E-Mail Sync: Known Issues and Limitations

iPhone

Incompatible changes to the sync configuration are allowed by the device

The iPhone permits the user to change the settings for an existing sync account. For example the server host name and username can be changed. However, the device does not correctly deal with such a change made between incompatible servers. When changing from another sync service, or a corporate Exchange server, please delete the old sync account from the device, then reboot the phone, then add a fresh sync account.

iPhone uses cell data for push even if WiFi is on

The iPhone (like most device types) will usually not use WiFi for push sync. It will always try to push using cell data, even if WiFi is turned on and connected. This can lead to a lack of 'push' when the phone is in a location with marginal cell data service. iPod Touch devices (since they have no cell data) do not behave like this, but will 'push' over WiFi quite happily (although the device has to be turned on obviously). An iPhone with WiFi enabled and no cell data service will eventually behave like an iPod touch (sync via WiFi but only push if turned on continuously). It may take some time for the device to conclude that there is no cell data service available.

GMail used to send mail in preference to NuevaSync

If an iPhone has both a GMail/IMAP account and a sync account, and they are configured with the same e-mail address (which is obviously quite likely), the iPhone will use the GMail SMTP service to send all messages, not the sync service. This can cause confusion regarding sender address because they may be different (GMail re-writes the sender address, whereas NuevaSync does not).

iPhone can't delete or move messages when offline

In an 'offline' situation (e.g. on an aircraft or in a location with no cell data service), the iPhone does not allow messages to be deleted or moved. To be successful these operations must be done online. This is a feature of the current iPhone mail application, and not a service limitation. Messages can usually be read offline as the phone downloads their content as they arrive.

iPhone 'recent messages' setting does not apply to synced mail

The iPhone has a setting 'Show 50 Recent Messages' (or some number up to 200). This setting is for the phone's IMAP client only. It is not relevant to synced mail, and does not apply to our service. Our service has a default message limit per folder of 200. Therefore the most recent messages, up to a maximum of 200 in each folder will sync, subject to the devices 'days to sync' setting. You can change the limit from its default of 200 in the "Advanced Settings" e-mail setup page on our web site.

Windows Mobile

Changing the sender address doesn't work

On Windows Mobile devices the user can enter a different sender address after sync is configured (this is different to the address entered when sync is first set up). The idea is that this new address will be used rather than the original one, on sent messages. This feature does not currently work with our server. If a new address is entered, the service will fail to recognize it and will substitute the e-mail address associated with your NuevaSync account for the sender address. To change your sender address on Windows Mobile, please delete and re-create the sync configuration, and specify the new address at that time.

Nokia S60 Series MfE

No folders: only inbox, sent, etc

Older versions of Nokia's mail application do not support folders. The latest version however does (available for the E71, E72 and many other recent E and N series devices).

Sender display name is 'Mail for Exchange'

A bug in the current version of MfE results in the sender display name "Mail for Exchange" on outgoing messages. You can override the sender display name and thus work around this bug by visiting the e-mail setup page on our web site, then click "Advanced settings" and enter your e-mail address and name.

Nokia N900

Device syncs all folders

At present the N900 Mail for Exchange sync client enables all email folders for sync. This is different to all other device types, which allow the user to select the folders to be synced. Users with large numbers of email folders, and with mailboxes where certain folders experience a large volume of traffic (e.g. the "Spam" folder) may find this "all folders are synced" behavior problematic. We're working on a solution to this issue.

Android

TouchDown sync client won't move deleted messages to the Trash folder

The current version of NitroDesk's TouchDown sync client always sends delete commands to the service that result in the message being completely deleted, rather than moved to the Trash folder.

GMail

GMail IMAP IDLE limitation

GMail does not provide IMAP IDLE event notification for message read/unread status changes. Therefore these changes will not sync in real time to the device. Read/unread changes made in the GMail web site, or via another IMAP client will sync with a few minutes delay.

GMail labels and virtual folders can cause confusion

GMail has traditional mail folders, but also supports additional message management mechanisms: labels and virtual folders that represent a search result. For example 'starred', 'all mail', etc. These additional mechanisms can not be completely exploited through the traditional folders view provided by IMAP and the device e-mail applications. This can be confusing at first. For example there is a 'starred' folder which via IMAP behaves like a folder: if you move a message from the inbox to the 'starred' folder, the message is removed from the inbox and added to the destination folder. However, in the GMail web site, if you 'star' a message, it then appears in both the inbox and the 'starred messages' search results.

Google Apps users may need to enable IMAP access

IMAP access is disabled by default for some accounts. Information on how to enable it can be found here.

GMail 10 IMAP connections limit

GMail does not allow more than 10 IMAP connections to be open on the same mailbox concurrently (more information on Google's support site). Our service is designed to use only one IMAP connection, unless your device requests push monitoring for more than one folder. (The IMAP protocol by design requires one connection per monitored folder). Users may see the 'Too many simultaneous connections' error however if they are using other IMAP clients, as well as our service. The situation could arise where previously their IMAP clients were using 9 connections, and adding NuevaSync would then exceed the limit even though it only makes one connection. The list of recent IMAP connections made to your GMail account can be seen by clicking the 'details' link next to 'Last account activity' at the bottom of the GMail web page. Connections from NuevaSync will have IP addresses in the 64.13.152.xxx or 64.13.157.xxx subnets.

General Issues

Draft messages saved on the device do not sync

Devices save draft messages composed on the device in a local folder. This folder is not synchronized to the service (this is how the devices are designed to operate, not a limitation of the service). Therefore draft messages composed on the device will not appear in your mailbox drafts folder.

Folder changes may not sync immediately

IMAP does not provide an efficient way to detect new or deleted folders. The service checks for folder changes approximately every 30 minutes. Therefore a new folder created on the desktop may not show up on your device immediately.

IMAP IDLE support is required for immediate push

The service uses the IMAP IDLE command to request change notification events from your mail server. If the mail server or service does not support IDLE, then the service will fall back to polling. The device still sees new messages and message changes 'pushed', but they won't be sent immediately, rather only after half the polling interval (on average). The polling interval is currently 8 minutes.

Only one IMAP mailbox supported per account

The service syncs one IMAP mailbox (e.g one GMail account) per NuevaSync account.

Only two folders monitored for real-time push

Each 'monitored' folder (folders for which updates will be pushed in real time to your phone), uses one IMAP connection to your mail server or service. Because our most popular mail service, GMail, imposes a limit on the number of open connections, we have limited the number of monitored folders to two. Although you can select more folders on the device for push, only two of them will actually be monitored. The others will be polled by the service every few minutes and so you will see changes on those folders on the phone resonably quickly but not in real time. The service always monitors the inbox so it isn't possible to loose inbox changes by asking for too many monitored folders. We are working on a facility that will allow the user to increase this limit, for cases where the mail server allows more connections.

Deletes done in another client, or GMail may not propagate immediately

In order to give fast manual sync times, and to give optimal battery life, the service will not always look for deletes made in another client right away. Messages deleted in another client may take a few minutes to propagate to your device.

Replied and Forwarded Marks are not Supported

The version of the sync protocol we use at present does not support replied to and forwarded marks, and these will not be shown on the device. In addition, messages replied or forwarded on the device will not be updated on the server with these marks.