iPhone 4 vs Blackberry push email--i.e. is the iPhone TRUE Push Email?

considering hopping on the iphone train, however need to know something about push email that NOONE can answer (not even apple consultants at the store)!

issue: have blackberry now due to need to get emails and messaging immediately as it arrives in gmail and yahoo account, regardless of whether phone is asleep or not. can the iphone do this?

i keep getting the answer of you can go into account settings, select push, but then everyone is thrown for a loop when it comes to the push/fetch settings, i.e. 15 min, 30 min, hourly, manually, etc. e.g. no one can answer whether after the email is "pushed" to the iphone at minute 15 (if that is my setting), and i then get an email in my gmail or yahoo account at minute 16, if that email is immediately pushed to the iphone or i have to wait 'til the next 15 minute interval (or fetch it manually).

also, will the iphone wake from sleep to alert me to an incoming email as long as push is selected--regardless of other settings?

please help!!! and thanks in advance!!!

pc, Windows Vista

Posted on Jun 25, 2010 3:02 PM

Reply
18 replies

Jun 26, 2010 7:27 AM in response to viprjr

is the iPhone TRUE Push Email?


Yes

everyone is thrown for a loop when it comes to the push/fetch settings,


I wasn't thrown for a loop.

no one can answer whether after the email is "pushed" to the iphone at minute 15 (if that is my setting),


The interval settings are for fetching mail, not push. Push works like any blackberry or Windows Mobile phone.

will the iphone wake from sleep to alert me to an incoming email as long as push is selected-


Yes

Jul 20, 2010 1:10 PM in response to viprjr

I just called my network operator as push isn't working for me as it did on my blackberry. I was told apples idea of push is not the same as blackberry and you need to set it to fetch the emails every 15 minutes, half hour and so on.
I told her that the settings said this was for when push wasn't on but she told me I was wrong.
Anybody know?

Jul 20, 2010 1:15 PM in response to viprjr

Supported push mail accounts on iPhone and iPod touch
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2625

Summary
Email accounts that use the push method for message retrieval enable you to have email messages delivered directly to you as soon as the message is received by your email provider instead of checking periodically or manually for new messages. On iPhone or iPod touch, push email is supported for the following email account types:

MobileMe
Microsoft Exchange
Yahoo!
Other email accounts such as POP, IMAP, AOL or Gmail accounts do not support push message retrieval on iPhone or iPod touch but can instead be setup to fetch mail at specified intervals or manually when the Mail application is opened.

Note: A Wi-Fi connection is required to send and receive email on iPod touch.

To adjust the push or fetch settings for push or email or other accounts on iPhone or iPod touch, tap Settings from the Home screen and then choose Fetch New Data. The setting screen below lets you turn push services on or off for all supported accounts and specify fetch intervals for accounts that do not support push or have push disabled.


Fetch or push settings can be configured for individual accounts in the Advanced settings area. Note that setting Push to OFF or setting the fetch schedule to Manually will supercede individual account settings.

Message was edited by: iphone3Gguy

Jul 22, 2010 9:39 AM in response to viprjr

I have used a Blackberry via Verizon for two years and have just switched to the iPhone. There are a lot of great things about it, but I have to say the email capabilities make me want to throw it against a concrete wall.

I (think) I have finally got push to work...kind of. However, blackberry's definition of push and Apple's are substantially different. Blackberry emails come in within seconds, never more than 5 or 10 from when they are sent. Apple has a much more casual pace, at anywhere from 30second to a minute or two.

Those are based on using a mobileme account. I tried a gmail account and push was faster, but still not Blackberry-ish. However, I can;t use that because I need to use a separate domain, and you can;t configure gmail so the person receiving your email sees something other than @gmail.com (it sounds like this may not be an issue for you). I also tried Yahoo push, but same limitations as gmail and I couldn;t get Yahoo to push at all.

As a side, I am a fairly tech savvy guy, but of course don;t know everything. I have scoured the internet, though and have yet to find clear, easy instructions on setting up instant push email.


I will say that if getting your emails INSTANTLY is the number one priority, stick with a Blackberry. If you can live with a bit of a delay, and want a device which is (apart from not being a blackberry in an email sense) is a phenomenal all in one device, then switch.

another note....someone mentioned you can;t push Gmail, however that is inaccurate. If you set it up as an Exchange account (rather than choosing Gmail from the list) it will Push. I successfully did that.

Message was edited by: somewhat disappointed

Dec 19, 2010 9:11 PM in response to viprjr

To the original poster: sorry I don't have an answer for you. In fact, I'm thinking about doing the same thing. Question: have you switched, and have you been able to get true push email to work? And how different is it from a Blackberry?

To the longtime iphone users who happened to use Yahoo as their primary email acct: I understand they don't offer push email (other than paying for it?). Are you using gmail as the exchange?

Thanks in advance for all of your responses.

May 11, 2011 7:14 AM in response to viprjr

I would agree with the user "somewhat disappointed".

iPhone is a phenomenal all in one device. But when it comes to true push email it doens't come near Blackberry at all. This is one of the reasons for Blackberry to survive in the smartphone market.


Also Blackberry Allows you to use 'you@yourowndomain.com' with gmail without the receiver knowing it's coming from a gmail account.


Whatever you send from you laptop email client or desktop email client comes to your Blackberry instantatniously.


If you're into business and if you have to respond to your boss very fast or want to have a high speed email discussion, it's better you to stick to Blackberry.


I'm waiting for Apple to come up with an email solution that will provide true push. As soon as they do it, I'll move from Blackberry to iPhone.


Let's see if they can do it's for iPhone 5.

May 11, 2011 5:43 PM in response to viprjr

Apart from the "true push" aspect of email, one feature that is sorely lacking on the iPhone, one that for me is quite literally going to be the deciding factor to return to the blackberry, is the notification feature of true push email provided on the Blackberry.


I'm an on the go business professional. I manage several businesses along side my "day job." While my day job is the most critical, it has two facets and these have two different email addresses from different domains.


In short my device be it blackberry or iphone, has 11 domains address sending "push" email in various forms, pop, imap, and exchange. Of these 11, between the hours of 9-6pm 3 of these domains are absolutely critical that I respond within 15 minutes.


On the blackberry, I'm able to set sound profiles that will allow me to differentiate emails using sound by domain. So each of the 11 has a different sound tone as its alert. Without looking at the phone I can determine quickly if the message that was just "pushed" is of the 3 critical domains and take the appropriate action. Unfortunately, the iPhone doesn't have this feature, not natively, thus all mail gets the same tone.


I get about 30-40 messages an hour, it quickly becomes clear that I'm now tethered to the device just to weed out mail that is important, but not critical.


So factor that mail is not "true push" in all instances and that there isn't an ability to set unique alerts for the different addresses/domains, a great device is rendered inferior and an inferior device is heralded.


The apps that are available to address this, all require forwarding the mail message to a 3rd party. Not happening—Corporate would never allow or condone such.

May 11, 2011 7:47 PM in response to viprjr

Well said Alixday.


That's why we see celebrities and people who are into big businesses use Blackberry.

They need immidiate response.


Also Blackberry handles REPLY EMAIL addresses carefully.

If you get an email to sam@samsemail.com when you reply it replies from the same email address eventhough you use many email address on your BB.


Also inteligently picks up the FROM EMAIL address when you wanna send an email to someone, from multiple email addresses.


If you have never experienced "Blackberry Push Email' before, iPhone is an awesome device.

But if you have already experienced it or addicted to it, then you're gonna have a serious problem 🙂

Aug 25, 2011 9:33 PM in response to viprjr

Sorry for bumping an old thread but this seems to be a common question and yet nobody has mentioned the most important difference between "push" email on Blackberry and iPhone.

This is how push email works on Blackberry: when you have a new email, RIM sends a notification to your device over the phone network, in much the same way as an SMS text. This tells your phone that a new email is available and that it should connect to the server and download it.


This is how push email works on iPhone: either your phone is set to connect to the server at a predetermined interval (every 15mins, 30 mins, 1hr etc), or it's set to maintain a constant connection to the server in order to receive emails in real time.


Both methods are fundamentally different and the advantage of the Blackberry method is that it saves a considerable amount of power. In contrast, the iPhone method is somewhat of a battery drain and is a significant contributing factor in the relatively poor battery life of iPhone devices compared to Blackberrys.


If Apple truly wants to compete with RIM in the email stakes, it should perhaps consider offering true push notifications like RIM, in conjunction with the phone networks. But somehow I don't see that happening!

Sep 11, 2011 8:10 PM in response to iphone3Gguy

"Fetch or push settings can be configured for individual accounts in the Advanced settings area. Note that setting Push to OFF or setting the fetch schedule to Manually will supercede individual account settings."


Hope someone can clarify this aspect of the Mail checking:


iPhone 4, currently have several email accounts set up: Account A, Account B, Account C, Account D, Account E.


My goal would be to have "PUSH" or "Fetch every 15" minutes on Account A (ONLY). All the other accounts, I want to have set so that they check only on a manual basis.


But the cue for "manual check" seems to be entering MAIL. . . ie. when I get a pushed email on Account A and go into Mail to read it, the phone performs a manual check of accounts B, C, D, and E.


I wanted it to perform the manual checks of those other accounts ONLY when I actually tapped into those specific accounts - not simply when I'm trying to view or reply to an Account A message.


Do I have something set up incorrectly? Or can the phone not do what I'm wanting it to do?


(We are aware of, and have been choosing Advanced settings).


Thanks!

Sep 11, 2011 10:07 PM in response to alixday

As a business professional you haven't clarified what PUSH email is vs how you use emails on a BlackBerry with related alerts vs an iPhone.


1. BlackBerry PUSH is via NOC on BES systems. This is TRUE push - pushed by BES (Exchange, Domino, GroupWise; the latter barely used by large corporations in comparison to the other two).

- In a BES setup (BlackBerry BES or Good Inc's Good Technology; both use NTP patents - under license, RIM was sued then complied out of court with $$, Good before court when owned by Motorola a few years ago) - if your mailbox receives email BES will send the notification of new emails to your BB. Receive/Send gets priority over deletions (either pull from BB device, or push notifications from your Mailbox: client or web-based server). This is a seriously BASIC explanation, seriously basic.

- BES monitoring proves this to me about priority; hung threads, connection issues, etc are other issues that can affect direct PUSH being immediate.


2. Prior to Exchange 2003 SP2 (or was it 3) ... Microsoft Exchange used an SMS pull notification sent to a PPC/Windows Mobile 6.1/6.5 device then the device would PULL from the mailbox the updates required. Lame but thankfully that is all over and done with. Exchange Server 2007/2010 full support direct PUSH via ActiveSync/WebMail (over SSL).


3. IMAP4 ... in some web-based free offerings allow for a persistent connection - Apple engaged Yahoo's MAIL to enable this ... so it very much FEELS like push.


4. BlackBerry BIS - which is supported with a "yourname@provider.blackberry.net" is not fully push. In a way RIM's NOC try's to querry your webbased email mailbox account - in a similar fashion like persistent IMAP or POP whichever is enabled/supported.

- This is why it takes 20mins when first setting up your other web-based email accounts before you get your VERY FIRST email. After that .... RIM's NOC will querry on a 15mins interval: if there is emails, you'll get them , if any more are received in the 15mins initial interval you'll get them immediately (as long as you have a data connection), if not then the connection is closed and you wait another 15mins. This is by RIM's design, but note in the last 2yrs RIM has been doing this a LOT more efficiently with BIS upgrades to the point where its a LOT faster and seems like PUSH.

- if you don't believe me feel free to querry arguments on blackberry.com/btsc - unless updated in the last 3mths; I'm pretty sure I'm correct here.


5. iPhone setup using webmail settings from Exchange ActiveSync, or even Gmail's pseudo activesync implementation; I pretty much get emails from our Exchange Server 2007 SP2 on my iPhone FASTER by 3seconds than my BB Bold 9700/9780/9900 on the same corporate WLAN, ALL DAY LONG.


PS: Alexday ... you provide a REAL world road warriors use and requirement for a BlackBerry and you've shown just WHY BlackBerry's are NOT going anywhere for a serious business user; I applaud you!! However with 11 email accounts ... I think its time to reduce them down to say 5; do you really need that many?!! Trim the "phat" 😉


Hopefully Apple will improve its Exchange ActiveSync implementation ... currently on BB you cannot view another Calendar or Mailbox other than your own ... a SERIOUS limitation for years in a corporate setting, something Android and iPhone users currently with their own limitations CAN do.

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iPhone 4 vs Blackberry push email--i.e. is the iPhone TRUE Push Email?

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