Reading/Deleting messages offline

[BarbaraS]

Hi,

One of the accounts that I access using Aquamail Pro on my tablet is an exchange account. This account receives a large amount of mail, and while travelling I take the opportunity to sort through these messages and delete those that are not relevant. The folder in which these emails are stored usually has a backlog of several thousand messages.

I think I have set the app to move to next message after a deletion (though I can’t find that setting now!) and it sometimes does this. But more often it seems to refresh the whole list and take me back to the message list. This seems to happen whether I have a wifi connection or not and takes ages, sometimes several minutes, while I stare at a blank screen! I have ‘Mail check interval’ set to 1 hour and have told it not to sync while the app is active.

Please can you tell me what I need to set to get this to work as I’d like. I’ve tried reducing the number of messages to sync, and although this speeds it up I’ve found that after a while lots of the messages disappear from my device. This might be because  ‘Messages to cache’ is set to 250. But this setting is greyed out, so that I can’t chenge it. In any case I don’t think the app should be trying to sync at all while it’s open.

Thanks!

Barbara

[StR]

Barbara,

The option you are talking about, "After deleting a messages" is under Settings -> Look and feel (half way down the list).
That behavior is independent of the connection you have.

I am not using Exchange accounts (thankfully), - so, I don't know all the specifics.
But yes, if you expect to see about thousand messages in Aquamail, you probably should have a higher number set for "messages to cache".  But I don't know how that works in Exchange - I remember there was some difference from IMAP accounts.

Just in case, - regarding for reducing the number of messages to sync, - if that number is smaller than the number of messages received within your 1-hour interval between the syncs, you may end up not loading all new messages.

I am guessing that the fact of deleting the message may trigger the synchronization with the server. (I don't know if "do not sync while the app is active" option blocks only the scheduled synchronization or all.)

In any case I don’t think the app should be trying to sync at all while it’s open.

That's your personal preference, - and some (many?) people would disagree with you. You can tolerate 1-hour delay for receiving messages. For many people that's unacceptable. And I want to know if a new message arrives while I am reading my messages or cleaning my mailbox. That's why there are configurable options.
Just in case, - that option is under Settings -> Mail, receiving -> When the app is active ("Run scheduled mail sync even when the application is open").

HTH.

[BarbaraS]

Hi StR,

Thanks for the quick and full reply. I've found the setting for what to do after deleting a message now - thanks - and I do have it set to 'Go to next message', which isn't what's happening most of the time. I think you might be right about ' do not sync while active' not affecting automatic updates after delete, but perhaps Kostya can answer that.

You misunderstood my quote (that you have quoted!). I agree that most people would probably want email to synchronise much more often than once an hour - including me on my other accounts ;-). It's just this one that doesn't need to, as the mail it gets is more for interest than to do with work or personal stuff, and I already have far too many back messages to deal with! Unfortunately the server holding the forum from which most of this mail emanates has blocked IMAP access. Don't ask why ... !

Barbara 

[Kostya Vasilyev]

The setting for "sync when the app is active" only applies to checking mail -- i.e. full server to app sync.

Changes made in the app, on the other hand, are always synced back immediately.

[BarbaraS]

Thanks Kostya - that explains it! So is there no way of stopping changes in the app from being immediately synced to the server? Also, do you know why I'm then getting the message list when I delete a message instead of it just moving on to the next message?

Thanks,

Barbara

[Kostya Vasilyev]

Re: So is there no way of stopping changes in the app from being immediately synced to the server?

There isn't. It will try -- but then if that fails, the changes are recorded and will sync to the server next time.

Re: do you know why I'm then getting the message list

Not off hand, please check app settings -> look and feel -> "after deleting a message".

[Kostya Vasilyev]

I just re-read your original message...

Do you put the tablet into "airplane" mode when doing this (sorting through messages while traveling)?

Or do you block connectivity some other way (to avoid roaming charges, I presume), or do have a data connection enabled, just don't want the app using it?

[StR]

Changes made in the app, on the other hand, are always synced back immediately.

That's what I thought based on the observation of the app's behavior.
And the following thought crossed my mind a few times while I was traveling internationally with a very limited data allowance that is given by my provider:
If the changes to the message(s) are grouped in some batches and then communicated at once, - would that provide data traffic savings? (How significant are those going to be?)
I assume there is some overhead with each communication, including even re-authentication.
Also, I would consider "postponed update", so that the changes are submitted only when on Wi-Fi.

If those saving are significant, then you might consider an option "submit changes" (a) As they happen (b) upon exiting from the app (whatever that would mean) (c) when on Wi-Fi. Optionally [sic!], when (b) or (c) is selected, a button can appear: "submit changes" (not a full sync).

Otherwise, say, I am disabling syncing on the mobile network, but reading the already-downloaded messages while the phone is on a mobile network. I am still wasting very expensive bytes just because the message I am reading changed its status to "read".

[mikeone]

Thanks for the quick and full reply. I've found the setting for what to do after deleting a message now - thanks - and I do have it set to 'Go to next message', which isn't what's happening most of the time.

Hi Barbara,
There is another option which is worth to check:
> Settings > Message view > Navigation: "Previous message is older" should be enabled if you prefer "Go to next message" means "switch to a newer message" (after deleting, in Message view).

Regards
Mikeone

[Kostya Vasilyev]

There is some, but I don't think it's that much, especially for IMAP and EWS which cache connections (with already established encryption and authentication).

POP3 doesn't, but the only operation that can get synced back to the server is "delete", which is less common than "mark read" or even "mark as replied / forwarded".

For POP3, there is a setting under account options to sync deletions to server on next mail check, not immediately.

[BarbaraS]

Re. Kostya : "Do you put the tablet into "airplane" mode when doing this (sorting through messages while traveling)?"

If on a plane! But I'm using a tablet which only has Wifi (no 3/4G), so I don't think it makes much differences. The behaviour is the same whether the Wifi is turned on or off and , when on, whether there's a connection or not - the whole message list is sometimes (though not always) reloaded after a deletion. I can't identify any specific conditions that cause this, but my tablet is prone to freezing since the Lollipop update, so perhaps it's something to do with that.

Re. StR's latest email, they sound like good suggestions!

Re. mikeone. I already have that set.

But thanks all.  And to Kostya, Aquamail is generally great ;-).

Barbara

[Kostya Vasilyev]

So back-syncing a problem at all when the tablet is connected to WiFi?

I can add a check in the code to see if there is a network connection before starting sync back to the server, but obviously this won't know if "yes, there is a connection, but I don't want to use it".

Not sure I understood what you meant by "message list is sometimes reloaded after a deletion".

Do you mean that even though the app is set to "move to prev/next message after deleting" --> it still closes message view and goes back to the list?

This is hopefully much better in the 1.6.0-dev versions (here on the forum under "Development builds").

[BarbaraS]

Hi Kostya,

Sorry for slow reply - I've been away.

I'm not aware of any problems with back-syncing, the servers for all three of my accounts seem to update correctly. But I think it would be useful if you could add the check for connection (for me anyway -;)) as I often work offline sorting emails for a lengthy period and it's easy enough to turn off the WiFi.

"Not sure I understood what you meant by "message list is sometimes reloaded after a deletion". Do you mean that even though the app is set to "move to prev/next message after deleting" --> it still closes message view and goes back to the list?"

Yes, that's exactly what happens!

I think that my problems may be partly due to the fact that my tablet is painfully slow (since the Android upgrade to Lollipop). I've just spent most of the day rolling back to KitKat 4.4, and it looks as if the performance is much better, but I haven't had time to try it out properly yet!

Barbara

[Kostya Vasilyev]

Re: I think it would be useful if you could add the check for connection

Ok, I'll write this down.

Re: my tablet is painfully slow (since the Android upgrade to Lollipop)

Know what you mean -- my Nexus 7 (original WiFi model) was fine with 4.4, and became completely unusable with 5.0... so I had to purchase the second-gen model. Now with its 6.0 OTA ready to install, I'm having doubts if I should...

[Kostya Vasilyev]

@BarbaraS

This is now implemented, look for the next -dev build.