Default Mail App stops syncing after EVO Update

[bawalker]

Hello all,

I had a quick question and no way to figure out an answer to this. Prior to doing the most recent HTC Evo 4G update, I had my mail app (default one that comes with Android) setup so that it would check my POP3 email account and download mail to the phone. I would do this by shutting down Outlook on my work PC so that email would reside on the POP3 server/account.

But once I got home I would start up Outlook and it would physically download and remove those emails from the POP3 account. At the same time, the mail app on the phone would then remove the exact same emails from the inbox on my phone as it was syncing up with the POP server.

This was a PERFECT setup for me since I don't have an Exchange server/account at my office. This way I didn't have to manually delete all emails from my phone but they would 'disappear' as the mail was removed from the server.

Now... it has changed. After the update, mail stays on the phone even after it's deleted from the POP3 account and downloaded to Outlook. This leaves me to manually delete the email on the phone which at times, I just don't have time to do and would like to have it working like it was.

I have deleted and re-recreated the account to no avail. Does anyone have any ideas on why this isn't working at all? Has anyone else seen it? Or did some OS level feature get reset and I have to make a change somewhere outside the mail app in the OS?

Thanks

Bradley

 

[Gekko]

1. maybe try deleting the data cache of the Mail app? make sure your data is backed up first.
2. maybe it's time to switch to Gmail? POP is very inefficient and inferior in so many ways.

Why IMAP vs POP3...

Advantages of IMAP

1. IMAP is far, far faster than POP3 and uses far less data; this is particularly true for large mailboxes. For example, just determining which messages need to be downloaded and/or deleted in a POP3 mailbox with 1000 messages would typically require 100k of data to be transferred; with IMAP, this would be closer to 8K. Also, loading, say the first 5 lines of an email would typically take 5x or more as much data as with IMAP. Doing a "load more" of a POP3 message requires 1) a full sync - the part that takes 100k for a 1000 message mailbox, plus 2) reloading everything in the message from prior to the "load more". With IMAP, only the "more" part gets loaded; this is a HUGE savings.

2. IMAP is far, far more efficient at dealing with attachments. To even determine whether attachments exist, the entire message must be loaded (a horrible example would be the case of a 1k attachment following a 1MB attachment; in POP3, you wouldn't even know the 1k attachment existed until reading the entire 1MB attachment). In IMAP, attachments are known completely at the outset and each can be loaded independently.

3. IMAP keeps state information on messages - replied, seen, flagged; none of this is possible on POP3. Read a message on your Treo and it appears read in Outlook back at home, or in the office.

4. IMAP allows unlimited nested folders that appear on every client; in POP3, folders are local - messages "filed" in this way on one device can't be seen on any other device.

5. IMAP allows true push operation; POP3 does not. (Most IMAP servers support this, including AOL/AIM)

6. IMAP allows mailboxes to be completely sync'ed, so that changes made on one device are reflected on the other; no more worries about "where" a message lives (this is akin to webmail). With POP3, it's hard to know whether a message read on one device will even be available to another device (especially with Gmail!).

7. IMAP allows sent mail to be uploaded back to the server, so you can keep your sent mail in one place; POP has no such facility.

8. IMAP is relatively inexpensive, $20/yr or less in many cases. (I happen to offer an account like this with 6 months free to start). Some are "free", like AIM.

9. Most POP3 accounts allow forwarding to IMAP (GMail and Yahoo come to mind); used this way, you get all the advantages of IMAP while keeping those old addresses. Many (everyone.net, fastmail.fm, and fusemail.com) even allow you to use your POP3 return address, so that replies appear to come from the original address!

10. IMAP is supported by all major PC/Mac clients - Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Mac Mail, Entourage, Pine, etc...

http://discussion.treocentral.com/palm-os-communication/108669-why-imap-vs-pop3.html

Switch to Gmail

Getting started - Gmail Help

good luck.

 

[bawalker]

Thanks for the reply, however switching to Gmail or IMAP isn't feasible right now. This is a business account for my office (which I own) and investing in the time, cost, and effort to move the domain and everything over to Gmail or even IMAP at this point isn't worth it. We do have plans to migrate to Exchange this coming year, but that's due in a few months.

However I am still confused as to why it worked one way before and now doesn't work at all with only the HTC update being applied.

 

[RUSH]

That's an unusual situation.. and you believe the update has something to do with it huh? Is this a problem only when using your phone, or also when using your PC as well?

I also see that removing and re-add the account didn't fix the problem either. The big question is whether it's a phone or server connection problem. In situations like this I would suggest doing a full reset of the phone, but that would revert you back to factory default settings.... so I'm not sure if you want to do that.

If I'm having unknown issues a full reset usually fix most, if not all my problems.

Note; Remove and re-add the account again - this time turn the phone off completely... then remove and reinsert the battery.

 

[Gekko]

Thanks for the reply, however switching to Gmail or IMAP isn't feasible right now. This is a business account for my office (which I own) and investing in the time, cost, and effort to move the domain and everything over to Gmail or even IMAP at this point isn't worth it. We do have plans to migrate to Exchange this coming year, but that's due in a few months.

However I am still confused as to why it worked one way before and now doesn't work at all with only the HTC update being applied.

you could have Outlook automatically forward all of your work email to a secondary Gmail account via an Outlook "Redirect" Rule - yournamework@gmail.c0m. then in your Gmail web account change the setting to have all email appear as sent from (and reply to) your real work address. this way you will get FREE INSTANT PUSH email to your Android and nobody will be the wiser.

1. Outlook Tools Redirect Rule--Redirect All Emails to ------>yournamework@gmail.c0m

2. on Gmail setting on web------>send all emails as/set reply to email as - yourname@XYZ.c0m

i think this is far superior than the repetitive manual fire drill you are currently doing.

good luck.

 

[dchamb]

I have noticed the same problem. On the surface it would appear that prior to the update, there was a bug in the HTC mail app that allowed this behavior and now they have "fixed" it. I wish they would add another setting to do a total synchronization of email between the Droid device and the POP3 server, which would delete any emails found on the device that are not found on the POP3 server.

Why is it so difficult for technology companies to get synchronization software to work properly?

 

[bawalker]

Thanks for that insight. I ended up factory resetting my phone again tonight to test it, and sure enough the same symptoms persist. After tweaking the mail app to the right settings, when mail is downloaded to the phone and later I open Outlook where it downloads there. The mail stays on the phone versus getting deleted.

I'm not sure why that would get fixed because that is standard behavior on ANY pop3 email client when email is left on the server and deleted by Outlook.

I have noticed the same problem. On the surface it would appear that prior to the update, there was a bug in the HTC mail app that allowed this behavior and now they have "fixed" it. I wish they would add another setting to do a total synchronization of email between the Droid device and the POP3 server, which would delete any emails found on the device that are not found on the POP3 server.

Why is it so difficult for technology companies to get synchronization software to work properly?