Setting up the first email account

The first email account on your Android is your Gmail account, which is required in order to use an Android mobile gizmo. After that, you add email accounts as described in the next section, “Adding more email accounts.”

If your Android features an Email app, setting up the first email account works differently from when you’re adding additional accounts. You must know the email account’s sign-in (your email address) and password. When you have that information, follow these steps in the Email app to configure that first account:

1. Start the Email app.

   Look for it in the Apps drawer. If it’s not there, use the Gmail app instead, as described in the next section.

   The first screen you see is Set Up Account or Set Up Email. If you've already run the Email app, you're taken to the Email inbox and you can skip these steps. See the next section for information on adding additional accounts.

2. Type the email address you use for the account.

   For example, if you have a Comcast email account, use the onscreen keyboard to type your [email protected] email address in the Email Address box.

   Look for a .com (dot-com) key on the onscreen keyboard, which you can use to more efficiently type your email address.

3. Type the account’s password.

4. Tap the NEXT button or, if you can’t see that button, tap the Done button on the onscreen keyboard.

   If you’re lucky, everything is connected and you can move on to Step 5. Otherwise, you must specify the details as provided by your ISP. See the later section “Adding an account manually.”

5. Set account options.

   You might want to reset the Inbox Checking Frequency option to something other than 15 minutes. I recommend keeping the other items selected until you become familiar with how your Android handles email.

6. Tap the NEXT button.

7. Give the account a name and confirm your own name.

   For example, I name my primary email account Main because it’s my main account.

   The Your Name field shows your name as it’s applied to outgoing messages. So, if your name is really Annabelle Leigh Meriwether and not amer82, you can make that change now.

8. Tap the DONE button.

   You’re done.

After you configure the account, messages are immediately synchronized between the email service and your Android. Messages, new and already read, appear in the inbox. See the later section “You’ve Got Mail” for what to do next.

If you use Yahoo! Mail, get the Yahoo! Mail app, which handles your Yahoo! mail far better than the Email app (or the Gmail app). The Yahoo! Mail app gives you access to other Yahoo! features you may use and enjoy. Obtain the Yahoo! Mail app from Google Play. See Chapter 17.

Adding more email accounts

The Email app, as well as the newest version of Gmail, can be configured to pick up email from multiple sources. This feature allows you to collect all your Windows Live, Cox Cable, Yahoo!, and other messages to arrive in one app.

Both the Email and Gmail apps offer different ways to add a new email account. A more generic approach is to use the Settings app. Obey these directions:

1. Open the Settings app.

   It’s found in the Apps drawer.

2. Choose Users & Accounts.

   On some devices, this item is titled Accounts.

3. Tap the Add Account item.

   If you don’t see this item, first choose Accounts.

   In stock Android, the three options for adding email accounts are

   • Exchange or Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync: For a corporate email account hosted by an Exchange Server (Outlook mail)
   • Personal (IMAP): For web-based email accounts, such as Microsoft Live
   • Personal (POP3): For traditional, ISP-email accounts, such as Comcast

   See the later section “Adding a corporate email account” for information on the Exchange option. The other two options work pretty much the same. In fact, on some Androids you might see only a single option, Email.

4. Choose the proper Personal email account type.
5. Type your email address and tap the NEXT button.
6. Type the email account password and tap the NEXT button.

7. Continue working through the email setup as prompted on the screen.

   Most of the preset settings are okay, though feel free to change the account name and confirm that your name is listed properly for outgoing email. Also see the nearby sidebar, “Deleting email from the server.”

The new email account is synchronized immediately after it’s added, and you see the inbox. See the later section “Checking the inbox.”

• The big difference between creating the first email account and additional accounts is that you’re asked whether the account you just added is the primary or default account. See the later section “Setting the primary email account” for details.
• Some Androids may add the new email account to the Email app, but others may add the account to Gmail. The only way to tell is to look inside each app for the account’s email.

Adding an account manually

If your email account isn’t recognized, or some other boo-boo happens, you must manually add the account. The steps in the preceding sections remain the same, but you need to provide more specific and technical details. This information includes tidbits such as the server name, port address, domain name, and other incommodious details.

If you know trouble lies ahead, tap the MANUAL SETUP button when you choose to add a new account. Complete this step before you type your email address.

My advice is to contact your ISP or email provider: Look on their website for specific directions on connecting an Android device to their email account. Contact them directly if you cannot locate specific information.

The good news is that manual setup is very rare these days. Most ISPs and webmail accounts are added painlessly, as described in this chapter.

Adding a corporate email account

The easiest way to set up your evil corporation’s email on your Android is to have the IT people do it for you. Or you may be fortunate and you’ll find directions on the organization’s intranet. I present this tip because configuring corporate email, also known as Exchange Service email, can be an arduous and terrifying ordeal.

It’s possible to add the account on your own, but you still need detailed information. Specifically, you need to know the domain name, which may not be the same as the outfit’s website domain. Other details may be required as well.

Above all, you must apply a secure screen lock to access Outlook email. This means you need to add a PIN or password to the device, which is covered in Chapter 22. You cannot access the Exchange Server without that added level of security.

And there’s more!

You also need to grant Remote Security Administration privileges. This means your organization’s IT gurus will have the power to remotely wipe all information from your phone or tablet. You’re required to activate this feature, which is part of the setup process.

The bonus is that when you’re done, you’ll have full access to the Exchange Server info. That includes your email messages as well as the corporate address book and calendar. Refer to Chapter 7 for information on the address book app; the Calendar app is covered in Chapter 16.

Getting a new message

The arrival of a new email missive is heralded by a notification icon. Each email app generates its own version.

For a new Gmail message, the New Gmail notification, similar to the one shown in the margin, appears at the top of the touchscreen.

For a new email message, you see the New Email notification.

For email you receive from an Exchange Server, or corporate email, you see the New Exchange Mail notification.

Conjure the notifications drawer to review the email notifications. Tap a notification to be whisked to an inbox for instant reading.

Checking the inbox

To peruse your Gmail, start the Gmail app. The Gmail inbox is shown in Figure 9-1.

To choose a non-Gmail account, tap the account icon from the navigation drawer (refer to Figure 9-1). You can view only one account’s inbox at a time.

If your Android has an Email app, open it to view its inbox. You see a single account’s inbox, or you can choose to view the universal inbox, shown as Combined view in Figure 9-2.

• Gmail messages don’t show up in the Email app. Use the Gmail app to read your Google mail.

• To access the combined inbox in the Gmail app, tap the Side Menu icon and choose All Mail.
• Multiple email accounts are color-coded. When messages are presented in the combined inbox, you see the color codes to the left of each message.
• To view an individual account’s inbox, choose that account from the navigation drawer, as illustrated in Figures 9-1 and 9-2.

Reading email

To view a specific email message, tap its entry in the inbox. You can also choose the message’s notification to open and view its contents. Reading and working with a message operates much the same whether you’re using the Gmail or Email app:

• To read a message, use your finger to swipe it up or down.
• Swipe a message left or right to browse between messages.
• To return to the inbox, tap the left-pointing arrow or chevron at the top-left corner of the screen.

To work with the message, use the icons that appear above or below the message. These icons, which may not look exactly like those shown in the margin, cover common email actions:

• Reply: Tap this icon to reply to a message. A new message window appears with the To and Subject fields reflecting the original sender(s) and subject.
• Reply All: Tap this icon to respond to everyone who received the original message, including folks on the Cc line. Use this option only when everyone else must get a copy of your reply.
• Forward: Tap this icon to send a copy of the message to someone else.
• Delete: Tap this icon to delete a message.
• If you don’t see all these icons, look for them on the message’s Action Overflow. You can also try turning the device to a horizontal orientation.

Writing a message

Creating a new email message dispatch works similarly in both the Gmail and Email apps. The key is to locate the Compose icon. This icon is illustrated in both Figures 9-1 and 9-2.

After you tap the Compose icon, you’re presented with a new message card. Your job is to fill in the blanks, adding a recipient, subject, and message text. Figure 9-3 illustrates how a new message card might look. Its features should be familiar to you if you’ve ever written email on a computer.

To send the message, tap the Send icon, shown in the margin, or tap the SEND button.

• To select a specific email account for sending, tap the chevron or down arrow next to your name atop the new message card, shown in Figure 9-3. This choice might also be presented in the From field. In the Email app, you set the default email account when you add it, or as described in the later section “Setting the primary email account.”
• You need only type a few letters of the recipient’s name. Matching contacts are fetched instantly from the Android’s address book, and they appear in a list. Tap a contact to automatically fill in the To field.
• To view the CC and BCC fields, tap the chevron, shown in Figure 9-3. If that doesn’t work, tap Action Overflow or the MORE button and choose Add Cc/Bcc.
• To cancel a message, tap Action Overflow or the MORE button to choose Discard. This action might also be found on the Compose screen. Tap the DISCARD button or OK button to confirm.
• To save a message, tap Action Overflow and choose the Save Draft action. Drafts are saved in the Drafts folder. You can open unfinished email in that folder for further editing or sending.
• Save a message by choosing the Save Draft action from Action Overflow. Drafts are saved in the Drafts folder (or label, as Gmail calls them). You can open them there for further editing or sending.
• Some versions of the Email app feature a formatting toolbar. Use the toolbar to change the way the text looks in your message.

Sending email to a contact

A quick and easy way to compose a new message is to find a contact and then create a message with the contact as a recipient. Heed these steps:

1. Open the Android’s address book app.

   Refer to Chapter 7 for details on the address book app.

2. Locate the contact to whom you want to send an electronic message.
3. Tap the contact’s email address.

4. Choose Gmail to compose the message.

   You can also choose the Email app or another specific app, such as Yahoo! Mail or a custom email app you’ve obtained from Google Play.

At this point, creating the message works as described in the preceding section.

Receiving an attachment

Attachments are presented differently between the Gmail and Email apps, yet your goal is the same: to view or save the attachment. Sometimes you can do both!

Figure 9-4 shows both the Gmail app and Email app methods of presenting an email attachment. To deal with the attachment, tap it. In most cases, the attachment opens an appropriate app. For example, a PDF attachment might be opened by the Quickoffice app.

Potential actions you can perform with an attachment include

• Preview: Open the attachment for viewing.
• Save to Google Drive: Send a copy of the attachment to your Google Drive (cloud) storage.
• Save: Save the attachment to the device’s storage.
• Download Again: Fetch the attachment from the mail server.

As with email attachments received on a computer, you may discover that your Android lacks the app required to deal with the attachment. When an app can’t be found, you must either suffer not viewing the attachment or request that the attachment be resent in a common file format.

• Sometimes pictures included in an email message aren’t displayed. Tap the SHOW PICTURES button to see the images.
• Common image file formats include PNG and JPEG. Documents are shared by using the HTML (web page), DOCX (Microsoft Word), and PDF (Adobe Acrobat) file formats.
• You may see a prompt displayed when several apps can deal with the attachment. Choose one and tap the JUST THIS ONCE button to view the attachment. Also see Chapter 20 for information on the default app prompt.

• Attachments are saved in the Downloads folder. If your device features removable storage (the microSD card), the attachment is found in the Downloads folder on that storage media. See Chapter 19 for details on Android storage, including how to view downloaded files.

Sharing an attachment

To fully appreciate the Android operating system, you must accept that adding a message attachment in email doesn’t start in the Gmail or Email app. No, you start in the app that created the item you want to attach. Heed these steps:

1. Open the app that created the item you want to attach.

   Popular apps for sharing include Photos, Gallery, the web browser app, Maps, Play Store, Drive or any other cloud storage app, and so on.

2. View the item you want to share.

3. Tap the Share icon.

   You see a list of apps.

4. Choose the Gmail or Email app.

5. Complete the message as described earlier in this chapter.

   The item you’re sharing is automatically attached to the message or included as a link.

When you start a message and then discover that you need to attach something, fret not! Look for and tap the Attachment icon lurking somewhere on the Compose card, shown in Figure 9-3. This action might also appear as an ATTACH button. Choose the app or category and then select the item to share.

• The variety of items you can attach depends on which apps are installed on the phone or tablet.

• The Gmail and Email apps sometimes accept different types of attachments. So if you cannot attach something by using the Gmail app, try using the Email app instead.

Creating a signature

Don’t be one of the uninformed mobile users whose email signature is the same as everyone else’s. Why not set your own, unique signature? Here’s mine:

DAN
This was sent from my Android.
Typos, no matter how hilarious, are unintentional.

To create a custom signature for your email accounts, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.

   The App is found on the Apps drawer.

2. Choose Users & Accounts.

   On some Androids, this item is titled Accounts.

3. Tap an email account item.

   It may be titled Personal (IMAP), or Email — it doesn’t matter because you’re not really done yet.

4. Choose Account Settings.

   Now you see a list of email accounts, along with an item titled General Settings. This is the screen where you can modify general email behavior or change aspects of specific accounts.

5. Choose a specific email account from the left side of the screen.

6. Choose Signature.

   Any existing signature appears on the card, ready for you to edit or replace it.

7. Type or dictate your signature.
8. Tap OK when you’re done.

You can repeat these steps (5 through 8) for each of your email accounts, applying to each one a unique signature. Or you can select the signature you create in Step 7 and copy and paste that text into the other accounts’ signature cards.

If your device has the Email app, open it and follow these steps:

1. Tap the Side Menu icon to view the navigation drawer.
2. Choose Settings or tap the Settings icon.
3. Choose an account.
4. Choose Signature.
5. Type a new signature. Or edit and replace the existing signature.

The signature you set is appended automatically to all outgoing email you send.

Setting the primary email account

When you have more than one email account, the main account — the default — is the one used by the Email app to send messages. To change that primary mail account, follow these steps:

1. Start the Email app.
2. Tap the Side Menu icon.
3. Tap the Settings icon in the navigation drawer or choose Settings.
4. Tap Action Overflow and choose Set Default Account.
5. Choose an email account from the list and tap the DONE button.

The messages you compose and send in the Email app are sent from the account specified in Step 5.

In the Gmail app, choose the sending account by tapping the chevron next to the From field, as illustrated in Figure 9-3.