Why does the Gmail app suck ?

[stanleywinthrop]

I have two email accounts: one work exchange account and a personal Gmail account. I came from a blackberry 9930 to the gs3, obviously overall there is no comparison between the two. Except for one thing: Gmail. On the BB, Gmail worked well. While not technically push the gmail imap interfaced well with the BB, and I got emails pretty much instantaneously. By contrast, the BB was much slower with the exchange account, and emails usually took 15 min to land on the BB (although the BB exchange interface was otherwise reliable).

Strangely, the gs3 is just about opposite. It handles the exchange account with aplomb, and is a true push service. But the gmail app sucks ! It gets email a lot slower than the BB did. Sometimes it's like the phone goes into a dead zone for hours and it doesn't get gmail emails (although everything else works fine) and then all of a sudden the gmail app realizes it exists and downloads a dozen emails at once. Sometimes, the app will tell me I have a new email but it refuses to download it. Gmail=Google. Android=Google. Gmail app=Google.

I don't get it. Google should have this app suitcased but it sucks. Why?

 

[Soundtrack to Chaos]

Works good for me

Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy s3 with a 7000mah extended battery... Because I'm not a chick with dainty hands or an HTC one user

 

[ansextra]

I have two email accounts: one work exchange account and a personal Gmail account. I came from a blackberry 9930 to the gs3, obviously overall there is no comparison between the two. Except for one thing: Gmail. On the BB, Gmail worked well. While not technically push the gmail imap interfaced well with the BB, and I got emails pretty much instantaneously. By contrast, the BB was much slower with the exchange account, and emails usually took 15 min to land on the BB (although the BB exchange interface was otherwise reliable).

Strangely, the gs3 is just about opposite. It handles the exchange account with aplomb, and is a true push service. But the gmail app sucks ! It gets email a lot slower than the BB did. Sometimes it's like the phone goes into a dead zone for hours and it doesn't get gmail emails (although everything else works fine) and then all of a sudden the gmail app realizes it exists and downloads a dozen emails at once. Sometimes, the app will tell me I have a new email but it refuses to download it. Gmail=Google. Android=Google. Gmail app=Google.

I don't get it. Google should have this app suitcased but it sucks. Why?

Not sure why you're having this problem but I wouldn't be so quick to blame Google. Gmail on my S3 actually shows emails before my PC does many times..

 

[GTWalling]

The same with mine. I get Gmail on the phone before the PC. OP try going into the Phone's Setting and down to Application Manager. When in the Application Manager move over to all and then down to Gmail. Tap on Gmail and Clear cache and Clear data. This may help.

 

[Eric Jackson3]

I would be very quick to blame Google on this one. They have had the worst apps on the market since about forever. Their gmail app should be painfully elementary but it has been all but unusable for one reason or another since day one.

Currently, it is flaky at best for seeing messages when they arrive, downloading or viewing attachments is a joke, and half the time it takes 10 minutes to load a set of messages even on wifi. Their mobile HTML viewer is slightly better but even it sucks. Frankly I think Google has become the microsoft of the 90's and just needs to go to hell or get their act together.

 

[Tre Lawrence]

I'd like to see some improvements to the Gmail app...

 

[JudH]

Maybe try a different email app? I use K-9 Mail for GMail and another service. Both set to push select boxes and manual poll for others. Works fine. Not sure why op says GMail isn't true push unless he's referring to the GMail app using Google push services instead of individual push but it's definitely imap push in K-9.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Unlike Eric's experience, I have no issues with the gmail app. Like most others here posted, I get emails pretty much immediately.

 

[sixty_four]

The gmail apps on my S3 and Nexus 7 work fine. Like others here, mail arrives on my Android devices before my browser-based client has had a chance to refresh itself.

The small sample of users who replied to this thread suggests the problem isn't with the app but something with your configuration. Good luck and follow up if/when you find a fix.