The wait is over, folks. Gmail finally gets IMAP support! Many of us have waited a very long time for this feature. Personally I thought this would never happen, since this will take away users from the web-based Gmail interface, which is where Google makes money from adsense.

Gmail IMAP settings

Screenshot taken from DownloadSquad

This setting is supposed to be under “Forwarding and POP/IMAP” in Gmail’s settings page, as seen in the screenshot above. There is also a video that shows how to integrate Gmail IMAP with an iPhone:

This is for real folks. You can check out the official Gmail what’s new page and confirm. Other help pages are also available, like Getting Started with IMAP for Gmail, an IMAP client to Gmail client action chart, and the Supported IMAP Client List. Ahhhh, Thunderbird. :D

This quite a significant leap for Gmail. It means that users are no longer restricted to viewing Gmail e-mails using the web interface. Instead, we can now use our favorite e-mail reader (e.g. Thunderbird, Outlook) and anything we do (such as reading, deleting, and even marking emails as spam!) will be synchronized with our online account and in any other machine where we have an IMAP-enabled reader setup.

Taken from the Getting Started with IMAP for Gmail page:

What is IMAP?

IMAP, or Internet Message Access Protocol, lets you download messages from Gmail’s servers onto your computer so you can access your mail with a program like Microsoft Outlook Express or Apple Mail, even when you aren’t connected to the Internet.

IMAP creates a constant connection between mail clients (desktop and/or mobile) and Gmail.

They go on to mention that custom Gmail labels will appear in IMAP clients (like Outlook and Thunderbird) as folders, with copies of the messages to which you’ve applied those labels.

I haven’t been able to test this yet, so while waiting for my account to get this feature enabled I just can’t help but wonder about two things:

  • How will Gmail make money now?
  • Will they start inserting ads into IMAP-downloaded e-mails?
  • What’s next for Gmail, now that it already has all of the “necessary” features?
  • … and: how much bigger will my Gmail account get? :D

Just not so long ago Gmail upped the rate at which space gets. My Gmail currently says that I have 4.356 Gigabytes of free space. At this rate it has been predicted that Gmail will reach 6 Gigabytes by January 2008. Gmail has really proved that something as simple as email can become very exciting indeed.

Reference:
Gmail gets IMAP - Download Squad

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