A nice feature add by Apple in iOS 4 (the latest software rev for iPhones and iPod touches) is enhanced Gmail support. Beyond the threaded conversation feature, which supports all types of mail accounts, the Gmail account type (found when you go to set up a new account in Settings) now supports archiving under Gmail, such that “deleting” a message (air quotes because the icon in Mail has not changed) now removes the Inbox label from the message and leaves it in the All Mail folder. In addition, a horizontal swipe of a message or bulk editing of messages has a revised “Archive” text label, rather than saying “Delete.” Note that this archiving feature can be turned off.
You also get a nifty Gmail icon for your inbox now. Macworld has a nice article up on these revisions.
I previously set up this behavior myself using an “Other”-type mail account (as the prior Gmail preset available when you created a new account did not support IMAP), combined with a few tweaks of the trash can location.
There is still no support for labels, rather than folders, but this would require a comprehensive revising of certain aspects of the Mail app’s user interface, so I’m not holding my breath on this one. Gmail via mobile Safari is still the best option here.
One downside to the new Gmail account type, versus using an “Other” account configured to match the Gmail behavior: you no longer can set up multiple e-mail aliases. An e-mail alias is who the sender appears as. Personally, I have my Gmail address, my alumni address from Stanford, and an address set up to give out to all companies and web accounts that require an address. Depending on whom I’m e-mailing with, I may want to compose or reply from a different account than my Gmail address. Also, if someone e-mails, say, an article to a group of friends using my Stanford alumni address (my preferred address) and I reply to all from my Gmail address, my Stanford address receives a copy of my reply–annoying.
With a custom-configured Other account, you can, however, set up multiple aliases. Just follow the handy directions found on Chris Oattes blog, here. Note that the first e-mail address in the sequence of comma-separated addresses is the default account from which replies are sent or messages are composed as on the iPhone.
So, great feature, right? However, using the revised Gmail account type does not allow you to use aliases. As best as I can tell, it is because you only have place to enter your e-mail address when setting up the account, and this is used by Gmail to authenticate your e-mail/password combination, so inputting a list of aliases there returns a password error–your password will only work with a username of just your Gmail address. Whereas, the Other account type includes one blank for your address (where you put in all the aliases via Chris Oattes’ tip) and a separate area to log in to your incoming mail server, which is where you just put in your Gmail address.
Thus, I’ve switched back from using the revised Gmail account preset to my existing Other account. Apart from no Gmail icon and no “Archive” text label, I’m losing nothing.
One more possible solution involves setting up dummy accounts solely for the purposes of having aliases to choose from. (This site also shows you how to select an alias in the mail compose scree on your iPhone.) I haven’t tried this yet, since I wouldn’t gain much compared to my current setup, but I’ll update if I do so.
(If you run into any problems with setting up aliases, you should confirm that you have set up these aliases in Gmail via the web interface. I’m not sure if this is required in order for alias sending to work on the iPhone, but it’s worth checking, and has the bonus of setting up aliases in Gmail’s web interface as well. Go to Settings/Accounts and Import tab/Send mail as section and click on the “Send mail from another address” button, then follow the directions.)