Gmail app flaw

The native Gmail app displays emails in 'conversations'. But due to a software flaw, sent emails are split up in many fragments, each fragment being displayed as a message in the conversation. Thus, a conversation of only four messages, is displayed as a conversation of  11 messages, or even more. This flaw renders the Gmail app utterly useless.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 comes with Android 2.1 (update 1). Android 2.1 comes with the native Gmail app, 'native' meaning: built into the Android operating system.

Gmail organizes mails in 'conversations': emails going back and forth as replies with the same subject, are grouped together as a 'conversation'. If every email programme were to do this, there would be no need to include original messages in your replies anymore.

But before every other email app developer jumps at it, first of all the genuine Google Gmail Android app would have to handle conversations properly. On my Xperia X8, it doesn't.

This page displays screenshots from my Xperia X8, of a conversation between my personal Gmail account, and my Gmail account at work, which is part of an Educational Google Apps account.

The messages were sent back and forth from the Mail app of my OS X MacBook, and then examined with the native Gmail app on my Xperia X8.

There are only four emails in the 'conversation', but the Gmail app breaks sent email messages up in fragments, displaying each fragment as an individual message, thus making it look like there are 11 messages in the conversation.

When I tap the last received message, this is what is being displayed. Note there are 11 "read messages" (if it is all Dutch to you...). You can click on the images to view them in their original resolution:


When I tap the read messages bar, it unfolds, as displayed by the next screenshots:


The original message from 'Sender' has been split up into 7 messages; the subsequent reply from "Sender" has been split into 4 messages. Also, the conversation is labeled "Prullenbak" ("Trash"), while none of the messages is, or ever was, labeled as such.

The screenshot below demonstrates what it looks like when we unfold a message:


That's right: none of the 'messages' from Sender actually shows the complete original content anymore: its just fragments.

There is nothing wrong at the Gmail server: below screenshot shows what the Gmail mobile web site makes of this conversation:


On internet forums I read a lot of complaints about the Gmail app for Android 2.1, about the way it handles synchronization and conversations.

I think it is the software flaw described above which renders the Gmail app utterly useless.

In my opinion:

  1. T-Online (that's where I bought my Xperia X8) cannot sell a product with such an utterly broken 'native component', and do nothing about it.
  2. Sony Ericsson cannot ignore a customer base that must run in the tens, if not hundreds of thousands, by not providing a fix for a flaw of this magnitude.
  3. Google turns out updates of apps (like Maps) almost daily, to make them run even smoother than they already do, also on Android 2.1 platforms. I, and I would assume SE's entire X8 customer base with me, do not understand why Google cannot provide a fix for their flawed Gmail app.
I do not consider the Gmail mobile web app a full alternative for the native Gmail app, as it doesn't allow offline email reading and writing.

I will not enter into the discussion whether SE should upgrade their X8 from Android 2.1 to versions 2.2 or 2.3.

I think they are obliged, by any standards, moral and legal, to provide a fix. I also think they should publicly acknowledge the fault, and announce a time frame for when the issue will be resolved.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)