for a long time but the iPhone hasn’t. It makes no sense either since Yahoo, MobileMe, and Exchange have had Push since the beginning.
So what I’m noticing is that it isn’t actually pushing new mail to my phone. Push is on (and set specifically for this account), and it only gets the new mail on a periodic fetch. And fetching seems to be slower than my IMAP connection was. Hrm.
I love having push email on my phone but I really wish there was a way to disable audio alerts during certain times of day on the iPhone. I don’t really need to be woken up for Newegg’s hottest new sale or someone mentioning me on Twitter.
Actually, there´s an app called Gphushed on the appstore which not only does work a lot better than this sync method, it also allows you to set a time interval for when you don´t want to get notifications. It´s not free, but it´s working beautifully for me, a lot better than Gpush.
Actually, it makes perfect sense. Push is a protocol issue not an application one. Saying Apple should have just “added push” to its mail app is completely ignorant of how email works.
MG, you’re an idiot.
Your ignorance and lack of reading comprehension amuses me.
Gmail sync via Exchange is limited, not able to search entire inbox on gmail. I tried setting “Mail to Sync Days” to No limit and it still does not work. IMAP allows you to search your entire inbox, but via Exchange does not.
Also the “No limit” option does not show all the email in my inbox, only limited to abt 2 mths, and it does not have an option on the bottom to pull more emails from the server like via IMAP does.
Anyone else having the same issues?
I am having same issue
Yes, same issue for me. Google push didn’t work very well for me at all. Yes, it pushed the emails in about 30-45 seconds but left half of my emails on the server and messed up my folders creating duplicates. I actually disabled email push and set up my Gpush app again and like it much better. Super fast notifications (about 1-2seconds) and I can still use the full functioning IMAP so I get view all my emails on my iphone. Google Calendar and Contacts always worked great for me but the push email has to be improved big time!!
Mine is pathetically slow .. damn .. ii ll check it later …
Best,
Daina
Nokia phones used to have timed profiles. It was great – you could put your phone on “quiet” when you got to the office to avoid glares from co-workers, with it going back to “normal” at 6pm. Or silent for the duration of a meeting. A tiny little feature that I really miss.
the downside of its is what really annoys me. I have multiple ms exchange accounts. otherwise my iPhone would be complete.
Ugh… so I enable push and now I get a constant interference humming sound from my PC speakers instead of the temporary interference that I used to get everytime a text msg or phone call was coming in. So is this really ‘push’ or is the iPhone simply polling the server?
move your phone.
apple is evil!
This is good news for Google Voice users! You can essentially ditch AT&T SMS.
GV recently enabled text messages to be sent to your Gmail account. You can respond to them from Gmail and it goes back to the other persons phone.
Now with push for iphone it eliminates the 15 minute fetch interval on the iphone!
I thought that one of the biggest reasons Apple/AT&T rejected the iPhone app for Google Voice was because a Push functionality for the SMS essentially kills any need for SMS packages for Voice users, which as we know are cash cows for any carrier.
Now with the rapid release of both SMS forwarding to email and push email for Google sync, I can’t help thinking they pushed up the development for these two features to get around Apple and AT&T.
Agreed. I think they fast tracked these two for a very obvious reason. Tie this in with an enhanced GV web app Google said they are developing and it will be glorious! You can see why Apple and AT&T would not be happy about GV on the iphone.
Can you work around the 1 exchange account problem by setting gmail(on the web) to access your exchange mail, then gmail to push it to you? Has anyone tried this?
I set up push on a gmail account that normally checks 5 other accounts via POP access – push does not seem to be working on those other accounts. That makes sense to me though – I wouldn’t expect it to work.
Wait…it did work. But damn was it slow. Took a few mins, but I did get a push via a POP associated account.
Yes, but GMail pops them only every hour. After some days the POP3 frecuency goes down. For the real pushmail experience, you better set up autoforwards from the other email accounts to GMail. That way every message should arrive in seconds.
Good idea…thanks.
If you look at the picture from http://twitpic.com/ids91 you can receive push for google Voice already installing http://www.appn...ifications.com/
I must have done something wrong.
Set it up, removed my old gmail account, but now it doesnt fetch anything.
Can’t even connect to gmail for some reason.
It’s working now.
I think.
Same here, does not fetch keeps asking for pw being incorrect
completely unscientific testing: NuevaSync.com was pushing my Gmail in 5 seconds or less. Google Sync is pushing my Gmail in 40 seconds (on average).
Does anyone know if it’s only pushing emails from the gmail account or is it also pushing emails I have under “Check mail using POP3:”
It works for the POP3 accounts toom, as Todd Sharp’s comment suggests.
Gpush is faster than push gmail via MSEx. I’m using them side by side – one for work, one personal – and it’s going just fine.
Man, I’ve been waiting for this forever!
I have Sync set up for my calendar, but I really wanted push for my email too. Now I can save some battery power, and I won’t be constantly checking my email every 5 minutes.
I think this will actually increase phone etiquette, not decrease it. People can relax now and know they have an email that they can check sometime in the following 10-15 minutes when it’s more appropriate! =)
How? Please help! I have my G calendars syncing fine, but how do I turn it on for Gmail? I’ve looked at every Google page and am baffled! Please help…
Maybe I’m crazy but I just don’t see the need for this. I get so many emails that my phone will just be a huge wall of email updates (plus iCal updates, which I actually need to be reminded of!). The gmail browser loads fast — unlocking to check every couple minutes works fine for me.
I don’t think this works, if you already have work e-mail setup with MS Exchange. Looks like apple limit only “one” Exchange setup on iPhone.
Anyone have any solution to make G-Sync work with iPhone, if I’ve already have one email a/c with active Exchange setup ?
-Sundar
Now we need the possibility to add more than one Exchange configuration on the iPhone! Apple do your part!
are people that obsessed with email that they need to know THE SECOND an email arrives. jeez. also, wouldn’t your phone be constantly buzzing when new mails arrive. that would get annoying real fast.
There is a tangible geek backlash against Apple at the moment, visible and egged on in tech journalism. Not sure why, It’s largely about issues which have very little to do with the products or the experience e.g. app store policy and telco politics.. so I doubt if it reflects any real consumer feelings. Might we all concentrate on our strengths e.g. discuss the tech, and ignore our dilettante tendencies to discuss ‘the business side’.
Nice, but unfortunately the iPhone’s battery life takes a huge hit with Push mail. I’d love to use this, but I value battery life too much.
I changed my mail (gmail) on my iPhone to this new push method but now I can’t delete emails from my phone. I’d rather have the ability keep my email up to date in my phone so I’ve switched it back to the gmail set up with fetch.
There is a tangible geek backlash against Apple at the moment, visible and egged on in tech journalism. Not sure why. It’s largely about issues which have very little to do with the products or the experience e.g. app store policy and telco politics.. so I doubt if it reflects any real consumer feelings. Might we all concentrate on our strengths e.g. discuss the tech, and ignore our dilettante tendencies to discuss ‘the business side’.
There is a tangible geek backlash against Apple at the moment, visible and egged on in tech journalism. Not sure why. It’s largely about issues which have very little to do with the products or the experience e.g. app store policy and telco politics.. so I doubt if it reflects any real consumer feelings. Might we all concentrate on our strengths e.g. discuss the tech, and ignore our dilettante tendencies to discuss ‘the business side’.
People were becoming bored with the tangible geek backlash against Microsoft, visible and egged on in tech journalism.
Stories about Apple bring out more emotional reactions, resulting in more page views.
There is a similar backlash brewing against google,
There is a tangible geek backlash against Apple at the moment, visible and egged on in tech journalism. Not sure why. It’s largely about issues which have very little to do with the products or the experience e.g. app store policy and telco politics.. so I doubt if it reflects any real consumer feelings. Might we all concentrate on our strengths e.g. discuss the tech, and ignore our dilettante tendencies to discuss ‘the business side’.
I couldn’t agree with you more… looks like it’s gone from objective criticism to plain witch hunt in Apple’s case… for some people, it’s not about Apple’s products anymore, but rather about bringing Apple down at all costs
Mail doesn’t work yet apparently…
No, it works fine. You just suck.
I have found this to be true as well, it’s slowly getting better. I’m also getting constantly prompted for password.
And a round of sighs from Blackberry and Android users on 3. 1, 2, 3..go.
you do know that the Android Gmail client has always supported push, right?
Sigh.
you must have not read his comment properly. there’s no need to sigh at that andorid person’s comment because they’ve already sighed and made the point that push service is nothing new to people who use bb, andoride, etc. ugh. i hate how sarcamsm and other subtlities fall flat over the web unless you phrase something properly or your italicise, capitalize or add lost of irrelevant characters. ugh!!!
“No thanks to Apple”? You mean, other than for supporting both IMAP-IDLE and ActiveSync, giving Google the choice between two different protocols for adding push support?
well that’s the thing. google supports imap-idle, but the iPhone’s Mail.app doesn’t.
Here’s a complete tutorial on how to setup push gmail on your iPhone! http://retwt.me/cvBq
the answer to all your problems is buy an android phone!!
I don’t quite get this. I’ve had this activated on my iPhone since I got this a couple of months ago. Is this really new?
In fact I quite like it because I will usually hear the alert on my iPhone in the desk drawer before I get notified on my computer.
This is very old news! Google sync has been working for more than a year at least
Since it depends on Microsoft Exchange, so theoretically, Gmail Push should also work on the Nokia E-Series devices which comes pre-loaded with Mail For Exchange. Will give it a try using my E71 and update you people.