Gmail contacts into ipad issues

[jduncan]

Ok, as "user friendly" as everybody says Apple products are, I'm very disappointed in the difficulty encountered trying to set up gmail contacts into the iPad.

I have two gmail accounts and initially set them up using gmail as the account type, which made sense to me. Now one would think by doing that, your contacts would automatically show up on your iPad contacts, but no, that would be to easy I guess.

So next I read about setting up gmail as a Microsoft exchange account instead. So I did that with my personal account. So can I set up another exchange account for my work gmail too? Can I name them something different then exchange account?

I've been using gmail web mail instead of the gmail client because of the issue with contacts. The problem there is with two accounts I need to log off of one and log into the other, which is a hassle.

Any other ideas on how best to use my two gmail accounts?

 

[twerppoet]

Apple did away with the one Exchange account limit several iOS versions ago, from 4.0 on. Just add the second account as you did the first, but where it says Exchange for the account name, change it to something else.

Or you can go back into the account's settings and change its name any time.

Setting up Google Sync with your iOS device : Mail, Calendar, & Contacts - Google Mobile Help

Your contacts should show up as two separate accounts in the Contacts app as well. With multiple accounts a red Groups ribbon should show on the left page. Tap it to go to the Group/Account page and select the account.

Don't expect your Groups though. Whatever standard is being used those are being lost in sync, at least for now.

 

[jduncan]

Thank you. That's what I did and changed the name of the second. Wish I could change the name of the first one too.

Can I just have the contacts set to sync? My calendars are fine, at least they were. Guess I better check them too!

What about having two signatures? I want my work signature on the one, but do not need one on the other, or at least want a different one.

 

[twerppoet]

If you go into your account settings for each GMail account you can make the changes you want.

Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and tap on the account. You'll see on/off switches for Mail, Contacts, and Calendars. Turn on/off whatever you want for that account.

Tap the arrow to the right of the Account field. To change the account's display name in Mail, tap and edit the Description field. You can do this anytime, so go ahead and change the first account's name.

I'm afraid it is only possible to have the one signature for now. Mail is getting a nice boost in features with iOS 5 this Fall, so that might change. I can't remember if signatures were mentioned in the announcements and pre-reviews.

 

[jduncan]

Yes, I was able to make changes to the name. Thank you.

It is still acting weird though. My mail app doesn't show two of my conversations in the thread with a customer. I refreshed it with a sync and it still doesn't show the full thread.

Regarding using gmail through Safari, I would like to have a window for each of two gmail accounts, but it won't do that. If I can get that to work, I might just use it instead of messing with the mail app.

 

[twerppoet]

Open the first GMail account in Safair. Tap the double box icon at the top (might have number in it) choose new page and navigate to your other GMail account. Now you can tap the double box to pop back and forth between them.

Or get a third party browser with tabbed browsing and do the same thing. Atomic and iCab Mobile are pretty good.

You should leave the Mail app set up, since web mail doesn't handle attachments too well.

For the threads issue, it might be that Mail isn't loading the older emails. There are two places that might help. One is in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Increase the number of recent messages under Show.

The second is in the account's settings, same place you went to change stuff yesterday, increase the Mail Days to Sync.

 

[jduncan]

Open the first GMail account in Safair. Tap the double box icon at the top (might have number in it) choose new page and navigate to your other GMail account. Now you can tap the double box to pop back and forth between them.

Or get a third party browser with tabbed browsing and do the same thing. Atomic and iCab Mobile are pretty good.

You should leave the Mail app set up, since web mail doesn't handle attachments too well.

For the threads issue, it might be that Mail isn't loading the older emails. There are two places that might help. One is in Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars. Increase the number of recent messages under Show.

The second is in the account's settings, same place you went to change stuff yesterday, increase the Mail Days to Sync.

I think I need to do it in a different browser. When I open a new window in Safari and go to gmail I end up with two of the same account open. When I logoff and login to my other account, it logs me off the other too.

 

[jduncan]

What is the difference in the free vs paid version of Atomic?

 

[twerppoet]

Features. I'm not sure what all is missing, but I do know that that you can not change the Browser ID with the free version. This comes in handy when you want to force a web site to serve you its desktop version. Not all sites offer a link to the desktop version of their site. Sometimes that's just as well, since the desktop version doesn't work, other times it is just an annoyance.

I believe tabs work in the free version. It is free, so you can check it out for that at least.

 

[jduncan]

Yes, I actually installed it and there is a long list of things the paid version will do vs the free. It's working, except I still don't understand why I can't have a signature in the email using the web mail.

 

[twerppoet]

If you set your signature in GMail's settings it will be in the the email the recipient gets, even though you can not see it while using the mobile email site.

It is easiest to set the signature using a computer and visiting GMail. It's under the General settings. But you can visit it using the iPad.

Scroll to the very bottom of the Inbox and you will see some links. Choose 'basic HTML' (the Desktop link won't let you scroll when editing settings). Then choose Settings at the top right. Edit your signature and Save Changes.

At the bottom of the page choose the 'standard' link to go back to the mobile optimized email site.

Like I said, you won't see your signature when you create or reply to an email, but it does get sent. To confirm this, just send an email to yourself.

 

[jduncan]

Wow! You really are the iPad master! All my issues are solved regarding my two accounts by using the two browsers and yes, my signature DOES show in the mail I received. That's perfect! Thanks so much!

 

[twerppoet]

No problem.

Hang around for a bit an you'll soon be an iPad Master; and you learn a lot too, like I have.

 

[jduncan]

Ok, here's another issue. I think it's with Safari . I just received an email from Bass Pro Shops. When I open the message in my account using Safari the images don't show. There is a link to show pictures, but nothing happens when I click it.

If I open the same message using Atomic, the images are all showing already.

 

[twerppoet]

Not sure I can help with that one, but here are a couple things you can try.

Tap the refresh icon in the URL bar, and see if it loads the email properly.

Double tap the Home key, find your Safari icon, Tap and hold until it jiggles, then tap the minus sign. This closes Safari out of RAM, and will force it to reload from scratch next time you open Safari. It's the same as quitting and restarting a program on your computer when it gets weird.

A little more drastic, but no big deal, you can restart the iPad. Hold down the power button until the power off slider appears. Slide it off. When the iPad finishes shutting down, hold down the power button again until the Apple logo appears.

This is pretty much the same thing a rebooting your computer.

The only other thing to do is to go to Settings > Safari and clear the History, Cookies, and Cache.

If that does not help, I don't know what will.