Avernis Thoughts

What is Push Email?

Push email differs from the usual pull/poll email systems by constantly updating the mailbox with arriving email without having to check at specific intervals

After receiving my iPhone a couple of weeks ago one of the first things I did was put my email account into the settings so I could start receiving my work emails. Coming from a Blackberry this was quite a simple process and took me all of about 2 minutes to setup.

After sending myself numerous messages I was disappointed to find that my emails were not automatically appearing on my iPhone, I would have to keep checking for mail manually or setting my device to fetch for mail at specific intervals. After trawling through Google for a while and having multiple pages open I managed to get the solution working.

Things that you need to have ready before you start:

• A Google Apps account for the domain that you wish to pick up email for
• the Administrator details (username and password) for the Google Apps account
• an iPhone with an operating system of 3.0 and above. To check this in your iPhone go to Settings > General > About > Version

Things that you need to do before you start!

• Sync your iPhone with your iTunes so that all your contacts, numbers etc are backed up

Step 1. Setting up your Google Apps to allow for Push email

Log into your Google Apps page by going to http://www.google.com/apps/ and click on the Returning Google Apps user? Sign in here.

You will be promted to enter your domain name and then use the select arrow underneath and choose Manage this domain. Click on Go

You will now be taken to the Google Apps sign in page for your domain. Please make sure that you have your original administrator username and password that you had to setup your domain. If you don't remember what that is then you can click on the 'Cant access your account?' link underneath the Sign in section.

Once you have entered your details and signed in you will be taken to the Dashboard of your Google Apps for your domain. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on Mobile as shown in the picture below.

On the Mobile setting Panel in your Google Apps account make sure the tickbox with Enable Google Sync is checked (by default it is not) and then click on Save changes.

You can now log out of your Google Apps account.

Step 2. Setting up your iPhone to receive push email

1. Open the settings application on your iphone
2. Select Mail, Contacts, Calendars from the screen
3. Choose Add Account...
4. Select Microsoft Exchange
   
   
5. Enter the full email address in the Email section
6. Leave the Domain Blank
7. Enter the full email address in the Username Section
8. Enter the password for the account in the Password Section
9. Description field is optional
10. Click on Next to continue
11. If you see an Unable to Verify Certificate appear click on Continue
12. In the Server section enter m.google.com
13. Select the Google services that you wish to Sync.
    
    NB. if you choose to select Calendar as well as Contacts make sure that when a prompt screen appears choose Keep on My iPhone otherwise your contacts will be removed.
14. Click on Save