How do I switch from using native Mail to another client?

[earthdude]

I'm using an iPhone 4S (16 GB) with iOS 7. I reformatted my phone and set it up as new when iOS 7 came out, choosing the native stock Mail app and push notifications.

My main email account is Gmail, and I was disappointed when I found push notifications aren't really working for Gmail through the native Mail. So I want to switch to Mailbox or Boxer.

My question is, do I simply disable future push notifications in native Mail, switch to Fetch (manual), and then add the account to Mailbox? What happens to the old mail already synced to my phone? Once I add the Gmail account to Mailbox, won't it sync old mail to that app too, thereby creating a second copy of all old email and wasting phone space?

To avoid having two copies of all old old emails, do I delete the account from native Mail and then add it again without push notifications? Or reformat the phone and start from zero?

The problem is I want to switch to Mailbox or Boxer without creating another copy of old emails.

Thanks.

 

[zerog46]

In the Email setting for your Gmail account just click on the Mail tab and turn it off. The your emails will no longer be on your phone. Add your alternative email app on and you should be good to go. Gmail also has a stand alone app.

 

[earthdude]

Thanks. But if I turned Mail off in my Gmail account settings (you meant in Settings>Mail>Accounts, right?), I won't be able to send photos, etc. using that account, right? For example, if I 'm in Photos and want to email a photo, it uses the native Mail, and would require a mail account, right?

In the Email setting for your Gmail account just click on the Mail tab and turn it off. The your emails will no longer be on your phone. Add your alternative email app on and you should be good to go. Gmail also has a stand alone app.

 

[zerog46]

Yes, that's the down side, once you go to send a pic it will then bring in your email.

I'm not sure if any of the other email client apps let you send pics I have never used any.

 

[earthdude]

Ok, thanks. I also noticed that my main Gmail account includes not only mail but also contacts and calendars. I'm not sure what would happen to contact and calendar synchronization if I disabled Push notifications, since iOS 7 doesn't seem to allow separate push settings for separate accounts. So push can either be off or on for the entire phone.

On the other hand I noticed that my Fetch settings are set to manually. Since I just learned that Gmail no longer allows free push notifications on the native iPhone Mail app, another solution would be to just just set Fetch settings to say "Every 30 Minutes".

Yes, that's the down side, once you go to send a pic it will then bring in your email.

I'm not sure if any of the other email client apps let you send pics I have never used any.