How to connect
MailPush shows up in Apple Mail as a Microsoft Exchange account. Adding it to your iPhone or iPad takes a few minutes. The steps are the same on both, and the pictures show an iPhone.
Already approved? Sign in and this page fills in your own server and username.
On this page
Set up Apple Mail
Add a Microsoft Exchange account.
Open Settings, then Apps, Mail, Mail Accounts, Add Account. Tap Microsoft Exchange. On older versions of iOS and iPadOS, open Settings, then Mail, Accounts.
Enter your Gmail address.
In Email, type your Gmail address. In Description, type any name you like, for example Gmail. Tap Next.
Choose Configure Manually.
Your device asks how to sign in. Tap Configure Manually, not Sign In. MailPush runs its own server, so your device cannot find it by itself.
Enter the server, username and MailPush password.
In Server, type your server address. Sign in and it shows here. Leave Domain empty. In Username, type your Gmail address. In Password, type your MailPush password, not your Google password. Tap Next.
Turn on Mail only.
Turn on Mail. Turn off Contacts, Calendars, Reminders and Notes. Tap Save. Want your Google calendars too? Add your calendars below turns Calendars on later.
Choose how much mail to sync.
Open Settings, then Apps, Mail, Mail Accounts, and the new account. Tap Mail Days to Sync and pick how far back your mail goes, from 1 Day to No Limit. Choose No Limit if you want all your mail. The first sync of a large mailbox then takes 2 to 4 hours: recent mail arrives first, and older mail keeps filling in below it. You can change this any time.
Choose the Archive mailbox.
Still in the account, open Account, then Advanced Settings (some versions call it Advanced). Under Archive Mailbox, choose Archive, so the Archive button in Mail works like Gmail's. Under Move Discarded Messages Into, choose Deleted Mailbox if a swipe should delete (move to Gmail's Trash), or Archive Mailbox if it should archive.
Choose Mailboxes to Push.
Apple Mail only pushes the folders you pick, and at first that is just the Inbox. To get push for a label folder, open Settings, then Apps, Mail, Mail Accounts, Fetch New Data, the new account, and turn that folder on under Mailboxes to Push. The names of these screens vary a little between versions of iOS and iPadOS.
Turn off your old Gmail account.
If Apple Mail still has your Gmail account added the usual way, turn it off or remove it, or you will see every message twice. Then open Fetch New Data: it shows Push for the new account. You are done.
Add your calendars (optional)
MailPush can also bring your Google calendars to the Calendar app, and changes go both ways. There is one step at MailPush and one on your device, then you pick which calendars to show. You can do this now or any time later.
Turn Calendar on at MailPush.
Sign in, open your account page and press Turn on under Calendar. Google asks for two more permissions. Pick the same Google account. Google first says Google hasn't verified this app. That is expected, because Google has not reviewed MailPush. Click Advanced, then the Go to … (unsafe) link below it, to carry on to the permissions. Then leave every box ticked. When you come back, your account page says Calendar: On.
Turn on Calendars on your device.
Open Settings, then Apps, Calendar, Calendar Accounts, your MailPush account, and turn on Calendars. On older versions of iOS and iPadOS, open Settings, then Calendar, Accounts. Your calendars show up within a minute or two.
Pick the calendars to show.
Open the Calendar app and tap Calendars. Each Google calendar is listed under your MailPush account. A calendar you hide in Google Calendar is not synced, so it is missing here until you show it again.
How far back events go is set on your device: look for Sync under Settings, Apps, Calendar. The names of these screens vary a little between versions of iOS and iPadOS.
Changes usually reach the other side within seconds, or about two minutes when a lot of people are connected, and at worst within 15 minutes. What Calendar cannot do lists the limits.
If something goes wrong
- Your iPhone or iPad keeps asking for the password. The MailPush password is wrong or was replaced. Check it, or make a new one on your account page and type that one.
- It says it cannot connect, or that the server is unavailable. Your account may still be setting up. Wait a few minutes and try again. Your account page shows where it stands.
- New mail arrives late, or a label folder gets no push. See no push for a label folder and late notification banners below.
- Anything else. Contact us and tell us what you see.
Questions
Short answers to what people ask most. If yours is not here, get in touch.
Which apps does MailPush work with?
Apple Mail on iPhone and iPad. MailPush shows up there as a Microsoft Exchange account, which Apple Mail already knows how to use. We build and test it for Apple Mail only, so other mail apps and other devices are not supported.
Do drafts sync?
No. Drafts you write on gmail.com or in the Gmail app stay there and do not show up in Apple Mail. A draft you start in Apple Mail stays on that iPhone or iPad until you send it. Sending works as usual, and the message lands in Gmail's Sent folder.
Why does one email show up in more than one folder?
Your Gmail labels are the folders in Apple Mail, and an email shows up in the folder of every label it has, just like on gmail.com. An email labeled Work and Receipts is in both folders. It is still one email in Gmail.
Labels come from Gmail, so make, rename and delete them on gmail.com or in the Gmail app. Apple Mail's folder list follows within about a minute, or about two minutes when a lot of people are connected.
Why do I get no push for a label folder?
Apple Mail only pushes the folders you pick, and at first that is just the Inbox. To add a label folder, open Settings, then Apps, Mail, Mail Accounts, Fetch New Data, your MailPush account, and turn the folder on under Mailboxes to Push. The names of these screens vary a little between versions of iOS and iPadOS. A folder you did not pick still updates when you open it, or when Apple Mail checks on its own schedule.
What does Calendar do?
Calendar is optional. Turn it on from your account page and every calendar in your Google calendar list shows up in the Calendar app on your iPhone or iPad: your own, shared ones, and subscribed ones such as holidays and birthdays.
It works both ways. In the Calendar app you can create, change and delete events, with a title, start and end, all day, time zone, place, notes, one alert, busy or free, and repeats. You can also change or delete a single occurrence of a repeating event.
Accept, Maybe and Decline in Apple Mail or the Calendar app set your answer in Google Calendar, which lets the organizer know.
Changes usually reach the other side within seconds while your device is online, or about two minutes when a lot of people are connected. A change that Google does not announce arrives within 15 minutes.
What can Calendar not do?
Apple's calendar sync has a few limits. MailPush works within them, and here is what they mean for you.
- Alerts. Your device keeps one alert per event, the earliest popup alert. Changing it on the device replaces only that one. Google's other alerts stay.
- Repeating rules. A repeating event whose rule your device cannot show, for example several rules, extra dates added to a series, or "the last weekday of the month", comes over as separate events. You cannot edit those on the device.
- Video calls. The device has no place for a Google Meet or other video call, so its link, and the phone number and PIN to join by phone, show up at the end of the event's notes. An edit on the device never changes them in Google, and MailPush removes them from the notes before saving them in Google.
- Fields the device does not show. Colors, event types such as working location or focus time, guest permissions and Google's other alerts are never changed by an edit on the device. Working location, focus time and out of office events show up, but you cannot edit them on the device.
- View only calendars and special events. A calendar that is view only for you stays view only. A calendar that only shares free or busy times shows its events as Busy. Birthdays show up as yearly all day events, and holidays are view only. If you change one of these, MailPush refuses and Google's version comes back. If you delete one, it can stay hidden on your device until it changes in Google or you press Resync for that calendar under Your devices.
- Guests. When you organize a meeting and change what guests share, or cancel it on the device, Google sends its usual emails to the guests. Changing only your own alert or busy or free does not. The emails your device writes about the change are held back, so each guest gets just one.
- Attachments. A Google Drive attachment shows up at the end of the event's notes as a file name and a link. Opening it needs access to the file and a Google sign in on the device. A file you add on the device is not attached in Google, and MailPush removes that list from the notes before saving them in Google.
- Hidden calendars. A calendar you hide in Google Calendar is not synced and leaves your devices until you show it again.
MailPush does not sync Google Tasks, contacts or calendar colors, and it cannot create video call links from your device.
What happens to the calendar permission when I turn Calendar off?
Turning Calendar off removes your calendars from your devices and deletes what MailPush kept about them. Google does not let an app give back the calendar permission on its own without also giving up mail access, so the permission stays until you delete your account or remove MailPush in your Google Account settings, which also stops mail. Privacy says what MailPush keeps.
Why did a notification banner come late?
In our own testing, the lock screen banner sometimes showed up to a minute after the email had already reached the device. We saw the same with iCloud mail, and we do not know the cause.
What if MailPush stops working?
Your mail is in Gmail, where it always was. To switch back, open Settings, then Apps, Mail, Mail Accounts, choose Add Account, then Google, and sign in. Once your Gmail works there, delete the MailPush account from the same list. Deleting an account in Apple Mail only removes the copy on that device, never your mail in Gmail.
Why do I have to ask for access?
MailPush is a small service with room for a limited number of people. Google allows an app it has not verified 100 Google accounts over its whole life, and removing someone does not free up a place. So we count every account that has ever connected and stop at 90. We read each request ourselves.
Why does Google say it hasn't verified MailPush?
Google shows this warning for every app it has not reviewed, and MailPush is not reviewed by Google. Without a review Google lets an app have up to 100 people, and MailPush stays below that, which is also why you ask for access. The warning is the same for every unreviewed app and does not mean Google found a problem.
To carry on, click Advanced, then the Go to … (unsafe) link below it. Google then shows what MailPush asks for, and you tick every box. You see the warning each time you connect, reconnect or turn on Calendar. Privacy explains what MailPush does with your data, and you can remove MailPush in your Google Account settings at any time.
Does MailPush cost anything?
No, MailPush is free.
Where do I find my server address, username and MailPush password?
Once you are signed in, this page and your account page show your server address and username. Your MailPush password is shown once, when you connect your Google account. It is not your Google password. If you lose it, sign in and make a new one on your account page. The old one then stops working on all your devices at once.
How do I stop using MailPush?
Sign in, open your account page and choose Delete account. We email you a code first, and you type your Gmail address to confirm. Your MailPush password stops working right away, MailPush asks Google to remove its access, and we delete your message list, your label names and your devices' sync data.
Then delete the MailPush account in Apple Mail, or switch back to Google as described above.