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Level 4

1,358 points

Yosemite Mail still has sync problems with Gmail - any solutions?

I notice that Yosemite Mail still has sync problems with Gmail. After running for some hours, I noticed there were 6 emails in my Gmail account that had not synced over the past hour.

In the meanwhile, for safety's sake (don't want to miss emails!) I'm back to Mailplane. But I wonder if anybody knows of a solution to this long term problem first introduced in Mavericks. Works fine in iOS Mail though.

Thanks,

doug

MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013), i5, 512 GB SSD, 16 GB RAM

Posted on Oct 18, 2014 9:10 AM

162 replies

Doug Lerner2 Author

Level 4

1,358 points

Nov 13, 2014 8:05 PM in response to Larry McJunkin

Larry,

While I love the appearance of OS X Mail, and basically agree with you about the Gmail interface, and would prefer to use Mail if it synced well with Gmail (which it did until Mavericks) one other issue is being able to quickly file emails in folders using keyboard shortcuts. As you know, filing emails in Mail mailboxes can be a chore, going through the hierarchy of mailboxes you have.

Even using that shortcut CMD+shift+? and then searching is clumsy, and because it's unclear you often end up copying email instead of moving it.

With Gmail/Mailplane at least you can quickly file stuff, quickly go to mailboxes and search is also fast. Plus it has the least international coding problems of any email I've used (I also do email in Japanese). Mail manages to corrupt some Japanese emails. Gmail never does.

How is Unibox with regards to being able to quickly file emails? And you haven't had any syncing issues with Gmail?

Thanks,

doug

Nov 13, 2014 9:32 PM in response to Doug Lerner2

Unibox supports shortcuts...I don't don't know which, though. I've never been one to use them...always preferred a mouse. Easiest way is to grab the 15-day trial and see for yourself. Just be sure to go through the preferences and make it more like classic email rather than people-centric. It might not work for you, but it is one of the cleanest interfaces you'll ever use. I had to give it some time and learn how to use it, but I now really like it a lot. https://www.uniboxapp.com. Here's an image view of the review I left for it on the MAS - http://take.ms/Jyd4E

Nov 13, 2014 9:33 PM in response to Doug Lerner2

Doug, here's an image view of the review I left on the MAS for Unibox - http://take.ms/Jyd4E

Nov 13, 2014 9:35 PM in response to Doug Lerner2

Doug, here's a screenshot view of the review I left for Unibox on the Mac App Store - http://take.ms/Jyd4E

Nov 13, 2014 9:37 PM in response to Doug Lerner2

Sorry for the duplicate posts. Every time I tried to post the URL I'd get a red warning bar saying it wouldn't post. So I finally did it via the advanced editor and then all three posted at the same time.

Doug Lerner2 Author

Level 4

1,358 points

Nov 13, 2014 10:11 PM in response to Larry McJunkin

Thanks,

It couldn't hurt to give the trial a try. How does it deal with all the mail? Is it one enormous database which requires big Time Machine backups every time something changes, or do they use separate files?

doug

Doug Lerner2 Author

Level 4

1,358 points

Nov 14, 2014 12:13 AM in response to Larry McJunkin

Hmm... I'm trying it now but am already feeling uneasy. There is a dearth of technical info. Like no info at all about where the app data is kept. No manual to speak of is there? And the FAQ section is very thin. I did write support asking about shortcuts and I'll see what they say. Syncing with Gmail seems slow. Maybe because it is just starting up. But I already saw lots of new emails on Gmail arriving which are not appearing in Unibox's "Inbox" view. It's also not clear how Unibox works with Gmail labels. None of my emails seem to have a label - they just say all mail. But I do see all my "folders" there - via a menu. I wish there were more details about how it works.

doug

Nov 14, 2014 5:47 AM in response to Doug Lerner2

Exact same feeling I had initially...try to hang in there. FWIW I know I have never had a message fail to sync with Gmail. It synched all my Gmail (since the start of Gmail) in a matter of minutes, but then again that's still only about 15K messages as I don't hoard many emails. You also have to change some preferences around to make it visually like a classic email client. The most important of these is on the "Advanced" tab check the first box to "Hide Unibox Group" and then at the top left of the Unibox UI you can select "Inbox" to display your actual inbox messages that are in your Gmail inbox. If you'd like, I'll post screenshots of my preference settings.

Doug Lerner2 Author

Level 4

1,358 points

Nov 14, 2014 6:10 AM in response to Larry McJunkin

I did find those settings you refer to quite easily, so it does look like a "normal inbox."

Thanks,

doug

Nov 14, 2014 6:13 AM in response to Doug Lerner2

What's odd is that Unibox appears to be slow synching your Gmail. As I mentioned, it was lightning fast to do this for me, and I'm on a normal 45 Mbps internet connection. You may just have a lot more messages than 15K.

Doug Lerner2 Author

Level 4

1,358 points

Nov 14, 2014 6:24 AM in response to Larry McJunkin

Yes, I have many more than 15K messages, going back to 2000 and before. I am a mail hoarder. My Internet connection is 2 Gbps fiber optic, so I don't think it is an Internet speed issue.

doug