Looks like Google has finally added IMAP support to gmail. Found out today via Gruber’s twitter and then noticed that Slashdot just noted it today.

This sorta makes my whole gmail/IMAP/iPhone instructions obsolete except for the whole using gmail as an archive thing. If you use gmail’s IMAP directly (rather then a routed approach like mine) you still have the problem of it downloading all your messages.

As such, I’m not currently planning on switching over to this from my own system. Another issue is that I wouldn’t be able just read/respond/delete as I have been doing, since I’d be deleting off of what is now my main archive. Actually reading this it looks like delete just acts like archive unless a mail is spam or in trash. Also you’d still need to send out through your other account if you wanted to use a different header email, since Exchange doesn’t like emails sent through gmai with a different header.

However, this does open up the possibility of using a different gmail account as the iphone IMAP pool for people who were hunting for an IMAP account but still like my system.

I’ve recently revised my Gmail, IMAP, and iPhones Tutorial. It was brought to my attention that there was an issue with MS Exchange which made emails sent using my set up read as if they were from: “Colin [my gmail addy]; on behalf of; Colin [my catcubed addy]“. So after screaming how much I hated Exchange, I figured out another solution (which is basically a slight revision of my first setup).

Change to outgoing server setup

Now instead of using gmail as the outgoing SMTP server, I am using my public facing email address SMTP server for outgoing. Also I have “Always BCC Myself” turned on so that sent email appears in gmail (mail sent back this way appears just like normal sent mail in gmail and is connected to conversation threads like normal ‚Äî gmail‚Äôs magic that way). I also added a brief benefits section, added notes on optional configurations, and cleaned the tutorial up a little to make it easier to follow.

All these changes were made on the main Gmail, IMAP, and iPhones Tutorial post. As this is the main page being linked to and commented on by everyone, any future revisions will continue to be made on that page.

Tip Jar

If you are one of the wonderful people who added to the tip jar (located over in the right sidebar under my photo), I will email you noting this fix and will also notify of any future revisions to the tutorial page — think of it like getting free upgrades.

.Mac Issues

It should be noted that the .Mac issue has still not been resolved, and I haven’t had time to look into it, so it is not recommended to use .Mac for your IMAP at this time.

Stage Left…

OK that’s it for me! I’m signing out for a couple weeks for the big dumb dusty blinky campout!

UPDATE [09/18/2009]: While this technique still has it’s uses, I no longer use it myself. For various reasons I have switched to using gmail’s normal imap, which was put in place several months after I created this system. So don’t be looking for this page to be updated. Also, I have closed comments on this post as it receives more spam than real comments these days.

As I posted previously, I’ve been experimenting with finding a my perfect iPhone email set up. Since then I’ve made a few changes and I’m really happy with the results. As such, I thought I’d post a bit better of a tutorial since it’s a bit convoluted from the back-end—though still simple to use and the complexity is invisible during daily use.
This post has been modified since it was first published to reflect alternate approaches and improved techniques. I will continue to improve this post in the future to fix any bugs that emerge.
Tutorial Revision (8/21/07): Because of a discovered issue with MS Exchange, I have revised how outgoing emails are handled.

Benefits to this system

• Spam trapped via gmail’s awesome spam filter
• Use your personal domain name address as your public-facing address (i.e. from and reply)
• Read and send email using iPhone and Mail.app with
• Email marked as read, deleted, or moved is automatically synced between iPhone and Mail.app via IMAP
• Gmail archives all email both received and sent

How it works from the front-end

• My catcubed.com email is my main public email address, but I also still receive messages sent to my Gmail.
• All incoming messages (including my catcubed.com account) are spam filtered via gmail’s fabulous spam filter
• I use my iPhone and/or Apple Mail for normal day to day email reading/sending
• Personally, I read email, reply if needed, and then delete; thus, keeping my inbox clutter-free (in keeping with a GTD approach). If I need to review an old email, I go to Gmail where all my emails both incoming and outgoing are automatically archived.
• Alternately, if deleting is not your style, you can set up your Mail.app to automatically move mail to an archive folder on your computer.
• Additionally to reduce digital clutter, I’ve manually set it up so that all mailing lists are filter to remain in gmail instead of forwarding my iPhone. I go to gmail to check mailing lists.

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I’m full of big geeky joy because I got my convoluted email situation all working exactly how I wanted it!

On Edit: I’ve updated my approach to this and written a better description plus tutorial in a new post. I suggest you read the new post and skip this one unless you are interested in the process I went through to get to my current solution.

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