mobile-phones, emailSo here is my issue. I currently have a Blackberry Bold 9000 that I enjoy for the most part but I have one main issue.
The issue is email. I use a single Gmail account that aggregates around 10 email addresses that all forward to it and I have my Gmail account setup to be able to send email as each of those individual accounts. This all works great through the web interface. They all come into the inbox, I can reply to any email and it auto uses the address the email was sent to and if I click compose I have a drop down of "from" addresses to choose from.
The problem is the online experience isn't translating over. While I receive email fine and it always has the "to" address properly set so I know who they are trying to contact when I reply using BIS/BES it sends from the default email account that I set on gmail.com. This is a problem. Also when I click compose new email I don't get a choice [again it uses the default all the time]. I've also tried dicking around with the gmail app but that also has no dropdown "from" in the compose message form. If I go to gmail.com I can select the from field but that's a huge pain and the blackberry browser is awful.
The main question here is do the iPhone or Android handle this problem better? I would imagine Android would but don't have any close friends who are Android users. Another thing I like about the Blackberry is how there's a nice unified inbox for all email [both this single gmail account as well as a few other IMAP accounts from work, etc], SMS & MMS, Twitter, etc. So part 2 of the question is can I have a unified inbox that handles gmail well?
The latest versions of Android have the ability to send from multiple emails that are connected. Try looking up the various Droid phones, all of which, I believe, are capable of what you ask. The EVO 4G on Sprint is also capable (or, if not, will be when it gets Android 2.2 in a couple weeks).
Also, I believe all of the Samsung Galaxy S phones (which are available for every carrier) are running Android 2.1 so should have the ability to send from multiple emails.
iPhone and iPad also has one email address associated with an email account in the mail application, so you wouldn't be better off here either.
You do get a choice in the mail app, but only between the accounts you have set up, not between any email addresses associated with those accounts, except for the one that iPhone/iPad knows about.
So for me, as an example, I have my own domain, with email forwarding to a GMail account, when I send email from my iPad or iPhone it will be sent from my GMail address, whereas sending it via the browser sends it from my domain address. It does some mickmuck with "From X on behalf of Y", but replies goes to my domain address.
So unless you plan on adding accounts for all the GMail accounts, iOS is no better off.
I also ran into this issue. I used to just have all of my Gmail accounts forwarded to my main one and reply from there. Once I got my iPhone, I had to turn forwarding off because I was getting the messages more than once.
In iOS, the Mail app allows you to have multiple email addresses. I have 3 Gmail IMAP addresses, my work Exchange account, and a Hotmail POP address (that I usually keep deactivated). When I receive a new email, I can tell which account it went to and choose which one sends the reply.
iOS4 has a unified mailbox, so there's less navigation required. You can view all your emails in one box if you like, or individually. In this way, the Mail app does what Mail Forwarding in Gmail used to do for me.
Hope this explanation helps!
Thomas
Here's an option that works, although it might get cumbersome in the long run:
from addresses.The only drawback I see on this method is that the desktop version of course isn't aimed at a 3" screen, so this is one of those rare instances when the iPhone 4's retina display might actually have some use!
On the Blackberry, use the GMail mobile app, and then add additional accounts. I have 4 email accounts configured at the moment on my BB 9700 Bold, and when I want to look at another account, I Shift-J to switch to the next account.
Perhaps this approach would be easier for you?
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