[APP][5.0+] FairEmail - Fully featured, open source, privacy oriented email app

[M66B]

I am currently testing FE with a view to replace K9. So far, most stuff either works as I'd expect or I understand why it doesn't and can work around it.

However there are a couple items which baffle me. First, I have two gmail accounts (IMAP) defined with (so far as I can tell) identical parameters (other than username and password, of course). The first of those (T) is the default account. Both accounts are configured to update their inboxes when FE is started but only the second (M) does so. Also, in the Receive settings tab (below "Allow receive messages for these accounts") the checkbox for the T account is greyed and disabled and I can only tick and enable/disable M!?

The other thing is that most folders are defined with "7/30" for the "Number of days to synchronise/to keep messages". That's fine but it doesn't seem to do what I think it should do. If I delete all message LOCALLY (ie NOT on the server) and then synchronise such a folder, FE downloads 40 messages with many older than 7 days. I suspect I totally misunderstand the meaning of these numbers.

I also have one suggestion. As FE is new software to me I very often have to jump into the settings... that's quite a few taps when a message is currently showing. Perhaps a shortcut option (and jump back where I left) would be nice.

Last but not least a question. If I export settings (after going pro of course) can I import them only with the same pro version?

And thanks for a pretty impressive app! (I should add that I am also a heavy user of NetGuard... so my switching to FE is almost certainly gonna happen.)

I am not sure what is disabled. Are you sure you configured both accounts as IMAP? The only reason the checkbox I think you mean is disabled, is for a POP3 account. Maybe a screenshot will be useful.

At the top of the navigation menu there is a settings wheel with a menu to directly jump to a specific settings tab page. Is that helpful?

Settings import/export works as you expect.

 

[TooMuchSloeGin]

See the attached image. Both accounts have been defined identically, both are definitely IMAP and both work in the same way (ie I see and can work with the server folders etc). And I have never defined the T account as anything else than IMAP either.

Further, the settings. When I am deep in the folder hierarchy, I have to tap back for a few times until I can find the Settings wheel. That's what I meant. Not only tapping, I also lose my position in the folder hierarchy.

As to export... I have no expectation. I just want to know whether importing works across versions and devices.

 

[M66B]

See the attached image. Both accounts have been defined identically, both are definitely IMAP and both work in the same way (ie I see and can work with the server folders etc). And I have never defined the T account as anything else than IMAP either.

Further, the settings. When I am deep in the folder hierarchy, I have to tap back for a few times until I can find the Settings wheel. That's what I meant. Not only tapping, I also lose my position in the folder hierarchy.

As to export... I have no expectation. I just want to know whether importing works across versions and devices.

Please send me the debug info by long pressing 'Support' in the navigation menu and I will check the settings.

You can swipe from the left side inwards to show the navigation menu and to go to the settings quickly.

Export/import works across devices, but if you set up a Gmail account with the quick setup wizard you'll need to authenticate it again on another device.

Edit: my guess is that the account is set to manual sync in the account settings (via "Manual setup and account options" in the main settings screen), which also explains why it isn't synced automatically:

https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/b...de/email/FragmentOptionsSynchronize.java#L685

 

[TooMuchSloeGin]

Edit: my guess is that the account is set to manual sync in the account settings (via "Manual setup and account options" in the main settings screen), which also explains why it isn't synced automatically:

Yep, that setting was indeed the culprit (I have set up both accounts manually as I am not a great friend of auto-this and auto-that, and obviously I changed this for the first account but not the second). Thanks for the pointer.

The swipe left for the settings works... alas I am known not to be the greatest swiper under the sun so this sort of thing doesn't come natural ;-)

That leaves me with the 7/30 thing. Any enlightenment there?

 

[M66B]

Yep, that setting was indeed the culprit (I have set up both accounts manually as I am not a great friend of auto-this and auto-that, and obviously I changed this for the first account but not the second). Thanks for the pointer.

The swipe left for the settings works... alas I am known not to be the greatest swiper under the sun so this sort of thing doesn't come natural ;-)

That leaves me with the 7/30 thing. Any enlightenment there?

By default 'browse' is enabled (advanced account settings), which means more messages will be downloaded on scrolling down, independent of the 7/30 setting. I guess you'll want to disable this.

 

[TooMuchSloeGin]

By default 'browse' is enabled (advanced account settings), which means more messages will be downloaded on scrolling down, independent of the 7/30 setting. I guess you'll want to disable this.

I'll experiment with that and if I can't get it to do what I want I'll be back

One thing I'd say is that there so many options and so much "cross dependency" that getting the hang of things is not trivial. Then again, setting the options is something I'd do once and then forget.

Thanks for the help and have a nice day...!

 

[de_Wolf]

One thing I'd say is that there so many options and so much "cross dependency" that getting the hang of things is not trivial. Then again, setting the options is something I'd do once and then forget.

This is always a balancing act for the developer. If there are too few settings options, the users are dissatisfied, if there are too many, they are dissatisfied as well.

The good thing in the settings is the search function, this has often helped me to locate options.

 

[TooMuchSloeGin]

This is always a balancing act for the developer. If there are too few settings options, the users are dissatisfied, if there are too many, they are dissatisfied as well.

Sure and I'd be among the first to advocate for more options. I guess what I am trying to say is that if the number of options exceeds a certain threshold then it becomes hard to know which option is where and does what, especially if changing an option has repercussions elsewhere. So it becomes ever more important to have an orthogonal set of options, grouped in a logical way. I know very well that this is hard to achieve, with the way software tends to grow organically.

As to search, I use that... but that "browse" option is a perfect case in point: I searched for it but it won't find the option I needed to change, probably because it's buried deep in the Advanced options within Main.

@M66B: Once I had located and disabled the "browse" option, the 7/30 setting is indeed honoured. That's good... but of course I've now lost the ability to browse In my view, the behaviour should be that the "7/30" setting should be honoured independently from the browse option. If I say 7/30 (or 1/5) I want 7/30 (or 1/5). That's probably just me.

 

[M66B]

Sure and I'd be among the first to advocate for more options. I guess what I am trying to say is that if the number of options exceeds a certain threshold then it becomes hard to know which option is where and does what, especially if changing an option has repercussions elsewhere. So it becomes ever more important to have an orthogonal set of options, grouped in a logical way. I know very well that this is hard to achieve, with the way software tends to grow organically.

As to search, I use that... but that "browse" option is a perfect case in point: I searched for it but it won't find the option I needed to change, probably because it's buried deep in the Advanced options within Main.

@M66B: Once I had located and disabled the "browse" option, the 7/30 setting is indeed honoured. That's good... but of course I've now lost the ability to browse In my view, the behaviour should be that the "7/30" setting should be honoured independently from the browse option. If I say 7/30 (or 1/5) I want 7/30 (or 1/5). That's probably just me.

Since the app will already keep message for 30 days on your device, it isn't useful to limit 'browse' to 30 days too (or another number of days if this was configured).

 

[TooMuchSloeGin]

Since the app will already keep message for 30 days on your device, it isn't useful to limit 'browse' to 30 days too (or another number of days if this was configured).

I agree and that's not what I meant. What I mean is this scenario:
1. Delete all messages in folder LOCALLY, not on the server. The folder is now empty.
2. Enable browse and have 7/30 (or 1/5).
3. Sync the folder.
4. The folder (as it's now) downloads ~40 messages, some more than 6 weeks old. Why 40? Why more than 6 weeks?
5. The folder (as I'd expect it) downloads exactly 7 (or 1) day(s) worth of messages but the user can browse for more if s/he wants.

Browse as an explicit action should always override 7/30 (or 1/5). But simply syncing a folder should not.

 

[M66B]

I agree and that's not what I meant. What I mean is this scenario:
1. Delete all messages in folder LOCALLY, not on the server. The folder is now empty.
2. Enable browse and have 7/30 (or 1/5).
3. Sync the folder.
4. The folder (as it's now) downloads ~40 messages, some more than 6 weeks old. Why 40? Why more than 6 weeks?
5. The folder (as I'd expect it) downloads exactly 7 (or 1) day(s) worth of messages but the user can browse for more if s/he wants.

Browse as an explicit action should always override 7/30 (or 1/5). But simply syncing a folder should not.

Synchronizing a folder will respect the sync/keep settings. Scrolling down (browse) will download messages beyond the sync settings. The latter can be disabled if you wish and the sync/keep settings will be fully respected. So, a choice ...

 

[zecabra]

Hi, I'm the guy who talked to you on Saturday about switching from PlayStore Pro account to Ghithub version, all flawless with the app, I'd just like to make a suggestion if it's considered a good idea, in the side bar when you click on an account it opens in full screen window with the folder list, would it be possible to make it so that when you click on the account it expands the folder list of that account in the sidebar and another click to collapse?

 

[M66B]

Hi, I'm the guy who talked to you on Saturday about switching from PlayStore Pro account to Ghithub version, all flawless with the app, I'd just like to make a suggestion if it's considered a good idea, in the side tab when you click on an account it opens in full screen window with the folder list, would it be possible to make it so that when you click on the account it expands the folder list of that account in the sidebar and another click to collapse?

I guess you'll want to enable two column mode in the display settings.

 

[TooMuchSloeGin]

Synchronizing a folder will respect the sync/keep settings.

No, it doesn't and that's exactly my point. If I just do the steps I outlined above, when I sync the folder (without ever browsing) then many more messages (three or four screenfuls) are downloaded than dictated by the settings. At least here.

 

[M66B]

No, it doesn't and that's exactly my point. If I just do the steps I outlined above, when I sync the folder (without ever browsing) then many more messages (three or four screenfuls) are downloaded than dictated by the settings. At least here.

Browse will fill the screen and prefetch about one screen more to reduce the waiting time. This could mean that older messages are being fetched.

 

[zecabra]

I guess you'll want to enable two column mode in the display settings.

I know about that option but that's not what I was referring to, I was referring to the folders appearing under the account name on the left side

 

[M66B]

I know about that option but that's not what I was referring to, I was referring to the folders appearing under the account name on the left side

Some people have thousands of folders dozens of levels deep, which will let some other email apps crash. Mostly, people are interested in a few folders only anyway. Therefore you can manually add folders to the navigation menu by long pressing a folder in the folder list and create your own shortlist.

Note that you can double collapse/expand the accounts section in the navigation menu, first the folders and after that the accounts.

 

[chris122380]

This is always a balancing act for the developer. If there are too few settings options, the users are dissatisfied, if there are too many, they are dissatisfied as well.

The good thing in the settings is the search function, this has often helped me to locate options.

This is why I like Fairemail over K9. K9 is too simple and not enough options.

 

[zecabra]

Some people have thousands of folders dozens of levels deep, which will let some other email apps crash. Mostly, people are interested in a few folders only anyway. Therefore you can manually add folders to the navigation menu by long pressing a folder in the folder list and create your own shortlist.

Note that you can double collapse/expand the accounts section in the navigation menu, first the folders and after that the accounts.

Excellent, I have added the folders I wanted but now they are always visible, when I click on the account name they don't expand or collapse, is there some option left to activate for this to work?

 

[M66B]

Excellent, I have added the folders I wanted but now they are always visible, when I click on the account name they don't expand or collapse, is there some option left to activate for this to work?

You can collapse the accounts section as a whole only, not per account.