How to: Setting Up Gmail on the iPad

If you want to setup Gmail on the iPad so you could access Gmail when you are away from my desktop or on the road. Benefits over the generic Gmail set are as follows; your iPad will now store Drafts and Sent Mail in Gmail instead of storing them locally on the Device. That way if you access Gmail from your desktop or iPhone your drafts and trash will be accessible on that device. This method will also work with the iPhone.

setting-gmail-iphone

Like most new iPad owners I wanted to setup Gmail, which is most power users primary email client, on the iPad so I could access email when I am away from my desktop or on the road. Until recently, I used iPhone for this task. However, I recall that when I setup my Gmail account using the default Gmail setup on the iPhone, it violated Gmail's conventions by actually deleted your mail instead of archiving it which IMO is what makes Gmail different than the rest of the email services I've used in the past. Another quark was that it stored my drafts locally on the device which needless to say was annoying. With this said, I didn't even bother to find out if they’ve fixed the issue on the iPad, I figured that the only way to be sure is to set it up manually.

Benefits to this manual setup included your iPad will now store Drafts and Sent Mail in Gmail instead of storing them locally on the Device. In this way if you access Gmail from your desktop or iPhone your drafts and trash will be accessible on that device as well.

Here’s what to do (This method will also work with the iPhone):

 

Screen preview of setting gmail iPad on iOS

Alternatively, you can setup your iPad or iPhone using GoogleSync (Googles version of Exchange). I've been using this method on my iPhone since the release of the iPhone OS versions 3.0 back in 2009. This gives the user the ability to sync Google Calendar and Google Contacts. If your interested in this method of mail retrieval visit the GoogleSync setup page for the iPhone which I can confirm also works on the iPad.