AquaMail Forum
English - Android => Feature requests => Topic started by: Kostya Vasilyev on September 20, 2013, 03:05:23 pm
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With 1.2.5.5 having been released, my new top priority is EWS (Exchange Web Services).
This will work with those Exchange installations where IMAP / SMTP are disabled, and/or just might be nicer to use.
Next week, starting September 23, I'm hoping to work on smallish features / bug fixes / improvements / suggestions.
This should include:
- Saving a Calendar event without sending a response
- Updating an existing event when its time changes (Android 4.1+)
- Notifications based on *new* messages, not just all unread messages as it is now.
- (maybe) enable rich text editor for greetings
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One more thing I forgot:
- Restoring access to attached .eml's as attachments (keeping the current inline display).
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And one more:
When picking a group, select the primary email of each contact only
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EWS would be nice but I fear that is a HUGE undertaking. Contacts, calendar and other Outlook functionality would still be out of the box anyway. I personally use Outlook Web Mobile for my work emails so I still have access to calendar and contacts somewhat natively without worrying about sync issues or getting locked out of my corporate account, not to mention security issues.
Just my 0.02
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The high-level protocol is not that bad, feature wise it comes close to IMAP and POP3 in different areas...
The low-level data marshaling is quite hellish though.
It's SOAP (XML with namespaces), and the usual SOAP / XML parser (k2, I guess) wants to have the whole input in memory before parsing, which, easy to see, doesn't work at all for large messages with attachments on devices with very limited memory caps.
The initial version won't have calendar and contact sync, I believe just getting mail to work would be a big improvement over the current state of things.
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SOAP. Bleh! :'(
we're with you :)
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Ugh...no support for Exchange 2003. Guess I'm stuck with the current BAD selection of exchange email apps.
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2003? Ugh.
I'm making progress, here are some screenshots.
Exchange Online is MS's Office 365 without Office.
Not sure yet if it's going to work with Kerio (ostensibly EWS compatible, but...).
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2003? Ugh.
Sorry - that came across wrong. My frustration is with my company still running 2003 and the lack of ActiveSync (vs WebDav and EWS) clients that work well. It had nothing to do with you or AquaMail specifically.
I was disappointed because last time I checked in, you were considering how to handle Exchange and EAS was still a consideration.
The other EAS capable clients either work poorly, are underdeveloped, or have horrible UI's.
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Didn't mean any offence about 2003, it was directed at the company's IT staff / CIO / etc., I apologize if it came across the wrong way.
The whole "Exchange in AquaMail" thing has been dragging for too long (and I apologize for that too), it's high time to get it done.
Now, on EAS vs EWS.
Using EAS requires a license from MS. I looked into it, and even though I'm not at liberty to disclose the details, in brief, the licensing scheme is too complicated to be practical for my app.
This let me with having to choose between OWA and EWS, and I chose the more modern EWS.
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EWS update.
Recently completed:
- Access to folders
- Moving messages between folders
- Account setup UI, account options UI
Now working on drafts and sending.
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November 10:
Drafts / sending done
Looks like I'm on the finishing straight
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About to post a new development build with some fixes for Exchange.
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Ok, so recent EWS news / fixes:
- NTLM authentication (this is a must for corp. environments)
- Fixed issues non-English characters in sent mail
- Viewing and responding to meeting invites (on par with IMAP / POP3)
One (large) Exchange item left to do: access to server side contacts.
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Access to Exchange server side contacts - implemented, posted last night in dev. builds.
Both personal contact book and ActiveSync Global Address List (or whatever that thing is called) are accessible, with caching and search.
PS - I'm not seeing much feedback on Exchange/EWS.... Did this turn out to be a feature that barely anyone needs?
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PS - I'm not seeing much feedback on Exchange/EWS.... Did this turn out to be a feature that barely anyone needs?
I think pop3/imap is more common than exchange.
The most wanted feature seems to be threading ;)
However, thanks for your hard work and that great e-mail client!!!!!!!!
Stefan
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I don't think that many people need EWS - BUT those who DO need it, need it badly!
It is good that you implemented it, because it gives AM an even better reputation. It is like an airbag - 99% of the drivers will never need it. But if you DO need it, you sure are glad, that it's there!
I am not sure if I already mentioned it, but I would be so happy about swiping....? Maybe to the left to reply and to the right to delete? O0
^-^
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Yes, Exchange is like an airbag. A very apt metaphor.
And yet... it has been the number one requested (missing) feature for a long time.
And in firmly in second place, amazingly enough -- being able to insert images into signatures.
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Hey, dirkliesenfeld, think it's time we badgered Kostya about some swipe actions again, yet? :D
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
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Don't tempt me. Kostya already hates me for that. He probably wakes up every night from the same nightmare. Seeing me with an axe in my fist, shouting: swipe, swipe, swipe or I'll cut off a finger....
Ah, f*** this!
I'll do it anyways.
Ey, Kostya, what about that swiping¿*¡¢$¥^¥¥¥
~TRANSMISSION TERMINATED~
/REBOOTING NOW...
/FAILED. NO PARTITION.
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Nope, not yet.
I've got to fix 4.4 WebView issues ("load completely" and "show images" panels overlapping the top of message content), and given that I've got to "ship" this thing at some point, I'll have to go for the easy-but-not-quite-as-good-as-I'd-like option (like in K9 and stock EMail).
That's just a compromise I have to make, to get Exchange support into the users' hands this year (sounds almost gloomy).
But I'd like to fix it the right way too, so that's one possible task for just after the release. Another is that damned side navigation drawer (that also falls into "swipe stuff"), and being able to swipe from message to message (damn, another "swipe thing"). And yet another is this one, swipe actions in message lists. Guess I'll try to work on them all at more or less the same time.
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BTW, @Rachel, do you happen to know anyone in the Exchange or Forefront product groups at MS?
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Hi, I'm new here and kind of lost. Just downloaded AquaMail with the intention to upgrade if Exchange (for work email) is working. How do I get access to the Exchange feature? Do I have to use a beta version?
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1.3 with Exchange support will be released soon (I'm really trying for "before" x-mas).
Feel free to try the latest dev version. It installs over the released version (e.g. from Google Play) without a data loss.
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Got it, thanks! Does this work with ActiveSync as well? I can't get it to communicate with the server and in Touchdown I had to select Active Sync.
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ActiveSync is not and will not be supported due to Microsoft's complicated licensing scheme.
I'm using EWS (Exchange Web Services protocol), available in Exchange 2007 SP1 and later (released just over six years ago).
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test message (spf, dkim), please ignore
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BTW, @Rachel, do you happen to know anyone in the Exchange or Forefront product groups at MS?
I might be able to share a tree there - still got a few contacts from my MS days. What sort of thing you looking for?
Sorry for the delay. Think I have Kostyaitis - a horrible need to to work all hours of the day and night to meet a deadline.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
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So there is already an illness named after me, I feel honored :)
Re: MS:
I'm trying to figure out how to work with Exchange servers protected by a product called Forefront.
It appears to be a security-enhancing (?) proxy that sits in front of Exchange servers.
This Forefront thing blocks my apps's EWS requests, redirecting to an interactive account validation page that's intended to show in a web browser, where the user needs to fill in their login / password. This obviously doesn't work in a non-interactive scenario.
I got two independent reports about this, so it looks that something about my app's EWS requests triggers Forefront's alarms ("what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow").
Here is a link to my question posted of MS's support forums for Forefront, the responses have been underwhelming...
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/forefront/en-US/09fe8be6-f87b-4f1a-a8ef-001a3f14655e
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Hi Kostya, I'm new to the forums and a recent AM user. I've bought the key and I'm glad to see this app has exchange support. The main question I have in regards to EWS is speed. The android stock mail app supports OWA and has instant (push) mail. Will AM using EWS have the same capability anytime soon or should I continue to use the stock mail for Exchange and AM for everything else?
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Correction: the stock Android app does not use OWA, it uses ActiveSync -- and it can do that because Android device manufacturers either have the necessary license from MS, or don't care (Chinese manufacturers).
OWA is used by K-9.
Push should be technically possible with EWS, but -- sorry -- I've got other things to work on, too.
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So there is already an illness named after me, I feel honored :)
Yup - so you should be :)
As for the MS stuff, I'll ping you in a PM with some more questions.
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I'm using EWS exclusively.
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Oh and btw - seems like I was able to resolve the issue with Forefront (MS firewall / proxy for Exchange) blocking my app.
I'm testing privately right now, will post a new dev build soon, for those affected.
The new nav drawer is nearing useful state too.
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Hello,
I purchased the pro version hoping for an alternative to Touchdown for my work email which uses ActiveSync Exchange. Touchdown is rock solid but the UI is cumbersome. I'm a hospice nurse and rely heavily on my phone in the field.
I can't seem to get Aqua Mall to recognize my work account. I tried the manual set up with "m.outlook.com" as the server (which is what Touchdown uses) with no success.
Searching online for a solution, I found this thread. I didn't realize there are various flavors of Exchange. Does this mean I can't use Aqua Mail for my work email?
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Hello,
TouchDown and stock email use something called ActiveSync.
My app (and MailDroid) use something called EWS.
Is your account hosted by Office 365, by any chance?
If it is, please use Manual account setup and enter outlook.office365.com as the server name.
If this is a Hotmail account, please select "Internet mail" not "Exchange mail", then after entering your name / email / password, press Manual, and enter:
- Incoming server: type IMAP (top of the screen)
Server: imap-mail.outlook.com
Encryption: SSL
Server port: 993
- Press Next to go to outgoing server setting and enter:
Server: smtp-mail.outlook.com
Encryption: TLS
Server port: 587
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I tried outlook.office365.com but received a message that the server was forbidden. It's not Hotmail. I'll check with our IT guy later and see if I can use EWS at all. Thanks for your help.
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Feature Request.
Select default font of out going mails in rich text editor.
Regards,
Ramkumar.
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PS - I'm not seeing much feedback on Exchange/EWS.... Did this turn out to be a feature that barely anyone needs?
No, we need it, but most of us aren't patient enough to create an account here to tell you--we just go straight to the competition. I'd love to see it as the app rules every other way. Thanks!
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Um, @malarkey -- not sure I got your meaning about "aren't patent enough"?
Are you implying that creating an EWS account in Aqua is too complicated?
Is it significantly different with Mail Droid, another app that uses EWS?
Or maybe you're not aware that EWS support in Aqua has been shipping since 1.3.8, around last New Year's, so for a few months already?