Android email app keeps old mail on phone. How do I only display messages that are on the server?

[Tomstar81]

I am running a Samsung Galaxy S9+ with Android 8.0.

In my email app (v 5.0.06.6), which is the standard email app on the phone (not sure if this is a Google app or a Samsung app), I have an email account configured with my hosting provider. It is POP3 and cannot be configured for IMAP. I have confirmed with the hosting provider that it is setup correctly.

When my email downloads from the server, I have the phone set to load 25 messages in my phone's email app. This is fine.

However, when I download those messages onto my computer, then I recheck my email later on my phone, those messages remain on my phone (well, up to 25 do, as newer messages downloaded will push the oldest message out of the 25 shown, so it's a rolling 25 basically).

The email setting for "Auto Delete from Phone" is set to "When deleted from inbox."

I don't want to see the old emails on my phone if they don't exist on the server anymore. I only want the app to display the emails that currently exist on the server so that I have as true picture of what I really still need to look at (instead of having to figure out what I already did or didn't care to look at).

I recently upgraded from an S5 and the email was setup on that phone in the manner I am looking to do now, so how do I get the S9 to do it?

 

[ManiacJoe]

What you are seeing is really a limitation of the POP3 protocol. While IMAP does a true sync of your phone and server, POP3 does only a "download from last known state".

Most likely the app programmer could do a lot of work behind the scenes in the app to mimic some of the IMAP functionality, but no one is going to do that when POP3 is slowing being completely replaced by IMAP.

 

[Rukbat]

We're probably 5-10 years from "email on multiple devices done sanely". POP3 was fine when everyone used a desktop (or logged into a mainframe, before that). IMAP doesn't really cut it with desktops, laptops and phones accessing the same email account, and people needing different settings for each one - on the same account.

It's like SMS slowly giving way to RCS - some day we'll have a new email protocol that can do both keep email on the server for some devices, keep it on the device for others, delete it on the device when it's deleted on the server, keep it on another device when it's deleted from the server, etc., etc. It doesn't work now. Even GMail, which is supposed to be pretty good, won't delete from the server when you delete from the app - when it's set to do exactly that. (When you've been using a cellphone long enough - and I started in the early 90s), you get used to waiting.)

 

[Tomstar81]

OK, here's the update...

Talked to my hosting guy again. Apparently, there really is an IMAP configuration available.

So here's how I now have it is setup (and coincidentally resolved).

- IMAP on my S9+ (according to hosting specs)
- POP3 on my computer email (no change to preexisting configuration)

This way, the email on my phone will always reflect what's currently on the server. If I delete a message on my phone, it will be deleted on the server too.

Whatever I don't delete on my phone will be downloaded into my computer inbox when I get to it. Once downloaded onto my computer, it no longer appears on my phone upon refresh.

So it's working the way I want it to now. I just have to be sure only to delete messages from the phone if I truly don't want them, which is really the only difference from my S5. (even though the setup is completely different)...

 

[ManiacJoe]

Glad you got it figured out.

I have my phone and computer setup to do the same thing, but both using IMAP.