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Another way to set up a 'unified' iPhone email inbox iOS devices
With no unified Inbox (for good or bad), people have come up with lots (and lots) of ways of combining their email accounts into one. And with MobileMe offering push, I'm guessing some people have tried this configuration: having all their emails forward to their mac/me.com address.

However, then the problem is with replying ... when you do so, you'll expose your mac/me.com address. So, there's always the option of setting up extra SMTP servers (which has already been documented). But that doesn't allow you to truly reply from a different account (let's say your email address is for a business, and the name is different).

At least for Google (and other IMAP accounts?), there's a way to create a "send-only" account -- which has already been documented as using the "manual" checking of that account only. But that could leave you with more emails unread than you expect (as your phone may check the non-MobileMe account).

So is there a way to:
  • Set up a Gmail account so that it won't check email, ever...
  • ...but still allow you to use its SMTP server...
  • ...and will allow you to maintain a completely different "personality" (i.e. name)?
Yes! (I know, it took a long time to get here.) Read on for the how-to...

First, set up the Gmail account you want. Make sure to enter all the correct details: name, password, etc. Do not go into Mail to sync it for the first time. Instead, go back into Settings, and to that email account. Delete the password so that it's blank (says "Required" in a gray font). Go into SMTP settings. Turn the SMTP server (which should be defaulted to the appropriate Gmail server) off. Go back one page, and back to the SMTP page (not sure if this is truly necessary, but it's a good idea to "save" turning the SMTP server off).

Add a new SMTP server, but use the exact same details as the one you just disabled (same account name, server name) but this time, do put the correct password in. Instead of creating a "new" server entry (which you would assume it would do), it instead turns the default SMTP server on. However, you'll see that it has your password. Going back one page to the Mail email settings, you'll see that the password is still missing here. So in effect, you have set a password for the SMTP part of the account, but not for checking email.

How does this work? At least with Gmail, you're able to send emails but never receive them. And if by mistake, you do go into your Gmail account and wander into the Inbox, it'll be empty. So no more wrong unread message count.

This sadly takes away your ability to save Drafts to the IMAP account. But it's another method to simplify (and I mean add complexity) to consolidating email accounts on the iPhone.

[robg adds: I haven't tested this one.]
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Another way to set up a 'unified' iPhone email inbox | 8 comments | Create New Account
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Another way to set up a 'unified' iPhone email inbox
Authored by: spockboy on Aug 25, '08 09:51:03AM

Or more simply:

* Forward Gmail to MobileMe account
* Change the SMTP server in your MobileMe account to Gmail's, and put in your Gmail authentication details
* Sit back, and enjoy.

Your MobileMe inbox on your iPhone contains your Gmail email, and mail sent from your iPhone on this account uses your Gmail identity.



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Another way to set up a 'unified' iPhone email inbox
Authored by: tommy! on Aug 26, '08 10:28:40AM

True, but that's if you are merging exactly one Gmail address into exactly one MobileMe/.Mac address. What I'm suggesting can be used with one MobileMe/.Mac address and any number of IMAP/Gmail addresses.

Granted, not all of us are as schizophrenic as I am with email.



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Another way to set up a 'unified' iPhone email inbox
Authored by: hamarkus on Aug 30, '08 04:26:51AM

And do I get my 'real' accounts (those receiving mail) to use that SMTP server? Select that SMTP "sending-only" account for each account? And where will my sent messages be? Last time I checked they will be in Sent folder of the "sending-only" account. Will they also be in Sent folder of the account from which I composed my message? I am talking about the Sent folder on the server with via IMAP is 'downloaded' to your iPhone and to Mail.app.



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Another way to set up a 'unified' iPhone email inbox
Authored by: penm on Apr 07, '09 04:55:26AM
I really like this PhD Thesis.I've set up the Gmail account and can send and receive from it. However, once I remove the password, I cannot use its SMTP server anymore. Furthermore, I cannot edit or add any SMTP server that has the same server and username (I'm assuming that's the criteria). All fields are greyed out..

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Another way to set up a 'unified' iPhone email inbox
Authored by: Hindemith on Sep 13, '08 05:40:11PM

...works also with other email services - not only with Gmail. And with a POP account it works too.
Thanks for the great hint, tommy!



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Another way to set up a 'unified' iPhone email inbox
Authored by: joshforman on Oct 01, '08 10:47:23AM

This no longer works as described in v2.1. I've set up the Gmail account and can send and receive from it. However, once I remove the password, I cannot use its SMTP server anymore. Furthermore, I cannot edit or add any SMTP server that has the same server and username (I'm assuming that's the criteria). All fields are greyed out.

So you could get this setup working, but you're still going to have duplicate emails on the iPhone. (I tried sitting my gmail accounts to manual, but they end up retreiving when I launch MobileMail.)

---
Josh Forman

http://www.joshforman.com/



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Another way to set up a 'unified' iPhone email inbox
Authored by: milbarn on Dec 25, '08 02:12:38AM
Another way to set up a 'unified' iPhone email inbox
Authored by: palahala on Jun 08, '09 12:48:45PM

Using Gmail's SMTP server will in fact store your messages in Gmail's Sent Items. (See the notes at Recommended IMAP client settings.)

And when you're sending with a different 'From:' address, your Gmail address will still be included in your email header's 'Sender:' field. Some versions of Microsoft Outlook may display "From your-username@gmail.com on behalf of custom-address@example.com." (See the remarks at Adding a custom 'From' address.)



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