Merlin Mann has been positing that at some point Google and Apple will (or at least should) join forces to bring the power of Google's online apps (Gmail, Docs, etc) to the iPhone. While of course you can access your Gmail account on an iPhone through the mobile interface (which was recently improved), it's a decidedly un-iPhone experience. Enter iGmail - an Ruby on Rails application with a name that will almost certainly be forced to change by Google's lawyers.
iGmail is a simple view on your Gmail inbox, formatted to match the iPhone's native applications. You can try it yourself directly using their demo installation, however keep in mind that you're giving your Google ID and password to a third party.
iGmail is very pretty, but is definitely missing a lot of important features. For example, the current Todo list from the developer includes adding support for starring / unstarring messages, managing labels and contacts, and composing messages using JKeyboard.
Being that this is a Ruby on Rails application, to run it yourself you're going to need a web server that can run Ruby applications. For some people this will be a show-stopper, but if that's the case maybe you can seek out a friend with server space that is willing to let you access your email on the go using this method.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-01-2007 @ 8:16AM
Andrew Nesbitt said...
Here's a cheap and easy guide to setting up a ruby on rails webserver so you can run this: http://teabass.com/easier-ruby-on-rails-deployment-with-slicehost/
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10-01-2007 @ 8:16AM
Ryan Schmidt said...
I am still hoping for one of the geniuses out there to work up a 3rd party "iGmail". It's gotta be possible!
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10-01-2007 @ 8:18AM
Mo said...
The demo doesn't work for me with a Google Apps for Your Domain account (even though other GMail integration things, such as MailPlane, do). It just dumps me back at the login screen.
Gmail with a MobileMail interface would be the Mecca of Web 2.0 apps for the iPod Touch…
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10-01-2007 @ 9:08AM
Jesse Wilkins said...
Um....why couldn't you just set up GMail as a native email account? That's what I did and I see my GMail messages in the iPhone email app...it was even easier for me as I already had GMail set up in Outlook, so when I did the first sync GMail came along for the ride.
Now about that 1.1.1 --> 1.0.2 downgrade.... :D
-j.
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10-01-2007 @ 9:12AM
burr said...
Why not just go to http://m.gmail.com and skip all of the nonsense of installing your own app?
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10-01-2007 @ 9:38AM
jrflesch said...
@#4
i agree. Why not use POP3 with the smtp that they give out??? i am still confused for the need of such an application as posted?
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10-01-2007 @ 10:25AM
Kevin said...
Google recently (in the last week, I believe) updated GMail to look and function just beautifully on my iPhone. Why bother with all this other stuff?
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10-01-2007 @ 11:02AM
Tankko said...
Wow, it's so amazing that people will willingly give up there gmail account and password to an unknown 3rd party. Do you people have any understanding of what they can do with that information...not to mention all the private information you're exposing from people that send you email. Shame on TUAW for for glossing over this issue with just a "however, keep in mind". Come on. Don't encourage people to do this.
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10-02-2007 @ 1:46AM
Dan said...
@#4 & 6.
I agree. I have set up Gmail on may Powerbook in Mail. When I synced my iPhone to my Mac it was already showing up in the mail program on the iPhone.
I personally do not like webmail. I prefer to use a mail client on my computer that shows me all of my mail accounts.
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