Your statement is easy to say today, if someone was deciding which email service to start using. However I started with gmail many years ago and have too many contacts out there to change and lose a good number of contacts.
Exporting Gmail contacts
You can quickly export your Gmail Contacts list into a CSV file. Here's how:
Sign in to Gmail.
Click Gmail at the top-left corner of your Gmail page, then choose Contacts.
From the More actions drop-down menu, select Export....
Choose whether to export all contacts or only one group.
Select the format in which you'd like to export your contacts' information. Please note, some of these formats can lose some contact information.
To transfer contacts between Google accounts, use the Google CSV format. This is the recommended way to back up your Google Contacts.
To transfer contacts to Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, or various other apps, use the Outlook CSV format.
To transfer contacts to Apple Address Book, use the vCard format.
Click Export.
Choose Save to Disk then click OK.
Select a location to save your file, and click OK.
Depending on the requirements of the program to which you're exporting your contacts from Gmail, you can easily edit the file to fit your needs.
This is probably a good thing. The more people who are freed from the Goog, the better IMHO. Sometimes they just need a little push and this might be it.
One thing I might mention to the new .icloud email users is remember you can set up a few aliases to help with Spam/One Night Girlfriend mail control etc
I can't recommend iCloud email enough. Fast, easy to use and no violating of your privacy like Google does.
It can be accessed via the web just like Gmail if for some reason you don't want to use your iPhone anymore in the future.
More and more it seems like Google is exposing iOS's Achille's heel-very many iOS users rely on Google apps for core services like email. Google, at will, can handicap those services for iOS users, potentially pushing them even further to Android if they want the full breadth of those services' features. Unfortunately, Apple must allow these Google apps into the App Store or potentially face anti-competition charges.
It remains to be seen if iOS users will give up Google services like GMail and keep Apple hardware. Will they keep using Google's core services and abandon their iPhones because their beloved service is compromised on iOS devices? The more Google can get between iOS users and their hardware, the more the value proposition of iOS and Apple hardware comes into question.
I'm not a sky-is-falling Apple fan, but I do think Apple could use a strategy to defend against these maneuvers. Also, personally, I do not have email pushed to my iPhone, as it drains battery life. But many others, especially Blackberry converts, live and die by push email.
I still have exchange for the sh*tty gmail address I try to fill with spam by using it as no more than an account for registering for things.
I've had it since the invite only days, it's like a timeline of spam methods.
Bing and outlook.com are becoming better replacements every day and I have my iCloud accounts as well.
I still have a gmail account, but no longer have it set up on my devices. It forwards to my iCloud. Google doing this is shooting themselves in the foot, it will only make iOS users flock to iCloud for email. For novices this is good, one password for iCloud and AppStore there isn't anything else for them to remember.
I used to love gmail, but with this, and the fact they're putting CalDAV (open calendar standard) on notice, and killing reader, forcing me to combine my Gmail and YouTube accounts, and hassling me to use my real name for YouTube, and trying to force me into G well, no thanks.
My Tom Tom GPS app, and Metroview, and Sygic, and others, all access the phones address book. And Apple maps of course. So I can easily navigate to contacts addresses in my phone. Google Maps? No dice. I have to upload my address book to gmail, then sign into the maps app with my real-name gmail YouTube account. I'm not a tin foil hat paranoid (I am on Facebook after all) but Google is really making me want to flee as far as I can.
I totally despise Bing like there is no tomorrow, yet I'm actually thinking about trying to use it for awhile. Scary stuff.
At least with Apple, they offer iCloud free, paid for from the profit of the iOS device you bought. I trust this, for now. Apple makes their profit from selling hardware and software.
Well I just set up my iCloud email account. No idea why I didn't do it earlier. I didn't realize how simple it would be AND that there is nice, clean archive support. One of the reasons why I liked Gmail was its clean archival system. Now I gotta start changing emails for a million different websites
No you don't, you can keep the Google one active, I've got 7 email addresses syncing to my iPhone, some I barely use, like a 15 year old Yahoo address.
Your website logins stay the same, you can still receive password resets, etc if required.
Why would anyone want to pay such enormous fees when there is a perfectly good free open source UNIX alternative which is how GMail actually pushes to any client app that supports it, like Apple Mail. Currently iOS Mail does not support IDLE making it incapable of receiving the iMAP push open source protocol Google is using.
In Germany Apple cannot push iCloud email to iPhones due to Google (via Motorola) obtaining an injunction over patents they hold concerning this very thing.
So it seems IDLE is not an option, well in Germany anyway, so much for "open".
I have a Google Apps account since I use a private (vanity) domain for my email address. I would gladly switch from Google to Yahoo! if Yahoo! had something similar.
I too have my own domain name and use the e-mail accounts provided as part of the package. No other service required so Apple's Mail client works just fine for me.
More and more it seems like Google is exposing iOS's Achille's heel-very many iOS users rely on Google apps for core services like email. Google, at will, can handicap those services for iOS users, potentially pushing them even further to Android if they want the full breadth of those services' features. Unfortunately, Apple must allow these Google apps into the App Store or potentially face anti-competition charges.
It remains to be seen if iOS users will give up Google services like GMail and keep Apple hardware. Will they keep using Google's core services and abandon their iPhones because their beloved service is compromised on iOS devices? The more Google can get between iOS users and their hardware, the more the value proposition of iOS and Apple hardware comes into question.
I'm not a sky-is-falling Apple fan, but I do think Apple could use a strategy to defend against these maneuvers. Also, personally, I do not have email pushed to my iPhone, as it drains battery life. But many others, especially Blackberry converts, live and die by push email.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
iCloud sure doesn't exist. Nor do any other e-mail providers.
Not really.
Does it? Really?
Not really. Just stop using Google's stuff.
It's called iCloud and Apple Maps and all the other services they've created as of late.
Ever since November last year I have been slowly cutting the cord on Google for a few reasons - 1) I want to give them less of my data and would rather give it to apple, 2) for reasons such as this - free is not really free and it can be readily taken away once drawn in.
Im relying almost entirely on icloud now. The only thing I have left to do is find a good replacement for Google Reader. I still use google's search for now, but i dont ever login anymore to use their services (with the exception of Reader, obviously). If anything, the removal of these "freemium" services and their lack of attention to the user has pushed me more and more towards apple services. It has had the opposite effect for me from which you describe, Carthusia.
The real question is, though, is how many will switch over to apple's icloud service or some other competing service and be done with Google? For all I know I may be the 1 in every 10 that is doing so.
I quite like Gmail's tags focussed design (rather than folders), excellent spam detection, efficient user interface, conversation view, minimally intrusive ads and (until now) native support for all my devices.
I'd be interested to know about any other free email services that provide a better experience.
I used to use the labels/tags all the time in gmail, but then my habits turned more to archive and search instead of tagging/autotagging. I realized I never really used the tags to find older emails. I almost always searched for them. So yeah, the labels are nice, but not necessary in my day to day workflow. Apple's mail does have folders, but I still prefer just to send it all to the archive after im done with it and if I need it later, just search for it. At the end of the day, those labels were just a specialized search anyway. GMails spam detection was amazing. However, I have been using iCloud for 6 months now and have not seen a spam email in my inbox at all. Id say it is very comparable to Gmail's (cant say for sure though as Gmail has a bigger track record - 10 years for me). Gmails interface is probably the best web interface out there. Id say iCloud is up there - tied or a close second. It is pretty easy to use once you get used to it. Apple's mail also provides the conversation view, which is one of those things that I really enjoyed about gmail and wouldnt want to compromise on. Apple's email is very comparable to gmail, but it does have its differences. Those differences were not enough to deter me from switching. The biggest deterrent though for some is probably the uptime. Apple's email uptime has not been as good as google's, but I have only noticed because of the news/media reporting on it. When was their last outage? About this time last year?
One cool thing ive started to use in icloud mail is the email address aliases (gmail probably has them too, but didnt really think about it until i switched). My main email address i only give out to my closest friends and family. I have a services email address for all the services I sign up for (banks, credit cards, gaming accounts, etc). I also create 1 off addresses for services i dont really want emails from but require it for sign up and to receive the verification email - then i just delete the alias after i receive that.
The biggest thing I like about icloud (all the services) is the level of integration in all their hardware products (iphone, ipod, ipad, apple tv, macs). In my opinion, nothing beats it yet.
No you don't, you can keep the Google one active, I've got 7 email addresses syncing to my iPhone, some I barely use, like a 15 year old Yahoo address.
Your website logins stay the same, you can still receive password resets, etc if required.
The point is that I eventually intend to completely shut down my Gmail account.
If Apple would support IMAP-PUSH we could get push through the standard IMAP protocol instead of needing the proprietary exchange Active-Sync protocol. Google supports IMAP-PUSH. Apple does not. They just need to implement that now that Active-Sync is not available for new devices on gmail.
This change has nothing to do with push notifications. It has to do with push mail, which is a Exchange Server feature. (It allows mail to be pushed to all devices the moment it hits the server as opposed to the email client pulling - or fetching - new mail on a set schedule.)
Push notifications for Gmail will continue to work on iOS devices whenever new mail is received (or fetched). This is how Yahoo and Hotmail and all other IMAP-based mail services function.
If Apple would support IMAP-PUSH we could get push through the standard IMAP protocol instead of needing the proprietary exchange Active-Sync protocol. Google supports IMAP-PUSH. Apple does not. They just need to implement that now that Active-Sync is not available for new devices on gmail.
Why? There are alternatives to Gmail and there is a Gmail client for iOS.
The problem here is primarily with Apple not Google (though Google should never have supported push email via the stupid Exchange protocol in the first place). Google mail's IMAP has supported IDLE (IMAP's implementation of push notifications) for years now, the problem is Apple's iOS Mail app doesn't support IDLE and so had to use the Google Exchange hack instead. Now that that's been dropped Apple's users are hurting.
The solution is for Apple to implement IDLE support in iOS Mail and thus give users access to push email for any IMAP service that supports IDLE, not just Google.
Actually that's a great explanation. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks. My thoughts are similar to yours. I will consider migrating to icloud (i already have a silent account). I also like the aliases feature for iCloud. There is great service for throwaway emails run by tenminutemail - the account requires no setup and lasts just long enough to activate the link before self destructing. Perfect for signups that you know will spam you hard.
I used to use the labels/tags all the time in gmail, but then my habits turned more to archive and search instead of tagging/autotagging. I realized I never really used the tags to find older emails. I almost always searched for them. So yeah, the labels are nice, but not necessary in my day to day workflow. Apple's mail does have folders, but I still prefer just to send it all to the archive after im done with it and if I need it later, just search for it. At the end of the day, those labels were just a specialized search anyway. GMails spam detection was amazing. However, I have been using iCloud for 6 months now and have not seen a spam email in my inbox at all. Id say it is very comparable to Gmail's (cant say for sure though as Gmail has a bigger track record - 10 years for me). Gmails interface is probably the best web interface out there. Id say iCloud is up there - tied or a close second. It is pretty easy to use once you get used to it. Apple's mail also provides the conversation view, which is one of those things that I really enjoyed about gmail and wouldnt want to compromise on. Apple's email is very comparable to gmail, but it does have its differences. Those differences were not enough to deter me from switching. The biggest deterrent though for some is probably the uptime. Apple's email uptime has not been as good as google's, but I have only noticed because of the news/media reporting on it. When was their last outage? About this time last year?
One cool thing ive started to use in icloud mail is the email address aliases (gmail probably has them too, but didnt really think about it until i switched). My main email address i only give out to my closest friends and family. I have a services email address for all the services I sign up for (banks, credit cards, gaming accounts, etc). I also create 1 off addresses for services i dont really want emails from but require it for sign up and to receive the verification email - then i just delete the alias after i receive that.
The biggest thing I like about icloud (all the services) is the level of integration in all their hardware products (iphone, ipod, ipad, apple tv, macs). In my opinion, nothing beats it yet.
Comments
Exporting Gmail contacts
You can quickly export your Gmail Contacts list into a CSV file. Here's how:
Depending on the requirements of the program to which you're exporting your contacts from Gmail, you can easily edit the file to fit your needs.
http://support.google.com/mail/answer/24911?hl=en
This is probably a good thing. The more people who are freed from the Goog, the better IMHO. Sometimes they just need a little push and this might be it.
One thing I might mention to the new .icloud email users is remember you can set up a few aliases to help with Spam/One Night Girlfriend mail control etc
I can't recommend iCloud email enough. Fast, easy to use and no violating of your privacy like Google does.
It can be accessed via the web just like Gmail if for some reason you don't want to use your iPhone anymore in the future.
What is not to like?
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBook Pro
Exporting Gmail contacts
You can quickly export your Gmail Contacts list into a CSV file. Here's how:
Sign in to Gmail.
Click Gmail at the top-left corner of your Gmail page, then choose Contacts.
From the More actions drop-down menu, select Export....
Choose whether to export all contacts or only one group.
Select the format in which you'd like to export your contacts' information. Please note, some of these formats can lose some contact information.
To transfer contacts between Google accounts, use the Google CSV format. This is the recommended way to back up your Google Contacts.
To transfer contacts to Outlook, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, or various other apps, use the Outlook CSV format.
To transfer contacts to Apple Address Book, use the vCard format.
Click Export.
Choose Save to Disk then click OK.
Select a location to save your file, and click OK.
Depending on the requirements of the program to which you're exporting your contacts from Gmail, you can easily edit the file to fit your needs.
http://support.google.com/mail/answer/24911?hl=en
..and remember to set up an Auto Reply on Gmail as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carthusia
More and more it seems like Google is exposing iOS's Achille's heel-very many iOS users rely on Google apps for core services like email. Google, at will, can handicap those services for iOS users, potentially pushing them even further to Android if they want the full breadth of those services' features. Unfortunately, Apple must allow these Google apps into the App Store or potentially face anti-competition charges.
It remains to be seen if iOS users will give up Google services like GMail and keep Apple hardware. Will they keep using Google's core services and abandon their iPhones because their beloved service is compromised on iOS devices? The more Google can get between iOS users and their hardware, the more the value proposition of iOS and Apple hardware comes into question.
I'm not a sky-is-falling Apple fan, but I do think Apple could use a strategy to defend against these maneuvers. Also, personally, I do not have email pushed to my iPhone, as it drains battery life. But many others, especially Blackberry converts, live and die by push email.
I still have exchange for the sh*tty gmail address I try to fill with spam by using it as no more than an account for registering for things.
I've had it since the invite only days, it's like a timeline of spam methods.
Bing and outlook.com are becoming better replacements every day and I have my iCloud accounts as well.
I used to love gmail, but with this, and the fact they're putting CalDAV (open calendar standard) on notice, and killing reader, forcing me to combine my Gmail and YouTube accounts, and hassling me to use my real name for YouTube, and trying to force me into G well, no thanks.
My Tom Tom GPS app, and Metroview, and Sygic, and others, all access the phones address book. And Apple maps of course. So I can easily navigate to contacts addresses in my phone. Google Maps? No dice. I have to upload my address book to gmail, then sign into the maps app with my real-name gmail YouTube account. I'm not a tin foil hat paranoid (I am on Facebook after all) but Google is really making me want to flee as far as I can.
I totally despise Bing like there is no tomorrow, yet I'm actually thinking about trying to use it for awhile. Scary stuff.
At least with Apple, they offer iCloud free, paid for from the profit of the iOS device you bought. I trust this, for now. Apple makes their profit from selling hardware and software.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sporlo
Well I just set up my iCloud email account. No idea why I didn't do it earlier. I didn't realize how simple it would be AND that there is nice, clean archive support. One of the reasons why I liked Gmail was its clean archival system. Now I gotta start changing emails for a million different websites
No you don't, you can keep the Google one active, I've got 7 email addresses syncing to my iPhone, some I barely use, like a 15 year old Yahoo address.
Your website logins stay the same, you can still receive password resets, etc if required.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Why would anyone want to pay such enormous fees when there is a perfectly good free open source UNIX alternative which is how GMail actually pushes to any client app that supports it, like Apple Mail. Currently iOS Mail does not support IDLE making it incapable of receiving the iMAP push open source protocol Google is using.
In Germany Apple cannot push iCloud email to iPhones due to Google (via Motorola) obtaining an injunction over patents they hold concerning this very thing.
So it seems IDLE is not an option, well in Germany anyway, so much for "open".
It works fine everywhere else.
Gmail to follow ?
Thanks for letting us know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by morganhighley
I have a Google Apps account since I use a private (vanity) domain for my email address. I would gladly switch from Google to Yahoo! if Yahoo! had something similar.
I too have my own domain name and use the e-mail accounts provided as part of the package. No other service required so Apple's Mail client works just fine for me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carthusia
More and more it seems like Google is exposing iOS's Achille's heel-very many iOS users rely on Google apps for core services like email. Google, at will, can handicap those services for iOS users, potentially pushing them even further to Android if they want the full breadth of those services' features. Unfortunately, Apple must allow these Google apps into the App Store or potentially face anti-competition charges.
It remains to be seen if iOS users will give up Google services like GMail and keep Apple hardware. Will they keep using Google's core services and abandon their iPhones because their beloved service is compromised on iOS devices? The more Google can get between iOS users and their hardware, the more the value proposition of iOS and Apple hardware comes into question.
I'm not a sky-is-falling Apple fan, but I do think Apple could use a strategy to defend against these maneuvers. Also, personally, I do not have email pushed to my iPhone, as it drains battery life. But many others, especially Blackberry converts, live and die by push email.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
iCloud sure doesn't exist. Nor do any other e-mail providers.
Not really.
Does it? Really?
Not really. Just stop using Google's stuff.
It's called iCloud and Apple Maps and all the other services they've created as of late.
Ever since November last year I have been slowly cutting the cord on Google for a few reasons - 1) I want to give them less of my data and would rather give it to apple, 2) for reasons such as this - free is not really free and it can be readily taken away once drawn in.
Im relying almost entirely on icloud now. The only thing I have left to do is find a good replacement for Google Reader. I still use google's search for now, but i dont ever login anymore to use their services (with the exception of Reader, obviously). If anything, the removal of these "freemium" services and their lack of attention to the user has pushed me more and more towards apple services. It has had the opposite effect for me from which you describe, Carthusia.
The real question is, though, is how many will switch over to apple's icloud service or some other competing service and be done with Google? For all I know I may be the 1 in every 10 that is doing so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunks
I quite like Gmail's tags focussed design (rather than folders), excellent spam detection, efficient user interface, conversation view, minimally intrusive ads and (until now) native support for all my devices.
I'd be interested to know about any other free email services that provide a better experience.
I used to use the labels/tags all the time in gmail, but then my habits turned more to archive and search instead of tagging/autotagging. I realized I never really used the tags to find older emails. I almost always searched for them. So yeah, the labels are nice, but not necessary in my day to day workflow. Apple's mail does have folders, but I still prefer just to send it all to the archive after im done with it and if I need it later, just search for it. At the end of the day, those labels were just a specialized search anyway. GMails spam detection was amazing. However, I have been using iCloud for 6 months now and have not seen a spam email in my inbox at all. Id say it is very comparable to Gmail's (cant say for sure though as Gmail has a bigger track record - 10 years for me). Gmails interface is probably the best web interface out there. Id say iCloud is up there - tied or a close second. It is pretty easy to use once you get used to it. Apple's mail also provides the conversation view, which is one of those things that I really enjoyed about gmail and wouldnt want to compromise on. Apple's email is very comparable to gmail, but it does have its differences. Those differences were not enough to deter me from switching. The biggest deterrent though for some is probably the uptime. Apple's email uptime has not been as good as google's, but I have only noticed because of the news/media reporting on it. When was their last outage? About this time last year?
One cool thing ive started to use in icloud mail is the email address aliases (gmail probably has them too, but didnt really think about it until i switched). My main email address i only give out to my closest friends and family. I have a services email address for all the services I sign up for (banks, credit cards, gaming accounts, etc). I also create 1 off addresses for services i dont really want emails from but require it for sign up and to receive the verification email - then i just delete the alias after i receive that.
The biggest thing I like about icloud (all the services) is the level of integration in all their hardware products (iphone, ipod, ipad, apple tv, macs). In my opinion, nothing beats it yet.
The point is that I eventually intend to completely shut down my Gmail account.
Oh wow...I had no idea they were changing this. Looks like I upgraded just in time! Got my iP5 on Jan. 23rd.
Push notifications for Gmail will continue to work on iOS devices whenever new mail is received (or fetched). This is how Yahoo and Hotmail and all other IMAP-based mail services function.
Why? There are alternatives to Gmail and there is a Gmail client for iOS.
Actually that's a great explanation. Thanks for sharing.
.