iPhone Sync and subfolder issue

[jjzhuang]

don't get me wrong. iphone can sync subfolders just fine, but they don't do it automatically. you have to open a subfolder from phone in order to trigger a sync of that folder. auto sync or push is inbox only.

[uxbod]

jjzhuang, would my idea be a viable option do you think ? it would kind off bridge that functionality gap.

[jjzhuang]

Originally Posted by uxbod

jjzhuang, would my idea be a viable option do you think ? it would kind off bridge that functionality gap.

well, then it'd actually be much easier not to filter emails into folders directly. let them go to inbox, and then you move them to other folders. i mean that's what most people do anyway. if you use a mail filter to move stuff into other folders, usually that implies these are less urgent emails.

so you can use a different way for this. rather than using rules to file them into different folder, you could just use rules to tag emails with different tags. in fact many zimbra users keep all emails in Inbox, and use tags. Tags are just like folders because you can search by tags and remember the search as saved search folder. that's like virtual folders, but messages remain in inbox.

[uxbod]

Good point

[Dirk]

I try to discourage the use of filters. The amount of time I've experienced someone not notice an email because they hadnt checked all of the 20 folders their email gets delivered to.

I recommend users leave their mail delivered to their inbox. Once you read it, you file it where it needs to go. If it needs further action, leave it in the inbox. Then the inbox is basically a list of things you need to action. This is the way I've always used email.

I recieve daily status reports from various automated systems that I generally only need to refer to rather than actually read, so those messages are filtered to their own folder because I'm only interested in them when I know I want to see them.

Autosyncing more folders than the inbox is something that I've never seen on any other application or device, and something that I think would encourage poor email practices. That's to say nothing of the increased load on network traffic.

[Rich Graves]

This is an iPhone design choice on Apple's part, not an ActiveSync limitation.

Just FYI: On a Windows Mobile 6 device, to automatically ActiveSync subfolders, go to Menu-Tools-Manage Folders... and click checkboxes for the folders you want. All are downloaded via push or schedule (I no longer use push to save battery life; ymmv), and all folders show boldfaced number of unread messages in the folder popup menu, but only new messages in Inbox will trigger the "you have new mail" toast.

Is it possible to configure an iPhone to use ActiveSync for contacts/calendars but IMAP for email? That might better accomplish your stated goal. In my experience, one advantage of IMAP over ActiveSync is that IMAP can handle HTML-formatted content.

[dpmchris]

Rich: The iPhone handles HTML formatted mail just fine using ActiveSync. There are also On/Off switches under the iPhone ActiveSync (and MobileMe) settings that allow you to choose between any sync you want to use: Mail and/or Contacts and/or Calendar. You can use IMAP for mail and AS for PIM items, and that is only one scenario.

[dpmchris]

JJZhuang (and Dirk etc...) Hear! Hear! Tags are definitely the way to go. Setting up filters to tag is incredibly flexible and limits FFF (folder foraging frustration.) We encourage the use of tags for all of our users, and it would fit in well with wirtsi's problem.

Of course I can't seem to steer some of my users from making subfolders under their Inboxes. I don't get that logic, the inbox is your INBOX--not a place where you file stuff! (Sorry for the rant!)

[wirtsi]

hehe, well, since the tags are not available via the iPhone this doesn't really help me

Anyway, I get the idea ... but since Zimbra allows for subfolders (and also displays if there a new mails in them) I'd chalk that up to either poor implementation by Apple or general problems with the ActiveSync protocol. I mean, heck, even IMAP can display new mails in subfolders and that protocol is like 6 years old.

I'll see if i can get a mixed ActiveSync / Imap setup to work ...

[NOZIL]

Tags are great but not usable when you wnat to share an -email folder. In tha case, filters are better