Email Issues with ICS - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi everyone,
I thought of making a thread for all Email issues with ICS on any phone. As there are lots of people out there posting a single comment on certain threads, I thought it would be nice to have a collective post where someone can look at fixing some or share knowledge. Mods if you think this area isn't appropriate please move this thread.
Email Issues with ICS
Issue 1: Google App Server Emails (Personal Domain Emails powered by Gmail) using Stock Email App on Galaxy S2 which is very similar to Android Stock Email App. Its apparent that this doesn’t work in Stock ICS on Galaxy Nexus S.
Symptom: After finishing the process of adding accounts, the Inbox keeps loading but not loads.
Reason: Google or Android has changed a key protocol within the implementation of Active sync (exchange) in ICS where redirecting of m.google.com or m.hotmail.com doesn’t work anymore.
Fix: Apparently fixed in 4.0.4 but no claims yet.
Issue 2: Stock Email App on Galaxy S2 drains battery.
Symptom: Battery only lasts 7-8 hours.
Reason: Google Sync isn’t supported by Android on any other app except Gmail app on Android Platform. Your server also requires a maximum calendar lookback and maximum email
lookback,
Fix: Clear the data from the app and cache, delete all accounts and re add them again. or change the exchange policies.
Issue 3: Corporate Emails won’t sync with Stock Email app (Galaxy S2 or Nexus)
Symptom: Connection Error, Couldn’t download all emails. wont send outgoing mail etc
Reason: Policy not supported, PIN authentication doesn’t exist in ICS, One of the features that's lacking from ICS, is S/MIME.
Fix: Change the Exchange server settings or wait for Android and or Samsung to fix the app and Active sync implementation in ICS. Encrypt your sd card (internal and or external)
Bottom Line: Google doesn’t support all the exchange policies and protocols hence suit yourself. As there are more than 4 dozen policies, they only support the most commonly used. Samsung has rubbished the already buggy Stock Email App from AOSP by adding their own rubbish.
So, we are left with a few choices here:
Change back to Gingerbread where everything use to work.
Change your exchange server policies (Corporate accounts)
Wait until Android fixes redirecting protocol for m.google.com or m.hotmail.com services
Wait until Samsung fixes stock email app
Wait until Google fixes stock email app (wont help samsung guys)
Wait until Android implements correct protocols and policies in ICS and Samsung follows up.
Really pathetic to see this happening and where google passes buck to others for their apps, I thought the whole idea of Open Source was to share and learn. Unlike Linux where its usually fixed quickly and across the board.

Related

[Q] Help with Exchange email

Hey guys-
I had been using TouchDown Exchange to access my work email. When I first got android I asked my IT department if they could set it up for me but they replied that they "don't support Android, and because there are so many different android phones, they probably wouldn't ever support". Anyways, I found I could use the web-exchange server (http://xxx.xxxxxxxx.com/exchange/) as my domain on the android app and it would end up sync'ing my email to my phone.
I guess they eventually found out I was doing this somehow and they blocked it. They do support the iPhone, though, and through a coworker I was able to get the server and domain that they use.
Is there anyway I can trick the server into thinking I'm using an iPhone so it will allow me to connect and sync? I tried using the "ActiveSync Device String" and setting it to "iPhone" before connecting to the server, but that didn't work. I don't know much about exchange servers if you couldn't tell, but is there a way they can authorize only certain users to connect? Could I potentially borrow my girlfriends iphone, have them set it up on her device, and then once I get the login permissions, switch the info over to my fascinate?
Sorry to any IT administrators out there, I bet this post will annoy you haha. I just want to have email on my phone because I hate walking into work in the morning and getting blindsided by an email that was sent to me at 2am.
Thanks in advance for your help guys.
Our IT department also has a "no android" policy but I figured out that if I left the Domain blank and used the Webmail url as the Exchange server address everything would sync perfectly. I started out using Touchdown but dropped it for the stock email client.
They specifically denied your phone from syncing via ActiveSync? Even with Touchdown, which more fully supports the ActiveSync protocol than even the iPhone? Sounds like your IT guys are morons. I can fully understand not wanting to support Android phones because of all the variances. I know, because I work for an ASP hosting company that does just that. But really, if they wont support Touchdown, they're just shooting themselves in the foot, because that app will work the sane no matter what Android phone it's installed on, meaning you will have a standardized mail platform for Android that supports any and all necessary security features, including full encryption of the local mail database and any data it stores on the SD card.
I don't know if you'll get anywhere with it, but I would recommend showing the the feature list for Touchdown, including the security features, and ask them to support that one app. If you make the case that they only need to support one app for any Android phone, they should be willing to work with you on that.
Besides, every serious corporate user should be using Touchdown anyway. The stock mail client, no matter what Android phone you have, is lacking some of the most basic features, is buggy,and is essentially useless. And if days encryption is required, you're out of luck with the stock clients. Exchange syncing is really an afterthought by Google, and until they make enterprise features and data security a primary focus, things wont get any better.
Sent from XDA Premium on my Super Clean Fascinate
Oh, and btw, I'm not an expert on the matter, but I know that mobile device syncing can be disabled on a per-user basis. What I'm not sure about is if it can actually allow only certain devices to connect or not.
Sent from XDA Premium on my Super Clean Fascinate

Did anyone get Exchange emails working yet? [CM 7.1.0]

SGH-i777 running CM 7.1.0 on Android 2.3.7. Carrier is obviously AT&T.
I can't for the life of me figure out how to add my Exchange account to the stock e-mail program. I've tried:
* Countless variations of server, domain, and username settings. I've followed this guide **can't post link** and several other guides. I do have access to my company's server information, and while I'm not sure which server is actually being used, I've tried them *all*, several times, and gotten nowhere. With a WiFI connection (no firewall) and just 3G data, signed in or signed out of Outlook Anywhere. No luck, just "Unable to open connection to server".
* K-9 connected to my account, but I was unable to see any e-mails - none would load, even when I had it force check. So I uninstalled it (would rather use the stock app anyway).
Is this a problem with my signal? I read that someone got help from their carrier - they made a custom APN, but that was in another country so I'm a bit skeptical. Can't call Samsung (it's Sunday) and their website offers no help. It's possible my IT doesn't allow phones to read mail, but that's highly unlikely - we've got lots of employees in the field, so this seems like common sense.
I did a lot of digging and this might be an old issue, but it gets pretty technical and I'm obviously a n00b.
What am I missing here???? PLEASE fill me in - I've put hours into this!!
It's quite possible that your IT group who manages your Exchange environment isn't allowing non-approved devices to connect. Typically these are security-certificate based and/or mandatory VPN requirements. I would suggest asking your Exchange administrator in your IT department about this policy.
Under Domain/username, did you try putting the "\" in front of your username? To configure mine I did this and had to use the host name as the Exchange server. Some things to try anyway if you haven't already.
Also ran into issues setting up under a public wifi at work, had to use the ATT network to make it connect for some reason.
I have my work exchange account set up.
Are you making sure to connect to the external exchange server (sometimes different from internal)?
Have you asked your administrator for exchange login details (my IT dept sent out a company-wide email once with those details)?
You might have to type the server name in manually if it doesn't auto-detect (the case with my work email).
Now, my work isn't as strict, but as the previous poster said; you're exchange server might not allow unauthorized devices to connect. In which case you'll have to contact your IT dept.
They may have simply blocked all android devices (until recently didn't support hardware encryption, and spoofed exchange permissions). If that's true, educate them.
The server name may be a link rather than a server name. Ours is mibile.XXXXX.com for example.
probably related to your company's settings. I run my own exchange server and got it sync'd fine with the current cyanogen nightly
I had problems with the stock email and our ms exchange server. I could set it up, but after a while it stopped syncing and I could never really get it back to work. I switched to Touchdown, and after a little trial and error with setup, it's working fine for me. There is a trial version for 30 days or so that you could give a shot. Happy to give you some pointers.
AtlanM87 said:
I had problems with the stock email and our ms exchange server. I could set it up, but after a while it stopped syncing and I could never really get it back to work. I switched to Touchdown, and after a little trial and error with setup, it's working fine for me. There is a trial version for 30 days or so that you could give a shot. Happy to give you some pointers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 for touchdown. I've been using it for about a year. It's far superior to any exchange solution the Google offers. I only wish it would populate Google calendar as it does the Google contacts. The UI is getting dated as well. I wish they would come out with a cosmetic update or theme capability.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium

Inconsistent Email (Exchange Server)

I have searched endlessly for an answer to my question and maybe I am missing something, but my exchange email service is very flaky. I carry two phones (iPhone 4s - work ATT and the Note - personal ATT) and the Note will just stop getting my exchange emails throughout the day. I have tried everything. Currently I am Dag Overclocked Kernel and Saurom RC4a but I went back to stock rom, I exchanged for a new note, and every thing I do the system still fails to deliver mail consistently.
I dont have Juice Defender running, I have no peak scheduling set up, and all power savings are turned off. Does anybody have any ideas? Can it be an exchange server configuration? My iPhone always works, and this is driving me nuts.
Jason
I was going to post this exact same thing. I have my email on my iPhone and my Note, both from the same exchange server. My iPhone consistently gets email long before my Note does.
Are you using office 365/exchange online by any chance?
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note
We are using Exchange 2007, and we are in the process of migrating to the latest version. In the meantime, I installed Touchdown for Activesync on my Note, and it seems to be very consistent, in so much that it gets all my emails before any of my other devices, including my desktop at work!
I guess i will license a copy if it makes it through the week with no hiccups. Stupid that it cost 20 bucks to get my mail working correctly. I cant believe the default app on the Note cannot handle my work email needs.
Sounds like you are running an in-house mail server. I didn't ask which version of Exchange you were connecting to but specifically if you were using Microsoft-hosted Exchange as part of the Office 365 or Exchange Online program. They have a server redirection setup that some versions of the Android mail client do not understand, so when they change servers on you on the back end (which happens with alarming frequency) the Samsung mail client is unable to connect to the mail server. iOS devices know how to handle the internal redirection as do some versions of Android mail. But not the version on the AT&T Galaxy Note. ICS is rumored to fix this. Anyway, that's probably not your issue, but it is mine and my symptoms are identical.
I have Touchdown as well; it has a lot of features but I don't love the interface, and there's a lot to be said for having a single email client for multiple accounts. Default Android mail is woeful and has always been so IMHO. Have you looked at Enhanced Email? I would use that except it is very hard to deal with if you have many folders and you try to move messages from your inbox to your nested folders (I've submitted a feature request for them to handle that the way Touchdown does, but I don't think it's a high priority item for them because it's been missing for a long time).
Maybe you can troubleshoot with your Exchange admin when you fail to receive messages and they can look into debug logs.

How can Android be missing this?

I am re-posting this from another user on a different forum. He/She wrote exactly what I wanted to say so why change it?
The major shortfall of Android ICS is the inability to handle standard Internet Calendar Sharing (ICS) meeting requests (calendar invitations) sent via email.
Every other platform in the world seems able to handle a meeting invitation sent from a calendar application, whether that is from Microsoft Outlook (worldwide standard in the business world), an iCal file from an Apple device. The web-based version of gmail correctly handles calendar invites and prompts one to respond with a "Yes/No/Maybe" reply.
The native Android gmail app shows either just a blank email or sometimes the text details of a meeting invite. There is no ability to respond to the meeting request. Instead, Android places the item on the Calendar and expects the user to respond to it there. The problem with this approach is the one needs to know where to look on the calendar.
A Google search shows that this has been a known issue for years, yet Google does nothing about it.
Short of ditching the native gmail app for a functional third-party app, how can one enable gmail to handle meeting requests the way every other email application does?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I want to know is how a black and white screen BlackBerry from the stone ages can read and reply to meeting requests yet my dual-core, multitasking juggernaut of a phone can't preform this simple function. How on earth can Android/Google turn off business users like this??? I am aware that some 3rd party apps on Android do provide this function but they all require you to connect to an exchange server! W T F Google??????
jets76 said:
I am re-posting this from another user on a different forum. He/She wrote exactly what I wanted to say so why change it?
What I want to know is how a black and white screen BlackBerry from the stone ages can read and reply to meeting requests yet my dual-core, multitasking juggernaut of a phone can't preform this simple function. How on earth can Android/Google turn off business users like this??? I am aware that some 3rd party apps on Android do provide this function but they all require you to connect to an exchange server! W T F Google??????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My sensation seems to handle it ok. And im not using exchange.
Sent from my SX-SP715A using XDA
What email app?
dunno what's wrong with my ics but its working fine here, im getting invitation popups and i can respond yes/no/maybe. it seems though that the mail itself is rawtext if you open it, but the invitation will be triggered when the time is proper.
molesarecoming said:
dunno what's wrong with my ics but its working fine here, im getting invitation popups and i can respond yes/no/maybe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, got no problems.
jets76 said:
I am re-posting this from another user on a different forum. He/She wrote exactly what I wanted to say so why change it?
What I want to know is how a black and white screen BlackBerry from the stone ages can read and reply to meeting requests yet my dual-core, multitasking juggernaut of a phone can't preform this simple function. How on earth can Android/Google turn off business users like this??? I am aware that some 3rd party apps on Android do provide this function but they all require you to connect to an exchange server! W T F Google??????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure what caused your issues. I've had invites and responded from the following without problems:
1. Lotus Domino
2. MS Exchange
My systems:
1. Plain Gmail and Gmail calendar (for personal stuffs).
2. Google Apps Gmail and Google Apps Calendar (for business stuffs).
Hope that helps.
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Are you saying that in the Android phone's gmail app you get meeting request emails and have the YES/NO/MAYBE buttons available? If YES are you using and ms exchange server? If NO, did the person send the request from a gmail email address?
Invitation Plugin
Check if Invitation Plugin application can solve your issue. It opens ics invites in default calendar where you can accept/decline event.
You can get this app on Google Play:
play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cleansoft.invitationplugin
For it to work you need to enable 'Automatically add invitations to my calendar' setting in Google Calendar
support.google.com/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=83117
It requires Android 4.0+ (Ice Cream Sandwich)
Hope that helps.
(Sorry I cannot post links yet just add http to urls)
Working for me

[Q] Stock Email passwords still stored in clear text.

I realize that this has been an 'issue' for a while now, but I would like to know if there are any new ways secure and use stock email client with Exchange ActiveSync and not have credentials stored in clear text on the device. The same goes for IMAP and POP accounts using the app.
Yes, this is really only an issue on rooted devices, Google's official answer is to enable Device Encryption and that there are other email clients out there that handle credentials better. I personally switched to Touchdown, but would rather use the stock client.
I am trying to come up with a MDM solution for my company and really don't want to have to block devices if I don't have to. But as it stands my only options are have the user buy a 3rd party email client, force encryption and/or block rooted / jailbroken devices or use Citrix and OWA. I've spent a couple days researching this and haven't come up with anything promising that puts a smile on my face.
Any other Exchange Admins out there? How have you dealt with this?
For those who were not aware of your network username, password and domain being stored in clear text. Using Sql Lite open the Email app, Open EmailProvider.db and select HostAuth. Within you will find your connection info staring back at you, clear as day.
Android Issue Log:
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=10809
Google's Response:
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=10809#c128

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