seanwes
08-10-2008, 01:48 AM
I'm sure many of you, like myself, have really been wishing for a push setting for your gmail account so emails show up instantly when they arrive, but unfortunately, push is not supported with gmail on the iPhone right now. I have found myself clicking the refresh button in my mail app on my iPhone when waiting for an important email to arrive. Well here is something I tried, and it has really been a life saver for me, so I figured I'd post it, and maybe it'll help some of you out.
________________________________
Basically, what we are going to do is forward your email to xxxxxxxxxx@text.att.net (where the x's would be your 10-digit phone numer, with no spaces, dashes, or parentheses).
This will allow you to get a real time alert of new mail. As far as I know, It will be limited to the standard 160 character SMS limit, but this will inform you that you have a new email, and you can immediately check your mail on the iPhone mail app.
This does use a text message, so standard rates apply, and I would not recommend this method if you do not have an unlimited texting plan.
________________________________
Steps
First of all, this tutorial is for gmail, but the concept isn't just for gmail exclusively. You can easily adapt the steps to any other email service that supports filtering and/or forwarding.
First, go into the Settings in your gmail account. You have 2 options. Forwarding, or Filtering. Let's explore Forwarding first.
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/5121/gmail2uc0.png
Forwarding (not recommended)
If you decide to use Forwarding, this will forward a copy of every incoming email you get. I would not recommend using this method unless...
A: You don't get very much email on the account you are using.
B: You don't mind getting a text message every time an email comes in.
If you do in fact want to have a copy of every incoming email texted to you, then you are going to select Forward a copy of incoming mail to: and enter xxxxxxxxxx@text.att.net (where the x's are your 10-digit number)
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/3844/gmail6nd6.png
Click Save Changes at the bottom.
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/3328/gmail7ww3.png
Filter (recommended)
This method is much more selective, and allows you to choose which emails you want to have forwarded to your phone.
First, we need to create a filter.
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/5825/gmail3rn2.png
In this example, I use a specific email address in my filter. This means if I get an email from a specific person, it will get forwarded to my phone. You can make as many of these as you like. Maybe one each for your significant other, family member, boss etc. You can also have an email forwarded to you if it contains a certain word or subject. click here if you need help with filters (http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=6579).
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6365/gmail4ig2.png
Now that you have decided what your filter is going to do, you need to tell it to forward that message to your phone. Check Forward it to: and enter xxxxxxxxxx@text.att.net (where the x's are your 10-digit number)
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4655/gmail8wy1.png
You should now receive text notifications of new email that look similar to the above screen shot.
________________________________
Basically, what we are going to do is forward your email to xxxxxxxxxx@text.att.net (where the x's would be your 10-digit phone numer, with no spaces, dashes, or parentheses).
This will allow you to get a real time alert of new mail. As far as I know, It will be limited to the standard 160 character SMS limit, but this will inform you that you have a new email, and you can immediately check your mail on the iPhone mail app.
This does use a text message, so standard rates apply, and I would not recommend this method if you do not have an unlimited texting plan.
________________________________
Steps
First of all, this tutorial is for gmail, but the concept isn't just for gmail exclusively. You can easily adapt the steps to any other email service that supports filtering and/or forwarding.
First, go into the Settings in your gmail account. You have 2 options. Forwarding, or Filtering. Let's explore Forwarding first.
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/5121/gmail2uc0.png
Forwarding (not recommended)
If you decide to use Forwarding, this will forward a copy of every incoming email you get. I would not recommend using this method unless...
A: You don't get very much email on the account you are using.
B: You don't mind getting a text message every time an email comes in.
If you do in fact want to have a copy of every incoming email texted to you, then you are going to select Forward a copy of incoming mail to: and enter xxxxxxxxxx@text.att.net (where the x's are your 10-digit number)
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/3844/gmail6nd6.png
Click Save Changes at the bottom.
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/3328/gmail7ww3.png
Filter (recommended)
This method is much more selective, and allows you to choose which emails you want to have forwarded to your phone.
First, we need to create a filter.
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/5825/gmail3rn2.png
In this example, I use a specific email address in my filter. This means if I get an email from a specific person, it will get forwarded to my phone. You can make as many of these as you like. Maybe one each for your significant other, family member, boss etc. You can also have an email forwarded to you if it contains a certain word or subject. click here if you need help with filters (http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=6579).
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6365/gmail4ig2.png
Now that you have decided what your filter is going to do, you need to tell it to forward that message to your phone. Check Forward it to: and enter xxxxxxxxxx@text.att.net (where the x's are your 10-digit number)
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4655/gmail8wy1.png
You should now receive text notifications of new email that look similar to the above screen shot.