asked 2013-12-31 19:20:12 +0200
I've created a mail account on my Jolla, using POP3. Jolla retrived ALL (close to 2k) mails instead of just one week/month in the past.
Could we have a setting to limit the downloaded mails at new account creation? (Like IMAP4 or MsSync has it already)
answered 2014-01-01 18:38:25 +0200
Feature request: Have a "retrieve only last x days" limiter for POP3-type accounts.
That is not easy to implement, the POP3 protocol does not support the download of 'mail x days old' and also searching for mails with a certain age is not supported. In IMAP that is easy doable since it supports a "SEARCH SINCE date" on server side, which gives a list of new mails and that list can then be requested.
To implement that in POP3 it would mean the client would need to download first all messages (with TOP x y) it's possible to just get first couple of lines of the mail. Then would need to analyse/parse the mail header (search for sent date) and decide if the mail is too old to be shown.
I doubt this would improve the user experience (with many thousand mails in the inbox), since to process that on device is much slower and inefficient (and the more mails the longer it takes) than it can be done with IMAP on server side. And since it has to download part of the mail, it would also not help to save much data traffic (as mentioned before yes with "TOP x y", the amount of lines fetched can be reduced, but still more data traffic than just get a list of mail ids).
Easier would be to say, just download the mails with the 20 highest message-numbers. But I don't know if it's guaranteed that the message-numbers are according to age and if all POP3 server implement it the same way (e.g. oldest = highest number vs. 1 = oldest) and if the numbering is the same with each new session.
for reference:
RFC 1939 - POP3
RFC 3501 - IMAP
Feel free to send a patch to implement one or the other to https://qt.gitorious.org/qt-labs/messagingframework
Now we're talking, thanks :-)
Indeed the client would still need to download all headers, but then it won't download all the mails, and most importantly it won't show later "1749 unreaded mails" which I have no way to remove from the device and/or at least mark them "as read" (except one-by-one, but that's not a solution)
As said, this parser has been already implemented in Symbian, which, I guess, now open source of some sort, therefore can be re-used in Jolla, doesn't need to be implemented from scratch. It is possibly also in Maemo/Meego codebase.
CsTom ( 2014-01-01 18:45:39 +0200 )editAndroid (at least the 2.3.x I am currently still using on my other phone) has a setting "Show latest x messages" - with "x" configurable to 25, 50, 100, ... So this kind of setting shouldn't be too hard to do, I guess. Haven't read through the POP3 spec yet, though.
MMx ( 2014-01-06 17:01:27 +0200 )editanswered 2013-12-31 21:11:01 +0200
On your POP3 (pc) mail account have the setting: delivery - do not leave messages on server - or - delete after x days.
Then you won't have to download them on your phone.
Only the ones you have not read on your PC will be shown on your Jolla.
@karlefr: nope, I don't want to remove the mails from the server. They're there to be accessible from anywhere (via web), not only from my PC... This functionality I am requesting -- download only the last x days -- was there for Symbian and also Maemo/Meego (of course I have no clue how it works on iOS and Android :-) )
CsTom ( 2014-01-01 14:31:52 +0200 )editAsked: 2013-12-31 19:20:12 +0200
Seen: 804 times
Last updated: Jan 07 '14
the POP3 protocol and it's servers are not meant that mails are "stored" on the server, it's supposed that the email client downloads them each time it accesses the server.
Kontio ( 2013-12-31 19:50:13 +0200 )editWell, except when a primarily webmail provider has only POP3 access for "remote access". I doubt that I am the only one who don't want to download 2000 mails, just because "it's not supposed to be used like that". The World is big, and apparently it IS used like that.
CsTom ( 2013-12-31 20:53:27 +0200 )editCan you not set your mail account back up but as IMAP?, just a thought. I'm only familiar with POP. IMAP is the first offering when you go to set up a mail account.
Spam Hunter ( 2013-12-31 21:10:28 +0200 )edit@Markkyboy: Check my comment above... There is no IMAP.
CsTom ( 2014-01-01 14:26:55 +0200 )editSeems we have out wires crossed. When I set up email on my Jolla, the very first option it offers is IMAP, so I'm not sure why you don't have the same settings offered to you. Erm, yes, I read your comment, hence my answer.
Spam Hunter ( 2014-01-01 15:34:48 +0200 )edit