FAQ: How To Force BIS To Use IMAP For Gmail

If you are like me you will probably enjoy using IMAP for Gmail integration on your BlackBerry. I found that it has better syncronization of deleted and archived messages.

The problem is that the second you put in your email address and password into the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) form it automatically chooses to use POP3 and re-enables POP3 on your Gmail account. Pain in the…

So turns out I found this great set of instructions on how to force BIS to use IMAP to access your Gmail account instead of POP3. It might be a tad slower but the added benefits of deleted and filed content sync are worth it.

Check out the detailed instructions at this link on Google Help

9 total comments on this postSubmit your comment!
  1. Has the speed synchronization / delay in new mail arrival issue been resolved? I was seeing sizeable delays in both when using BB + Gmail + IMAP.

  2. Has anyone tried this setup method for anyother imap hosted domains to get the advantages of a true imap environment instead of pop3?

    I use my own domain on the bis and suffer from the pop3 nonsense… I might try connecting my account the gmail describes to access it via imap…

  3. With POP3 I had an issue that it would send me a copy of my sent message to the blackberry. Will this problem go away?

  4. Hi All,
    I am new to the BB world. Why use IMAP vs. pop? I currently use pop3 with gmail and have no issues. so why would I switch what are the benefits?

  5. @avremele:
    BIS will BCC yourself on every email sent if you enable that. You can disable it by removing your own email address from the BCC field in the email setup, but keep in mind you then lose any tracking of emails you’ve sent.

    @Tamer:
    IMAP synchronizes read emails, deleted email, sent email, etc. POP3 does not. So if you read an email on your PC in theory it shouldn’t show up as unread on your Blackberry.

    @Ronen:
    I thought there was a Gmail application for Blackberry???

    @niknud:
    Let us know. I have an address that can have POP3 or IMAP but of course BIS defaults it to POP3. If what you are trying works I may try switching it too. It is a Netaddress email account that is my primary home email, so the IMAP benefit would be nice. But I wonder what would happen if I also access it from my PC via Outlook???

  6. There is a gmail app for blackberry which allows full management of your mailbox. Can someone convince me its worthwhile using blackberry email instead? Why is it worth all the setup hassel? How would you manage your mailbox?

  7. Native GMail application doesn’t handle HTML emails nor inline images, as an example.

  8. Will Gmail delivery still be almost instant w/ IMAP? Right now I just have it set up through POP3 I am guessing, and I get my gmail almost immediately after it arrives in my inbox – sometimes even before. I do not want to give that up if IMAP will slow that down significantly.

  9. The Gmail app doesn’t integrate your gmails with the rest of your messaging, which for me would suck.

    IMAP Gmail (hosted domain) is instant on my Storm. For example, if I send an article to myself from Viigo it is arriving practically before I can hit ok and escape out of the article view. Seriously, I mean instant. On Verizon BIS.

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