What have you guys found to be the best way to get and sync your gmail?
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Depends on what "best" means to you. The fastest way to get your email is to set up Gmail in BIS. As long as BIS has no issues, you'll get instant push (for most folks). I
IMO, the "best" way is to use the Gmail application. It gives you access to most of the Gmail functionality and reduces reliance on BIS to collect and push you mail. It collects mail at intervals--maybe 15 minutes or so.
I used to always use the Gmail application but recently switched to pushing it with BIS. It seems silly to have the Gmail app open all the time to only get a new message whenever it syncs (every 15 minutes or so). I get it almost instantly with IMAP push, and if I need to search or archive I can always open up the Gmail app and use all of their tools. It would be pretty sweet if some of those functions were integrated into the messages application as rumored.
has most of the features i need. and im not in a business where i need to respond to emails the minute after i receive them. so the 10 15 min delay for me is okay. you can just keep hitting refresh if you want to check emails sooner.
Is there any reason other than "they didn't add that feature", that the Gmail app doesn't push? Seems silly to make a mail app for a device which rose to popularity because it had/has an amazing email system, and then not let it include aforementioned awesome features. It's like building a car for Ferrari enthuisiasts that doesn't go faster than a buck ten.
I am doing a sort of hybrid approach. I use the gmail app for email so there is no messing around with my BB and inbox being out of sync. That is really the only reason I will not do push with gmail. I did set it up this way initially so that I could get my gmail calender however. To stop gmail from being pushed I just deleted the service book for it on the phone and disabled IMAP in gmail settings. I am on BES so i have to set the gmail calender as the default and use google sync but it all works the way I want to in the end. I have my gmail/cal in sync in all places as well as BES continues to work as it should.