[doogald]

As with others, I have used both Gmail and an iCloud email address. Gmail remains my primary mail account, and the major reason is that Gmail remains much better about spam recognition. I also use Gmail filters to organize incoming mail, and I really like the Primary / Promotions / Updates / Forums automatic incoming mail sorting for non-Spam mail - it really cuts down on the number of notifications that I get.

One other thing: if you want an iCloud mail address just for email, that's fine. However, you cannot merge or transfer an Apple ID with a Gmail address to one with an iCloud email address unless you do so at the time that you create the account. See this page in particular if you are doing this to change your existing Apple ID to an iCloud email address.

[dmoskaluk]

What also may or may not be germaine to this subject is that if you wish to access iCloud mail through a 3rd party email client such as Spark or Airmail or Outlook, or any other than iOS 'mail', one needs to have and use two factor authentication with its plusses & minuses.

[Tartarus]

I have iCloud mail, Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo mail.
I use them for different purposes of which the iCloud mail is my official email address.

[Chuck_IV]

Problem with gmail is that you will take a hit on battery life depending on how frequent your fetch settings are.

The real problem is that Apple Mail doesn’t support push for Gmail. Apple needs to get on board with push again, like every other email client.

Since I use Gmail as my main email address, I am forwarding my Gmail to a Fastmail address I have and am getting push with that for the Apple Mail client.

I am testing Spark and while it works great on iOS, they drop the ball with their lack of a mail complication that works with the newer Apple Watch faces. So I am not sure yet whether I will stick with it or not.

I hate the Gmail client, mainly because it doesn’t have a watch complication at all.

[dmoskaluk]

The Spark / Gmail combination is very fast, approaching that of a true push protocol. Personally ( only) the Watch issue is not applicable to me.

[Lee_Bo]

The real problem is that Apple Mail doesn’t support push for Gmail. Apple needs to get on board with push again, like every other email client.

And Apple probably never will support Gmail push. First, there's not enough people who want it, and second, there's not enough people who want it. :-)

[Chuck_IV]

And Apple probably never will support Gmail push. First, there's not enough people who want it, and second, there's not enough people who want it. :-)

I think you forgot the /sarcasm cause if you really think that, do some searching on the internet.

[Lee_Bo]

I think you forgot the /sarcasm cause if you really think that, do some searching on the internet.

Oh I have researched. But apparently Apple doesn't think enough about it to make it happen.

Personally, I'm ok with it. I don't NEED my Gmail to arrive as soon as someone sends it. If it's that important, they can call me.

[doogald]

Gmail has a special push API, rather than supporting IMAP push, and I agree that it's unlikely that Apple will go out of their way to add Gmail's API to their mail app, most likely because they don't want to have to keep maintaining code if Google changes their API, and also discourage other mail providers from using a proprietary push method. Basically Apple is telling Google: support the existing standard, or there will be no push mail on our app.

As others have said, there are workarounds if push is a critical need (e.g., auto-forward mail to an account that does push, switch to a mail provider that does support push, switch to a third party email app that supports Gmail push, and live with any limitations these bring, since push is critical and more important than the limitations.)

[FFR]

The real problem is that Apple Mail doesn’t support push for Gmail. Apple needs to get on board with push again, like every other email client.

Since I use Gmail as my main email address, I am forwarding my Gmail to a Fastmail address I have and am getting push with that for the Apple Mail client.

I am testing Spark and while it works great on iOS, they drop the ball with their lack of a mail complication that works with the newer Apple Watch faces. So I am not sure yet whether I will stick with it or not.

I hate the Gmail client, mainly because it doesn’t have a watch complication at all.

Apple mail supports push for every other email provider using the standard imap protocol.

Perhaps google just wants iPhone users to download their app.

[Lee_Bo]

Yeah, while the Gmail app supports push, nobody seems to want to use it. Apple just doesn’t allow push via their mail app.

[dmoskaluk]

If I send a Gmail to myself, from Spark, the time difference between it being received in Spark, vs the Gmail app which I have but don't use, is miniscule ie less than 5 seconds but Gmail app gets it first. No big deal but Sparks presentation is far cleaner and the handling of folders is intuitive and slick. Apple Watch issues are beyond my pay grade though...

[Wotchered]

I use icloud mail for most things, and yahoo for anything I don’t care about. I don’t use G for any thing apart from browsing, and if I had I would have dropped it after it’s invasive lying attempts to get me to sign up to Gmail plus,a campaign that irritated the (insert rudery) out of me for about three months !

[doogald]

Yeah, while the Gmail app supports push, nobody seems to want to use it. Apple just doesn’t allow push via their mail app.

I use the Gmail app. It's only for the push notifications - when I get a notification, I use the stock Mail app to actually read the message.

The answer to the no push for Gmail is that Google will not implement the standard IMAP push protocol that everyone else uses, and instead use a proprietary push protocol. Apple obviously has chosen not to implement it, probably because it makes the mail app more complex - if Google changes the API, then Apple must rush a fix to the Mail app, meaning a full iOS release. Also Apple probably wants to discourage other mail providers from implementing a proprietary protocol.

I fix the blame mostly on Google for this one, but Apple shares some of it. I think that Google is not going to change their protocol all that much, and they are the largest mail provider on the internet, if I am not mistaken.

[FFR]

I use the Gmail app. It's only for the push notifications - when I get a notification, I use the stock Mail app to actually read the message.

The answer to the no push for Gmail is that Google will not implement the standard IMAP push protocol that everyone else uses, and instead use a proprietary push protocol. Apple obviously has chosen not to implement it, probably because it makes the mail app more complex - if Google changes the API, then Apple must rush a fix to the Mail app, meaning a full iOS release. Also Apple probably wants to discourage other mail providers from implementing a proprietary protocol.

I fix the blame mostly on Google for this one, but Apple shares some of it. I think that Google is not going to change their protocol all that much, and they are the largest mail provider on the internet, if I am not mistaken.

Google is doing something dodgy since paying customers do get access to the imap protocol and thus access to push email and better battery life.

The proprietary protocol is only reserved for non-paying gmail customers, and if those customers want push they are required to install the google app on their iphone or pay up.

If the proprietary protocol was indeed better than imap, google wouldn’t be offering it for free and charging for imap, that would be illogical.

[trw1602]

Gmail and GSuite in Spark in iOS and Chrome on my Macs.

Gmail is truly extensible and allows me a way to process my email quickly as well as setup a CRM for different projects and contacts.

I have iCloud accounts I just never use them