Gmail app - POP and IMAP together

Here's how to do it on outlook: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=13278

I'll leave the searching for "IMAP gmail iphone" as a little exercise for you. You should get a very similar link, also from google support.

Yes, you can. You can set up Outlook for POP based on the help settings on Google (note that you also have to enable POP on your account), and use the default settings on the iPhone (Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add Account > tap Gmail) which will set it up as IMAP.

Personally, I access Gmail on my iPhone via IMAP and on my Mac Mail client via POP.

Whilst you can use IMAP for one mail client and POP for another, it won't give you very satisfactory results. POP is an old protocol that was designed when people only used one client to access mail on the server. By default it transfers the mail from the server to the client each time the client connects and deletes it from the server. A second client, however connecting, will not therefore see the mail that had already been collected by the POP client.

Whilst you can choose to have the POP client leave the mail on the server, it will then show up as new when picked up by another client (or even the same one again) rather than as having already been read.

IMAP was designed for multiple clients and will sync them and the mail is stores on the server so each client can see all mail and which has been read and which is new.

Whilst you can use IMAP for one mail client and POP for another, it won't give you very satisfactory results...Whilst you can choose to have the POP client leave the mail on the server, it will then show up as new when picked up by another client (or even the same one again) rather than as having already been read.

Gmail POP behaves differently than other POP mail servers. In my case, I have it configured such that downloading the mail with the POP client moves the mail from the Inbox to All Mail. For me, since I usually access mail via my iPhone, it allows me to leave things 'to be dealt with' in my Inbox on the phone, then when I access them on my Mac to 'deal with' them, they are moved out of my Inbox automatically.

For me, this is a highly satisfactory workflow.

But in general, you're correct - and I certainly wouldn't consider accessing my Gmail account from more than one POP mail client.