yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android Apps and Games] ianmacd:
Your question makes me feel like a bit of a dinosaur. For the past 25+ years, I've been entering POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP server details into e-mail clients, so the idea that openly displaying the fields that allow one to do this would be seen as complicated, let alone so complex that they put some people off the app and lead them to leave a bad review is a bit bemusing to me. Then again, if you've only ever used GMail before, then perhaps it is daunting to see settings whose meaning and relevance you don't understand.

I think you probably have the manual set-up in the right place, but under a slightly misleading heading: Start. All of your headings consist of a single word, so in keeping with that, I would suggest Accounts.

Alternatively, you could move that screen out of Settings and make it its own entry in the sidebar menu. I've seen other clients that separate account creation/configuration from other settings in this way. Whether that's intuitive, though, probably depends on whether you've encountered the paradigm before.

In my own case, it was primarily the Start name that confused me; in combination with the choice to prominently number the steps on that screen:

Add accounts

Grant permissions

Disable battery optimisations

These 3 steps are presented to the user to follow the first time the app is started. Steps 2 and 3 even get a tick next to them after completion, and their buttons greyed out to indicate that the steps do not need to be repeated.

By association, this led me to falsely commit step 1 to memory as something in the same category, namely a stage I would not need to return to. In combination with the name of that tab, Start, this caused me to look pretty much everywhere else first when I later needed to edit the account settings, since I knew that this was no longer a "start", and I remembered the components on that screen as being permissions and such, which are typically a one-time grant on Android.

It's not a big issue, of course. Everyone will eventually figure it out, but since you mentioned that some others had not realised that the manual set-up text was actually an expandable panel, I thought I'd chime in with my own experience of that screen.

By the way, thank you for making the legend so easily accessible. FairEmail contains a lot of icons, many of whose meanings are obvious, but a few of which are not. Being able to get straight to a brief cheat sheet without scrolling through pages of help text to find the right section is great for someone who hasn't learned all of the meanings yet.

The only thing that isn't obvious to me now is the meaning of some of the parameters displayed in the square brackets of entries in the Operations screen, particularly the Boolean parameters. If it's documented somewhere, I've missed it.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
In earlier versions 'Start' was 'Main'. Would that be clearer?

The operation parameters are for debugging purposes, so not really documented. Sometimes they are useful though, which is why they are being shown.

Edit: how about changing "Manual setup and more options" into "Manual setup and more account options" ?
[Android Apps and Games] ianmacd:
Personally, I think Main is only slightly better than Start. I think changing more options to more account options is a good improvement, though.

While I have your attention, I have another suggestion for an improvement.

I can swipe left or right on individual messages from the mailbox view, but as soon as I long-press a message to enter multi-select mode, I can no longer swipe. Now I have to tap the floating circle and select an action from the menu that appears. It would be more convenient for deletion and archival to allow swiping from within multi-select mode, too. The workflow would be more fluid that way.
[Android Apps and Games] fraschi51:
In my opinion, the heading 'Start' does not really make sense at this point - I have therefore translated it in the German translation into 'Haupteinstellungen', in English 'Main-settings'.

I also like 'more account options'.

Moving in multi-select mode can be quite dangerous, so I would rather do without it.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Long pressing starts multiple selection. Swiping a selection is not supported by Android, probably because it is not a good idea.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Version 1.1521 is available on GitHub now.

Changelog/download:

https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/releases

The settings tab titles are a bit smaller, except 'Main'. I like to hear opinions about this.

'Manual setup and more account options' uses a drop-down icon now.

You can copy a local note by long pressing the notes button (you can enable it in the button selector via the horizontal three-dots menu). Also, the keyboard will be shown right away when adding a local note.
[Android Apps and Games] heinhuiz:
Why don't you use a right arrow when the menu is closed and a down arrow when it is expanded? Github does that for the 'Assets' drop down and it seems quite natural to me.

Maybe you can even use frame borders around the expanded menu. And I think you can remove the underline in the menu title, at least when it is expanded (but like mentioned before by someone, it looks like an external link).
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
The underlining will be removed in the next version.

I think a down arrow is more appropriate because it says what it does, expanding down.

I have tried borders, but it doesn't look good and it 'conflicts' with the existing lines.

Thanks for the suggestions!
[Android Apps and Games] Friedel25:
Could the heading state more clearly that existing accounts and identities can be edited here? Instead of 1 Add accounts, it could be e.g. 1 Add/edit accounts or 1 Add/edit accounts and identities.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Version 1.1522 is available on GitHub now.

Changelog/download:

https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/releases
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
I am afraid this will confuse new users, which is the core reason the setup screen was simplified as much as possible.
[Android Apps and Games] zzz2002:
I ran into a problem recently when I tried to change the password on my email account. I would go to setup screen, open manual mode, open the account(IMAP) change the PW, hit check. It would fail.

In the end the only way round the was to remove the account and add it back.

I suspect a bad case of finger trouble on my part, however there a known problem in changing PWs.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
I am pretty sure there is no problem with changing passwords.
[Android Apps and Games] zzz2002:
OK, then I am doing something wrong. Check and double check next time.

Thanks
[Android Apps and Games] ianmacd:
I've just migrated a very large mailbox from the UNIX spool to a backend running an IMAP server. The move was successful and I can now retrieve the messages using a variety of IMAP clients.

There's only one tiny problem: The migration predictably caused the delivery agent to add one further Received header to each old message to indicate its new delivery time.

This has no effect at all on any of the 6 other IMAP clients I tested after the migration, but it seems that FairEmail takes the time of the most recent Received header and uses that to index the message, rather than the Date header.

Is there any way to instruct FairEmail to use the Date header instead of the Received header for indexing and displaying messages? It's rather offputting to have thousands of messages all apparently sent within a few seconds of each other, and would be inconvenient to have to use a second client just to be able to view these old messages sorted in the proper order.
[Android Apps and Games] fraschi51:
Yes, in the 1st setup-screen open 'manuel setup and more account options', klick on accounts, then on the desired account, then on 'advanced', there you find the setting possibility.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Please see this FAQ:

FairEmail/FAQ.md at master · M66B/FairEmail

Fully featured, open source, privacy friendly email app for Android - M66B/FairEmail

github.com
[Android Apps and Games] ianmacd:
Thank you very much. I'm a little embarrassed not to have found this on my own. I had looked for it in the global Receive and Display settings, but it's in the per account settings, which is much more flexible.

The app is much faster now, too, as it's no longer having to sync a massive number of pseudo-recent messages.
[Android Apps and Games] ianmacd:
Hmm, there does seem to be a problem of some kind in the Sent folder now, though.

After deleting the local messages in the Sent folder and resyncing with the Date header as the key, only about 40 messages are loaded. FairEmail seems to have encountered a message with a Date header many years in the past, and to have stopped syncing messages after that, presumably because no other message has an older date.

Is there any way around this?

EDIT: Never mind. Fetch more messages seems to fix it. I could have sworn I had already tried that.
[Android Apps and Games] gabi11:
Hi,

A question:

I created a rule that when a certain email arrives, a label is assigned to it - I used the copy to action.

That way, after the rule is applied, the message is in my inbox with the label.

Once I read the email all I have to do is to archive it so the inbox label is removed and the mail is with the correct label that was assigned by the rule (at least that was the behavior with gmail's filters).

But when I archive a message that was processed by FE's rule - the label from the rule is also removed and the email is moved to "all mail" folder.

Why is it happening?

Shouldn't it behave as I described on Gmail's filters (Archive should leave the message with the rule's label)?

Thanks.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
This is the internet behavior: archiving all messages in the conversation.

You could archive the inbox message only instead.
[Android Apps and Games] gabi11:
How can I archive the inbox message only?

You mean by opening the message and archiving through the button that can be added with the 3 dots?

Until now I archived with the button on the bottom bar...

Thanks!
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
There will be an archive button just above the message text too to archive a single message, unless you disabled this via the button selector (horizontal three dots menu).
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Version 1.1524 is available on GitHub now.

Changelog/download:

Releases · M66B/FairEmail

Fully featured, open source, privacy friendly email app for Android - M66B/FairEmail

github.com
[Android Apps and Games] heinhuiz:
Suddenly, after installing this new version, the default text size in the app is larger than the size in the OS. The old default size was approx. the same as the small size now. Reverting back to an older version does not solve it. What might have happened?
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Did you maybe accidentally tap on the text size option in the top action bar/menu?

In any case there were no changes related to this.
[Android Apps and Games] heinhuiz:
Haha yes that must have been it.

And now, reverting back to and from an older version, I have lost all my rules 🥴

I'll never be stupid again.
[Android Apps and Games] heinhuiz:
Marcel, there is something weird with the settings import/export. I imported a settings file from one month ago, sized 1.57 MB, left the settings menu, and immediately opened the settings again and exported them. The new file size is only 162.67 kB. How is that possible?
[Android Apps and Games] Formido82:
Hello! I have a problem setting up IMAP folders in Gmail. Looking at my main email account, in which I have created a lot of subfolders, seems that FiarEmail fails to retrieve the folder list. An image to explain it:

If I try to find correct trash and spam folders from the drop-down menu, I can't find them.

I have another account, far less used, and here FairEmail detected the right IMAP configuration without effort. Here what I find:

To be honest, the account that has problems was created maybe in 2003 or so... The latter was opened in 2019, if this make a difference.

Maybe FairEmail fails to handle the right config if there are a lot of (20 or so) folders downloaded from the seever?

I can go deeper in details via telegram if needed.

Thank you!

F.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Possibly because less email addresses from the local contact database are being included.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Please make sure IMAP for all folders is enabled. You can check this on the Gmail web interface.
[Android Apps and Games] Formido82:
It seems there is no way to enable or disable IMAP access to a single folder. I found an interesting article on Google Devs site but I think you know it well... https://developers.google.com/gmail/imap/imap-extensions

Any suggestion?
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Please see this FAQ for the right link to change the Gmail folder IMAP settings:

FairEmail/FAQ.md at master · M66B/FairEmail

Fully featured, open source, privacy friendly email app for Android - M66B/FairEmail

github.com
[Android Apps and Games] La_Globule:
Hello Marcel

Maybe I didn't understand all but I've found a bug.

In the folder list for an account, the Apply to all doesn't change the two values Synchronize and Keep messages. Same for the checkboxes below: leaving it unticked doesn't remove the checkbox on each folder.

Can you please have a look?

Thanks.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Only user folders will be changed, did you take that into account?
[Android Apps and Games] La_Globule:
No, sorry, I didn't see, though it's written... Thanks
[Android Apps and Games] tohtorin:
For some reason my second account stops syncin. I have to enable it from receiving settings.

What should I provide? Logcat?
[Android Apps and Games] topcaser:
Hi, the day picker to defer emails is long-winded. Easier would be a monthly calendar and a standard gui for selecting the time or so. Doesn't the android framework deliver a standard to use and integrate in fairemail?

Another topic: I get a lot of emails from a subscribed thread. They are grouped together to a conversation, OK that's fine. Digging into that conversation, I have to open each mail one after the other. Isn't it possible to auto expand them like Gmail does?

Latter scenario: I used the new feature to frame new emails to highlight them. This works for some emails in that mentioned conversation, for some not. Is this behaviour by design? Unfortunately I didn't take a screenshot the last time. I try to catch it next time.

Bernd
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Did you maybe enable auto optimize in the receive settings?
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
The used date/time picker is the standard one provided by Android.

There is an option to auto expanded all messages in a conversation.

The unread shadow will be applied to unread messages, also in conversations.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Version 1.1526 1.1527 is available on GitHub now and in the Play store test program after Google's approval.

Changelog/download:

https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/releases
[Android Apps and Games] topcaser:
I have never seen such a date picker. It looks very proprietary. A monthly calendar would be very nice...
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
The date/time picker is the default Android date/time picker. It is not proprietary in any way.

Check yourself:

https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/blob/master/app/src/main/res/layout/dialog_duration.xml#L58

Related Android documentation:

https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/controls/pickers
[Android Apps and Games] topcaser:
Could you tell me the exact option? I tried a lot but didn't find it. Due to my trials also the first unread email isn't expanding automatically any more...
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Auto expanding the first unread message when there are more unread messages could lead to missing the other unread message(s), which is why only single unread messages will be auto expanded, see also this FAQ:

https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/blob/master/FAQ.md#user-content-faq70

There is a behavior option to auto expand all read messages.
[Android Apps and Games] topcaser:
Hi again, attached 2 Screenshots from the very same conversation. The first one shows the new messages with a frame, all collapsed. The second one shows the conversation with the first unread expanded. The yellow frame is vanished. Is this by design?
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
If there are multiple unread messages, no message will be auto expanded to prevent missing unread messages.
[Android Apps and Games] AlexFang:
Please disable vertical swiping in all the droplists in settings, when the droplist is not opened yet! (Language selection, sync frequency selection, etc.)

Something bad happened today. I was just going through the settings, which requires me to swipe up/down a lot, to scroll through the pages.

Suddenly FairEmail restarts, and starts again in a different language, a language I don't know a single word about.

Why? Because when I'm checking "MISCELLANEOUS" settings. one of my swipe-ups happened to start from the language selection droplist. Apparently swiping up/down from there opens the droplist, so I ended up changing the language accidentally.

This caused me a lot of trouble. How do I revert the settings, when I don't know a single word what the UI says? Maybe the gear icon means "settings"? And I still remember that was the right-most tab. But which one is my language?? Now all the language names are also in that language I don't know a word about.

(Yep I should just choose the first option, which is "system default", but I don't know there's such an option when I couldn't understand a word!)

This, shouldn't happen. Even though I managed to switch the language back. I feel some PTSD here. I have to carefully avoid the droplists when scrolling. Bad news is, there are a lot of them. So there are basically a bunch of landmines waiting for me to step on them and accidentally change some settings??

I start to doubt every setting I have. Is the receive interval set to "Always" by default? Or did I accidentally change it? Is the auto download on metered connection limit set to "256KB" by default? Or did I accidentally change it? (And this one really isn't the default, the default should be "512KB".)

In the end I have to go through every tab, and choose "restore defaults" from the menu on top-right.

(BTW this restore does NOT restore language to system default.)

I wonder why I don't have this problem in any other apps. Turns out, no one uses droplist nowadays. The list must be clicked to activate, and it might show up in a pop-up window. (See the settings in the app "OpenCamera" for reference.)

Or at least disable the swipe function of those droplists. They are supposed to let user tap on the triangle on the right, to show the list, right? Not by swiping up/down on the droplist. (Not sure if there's a way to do this, though. Given the fact that basically every other app avoids this problem by not using droplist at all.)
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
A drop-down (spinner) is a standard control provided by Android.

I can't reproduce your problem. Nothing happens when I swipe up or down on a drop-down.
[Android Apps and Games] fraschi51:
I can also reproduce it here (on Android 9), if you click on the language directly, for example, and then drag, some other arbitrary language is set. But if you, AlexFang, click on the cross to the right of the language selection dialog, you automatically get the system default, without even knowing a word in the foreign language.
[Android Apps and Games] La_Globule:
Hi M66B

I reproduced AlexFang's problem: go to Miscellaneous settings, swipe up the page by starting from the language selector, depending on your finger position, the language list opens up instead of scrolling the page.
[Android Apps and Games] La_Globule:
For the language selector, the cross allows to revert back the setting, there are other droplists in the app where it is not possible.

So the problem is still here.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
If you tap on a drop-down spinner, it will expand. This is what should happen.

Similarly, if you tap on a switch, it will be flipped.

If you swipe, without your finger holding on one place first, you'll scroll.

This is just how things work. I can't change that.
[Android Apps and Games] La_Globule:
Do not tap on the spinner, just swipe from the text field
[Android Apps and Games] AlexFang:
You might want to swipe a bit more slowly.

Put your finger on the same spot for like 0.2 seconds before starting to swipe. (So it did try to prevent accidental triggering after all. But ~0.2 seconds really wasn't enough. If I swipe really fast I won't trigger it. But if I got a bit relaxed and act slowly, I will trigger it.)

Either swiping from the text area, or swiping from the triagle at the right should trigger it.
[Android Apps and Games] fraschi51:
Marcel is right, if you wipe directly, the problem is not there ... but if you leave your finger too long on the selection field before swiping, it becomes problematic. Maybe this time can be extended?
[Android Apps and Games] heinhuiz:
For me 0.02 seconds is enough to expand the list.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
I can't change this because this is just how Android works.

In the next version the language selection needs to be confirmed.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
1 star Play store review, where there is an update once every 7-10 days only:

This is beyond disappointing and pretty demotivating :-(

My response:

Edit: what I will do is update the GitHub version when the public Play store version is being updated. If you want more frequent updates, you can join the Play store test program.

This way people can still install the app without Play store and I won't be bothered with 1 star reviews anymore for too many updates.
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Version 1.1529 will be available in the Play store test program after Google's approval.

Changelog:

https://github.com/M66B/FairEmail/releases

This version will not be available on GitHub, see my previous comment about why not.
[Android Apps and Games] AlexFang:
Well the problem is that, you used spinner (drop list) in many different places in the settings, 14 of them in total. So any of the 14 settings could be accidentally changed with a vertical swipe. (Ehh maybe 12 because 2 of them were grayed out.)

The language selection is just the most annoying one among all of them.

It's a bit awkward. Because to completely fix this, you just have to be like other apps, and use a popup window for every single one of them instead. Which is too much work for a little bug, probably not worth it. (I don't know if it's called a "popup window" but it's like the camera resolution options in the OpenCamera settings.)

The problem isn't for me though. I actually will just stick to default settings anyway, just remember to never go back to the settings page again.

Or always swipe from the far right of the screen in settings page. (At least those flip switches to the right will never be accidentally switched with a swipe.)
[Android Apps and Games] M66B:
Currently, I am not motivated to do anything, but I will see later what I can do.
[Android Apps and Games] ouzowtf:
For the basket of the positive things:

FairEmail is again named as one of the most privacy friendly mail apps and recommended here
[Android Apps and Games] ouzowtf:
Maybe I do not understand how it should work, but I have set the folder option to move old messages automatically to the trash folder.

But there are messages back to 20th of February, although it is set to synchronize and delete messages locally after 7 days.
[Android Apps and Games] gc01:
Problem with 1.1527 and 1529

Good day Marcel - been a while since i've been on here. Hope you're doing well.

I got update to 1.1527 last night via play store - and I'm having problems now with imap.

I'm getting authentication failed (imap server seems to be getting wrong or invalid password) - Thunderbird to same imap server is fine.

Did anything change in this release related to passwords by chance ?