cannot login to webmail from smartphone

[acohen]

I just logged into this forum from my Samsung galaxy s4. Using the exact same login information, I cannot login to webmail from this phone. Any suggestions? Thank you!

[wa2ibm]

Why would you want to do that? The web mail application isn't optimized for the small screen and I'm sure it would not be optimal for you.

Why not use the S4's build-in IMAP client to view your email? I'm sure it would provide a much better experience for you.

[acohen]

I do use a mail client generally but I have it set to not delete mail from the server so that I can still retrieve it from my office computer. That means that if I delete spam once from my phone I have to delete it again from my office computer. I would rather be able to use webmail from my phone occasionally to get rid of spam so I don't have to deal with it twice. Btw I've noticed that when I go to web mail from the phone I get a mobile optimized app that looks great except it won't let me log in

[virtualmike]

I do use a mail client generally but I have it set to not delete mail from the server so that I can still retrieve it from my office computer. That means that if I delete spam once from my phone I have to delete it again from my office computer.

If you set it up for IMAP instead of POP, then when you review and delete from your phone, it will not appear on your desktop email client later. Only messages you intentionally delete will not be accessed later.

Btw I've noticed that when I go to web mail from the phone I get a mobile optimized app that looks great except it won't let me log in

I just tried from my Galaxy S3, and had no problems. I guess there's a slight chance that the browser in Jelly Bean has been modified just slightly and won't authenticate properly. Make sure you have it configured to accept/allow cookies.

[acohen]

Thanks, I really appreciate your input and suggestions for a work-around. I'm familiar with the ability to specify whether retrieving email should delete it from the server, but that doesn't solve my issue. I want to be able to retain email on the server whenever routinely retrieved with my phone, but also to be able to choose to use webmail to manually delete spam when circumstances make that best, like on a weekend when I don't check my desktop and spam piles up. I'm using Chrome on my S4 and it hasn't shown any problems so far and "accept cookies" is on. Thanks again!

[virtualmike]

You're welcome.

I'm familiar with the ability to specify whether retrieving email should delete it from the server...

That's a POP3 function.

I want to be able to retain email on the server whenever routinely retrieved with my phone, but also to be able to choose to use webmail to manually delete spam when circumstances make that best, like on a weekend when I don't check my desktop and spam piles up.

Which is why we're recommending IMAP. It processes email the same way as webmail, but works through the mail client. Among other advantages, it means that only the data about the email in your box is transferred to your phone, while webmail requires the entire screen to be transmitted to your phone, and that your web browser has to format the display. In particular, the phone doesn't "retrieve" the email; it only gets the list of messages (subject, date/time, sender, etc.), and presents the list. An individual message can be opened, but it will not be deleted from the server unless the user specifically deletes it. Just like webmail.

Perhaps you're not familiar with IMAP? Here's a good comparison between POP3 and IMAP. (You can find other comparisons if you ask the Google "difference POP3 IMAP".) IMAP gives you the same functionality that you're seeking with webmail, except it uses the native app on Android (and other) phones. This means the display is consistent between mailboxes, it can access the contacts in your phone, and you can even choose to have a notification when mail arrives.

[acohen]

Again, thanks very much for your suggestions and the information about IMAP. What doesn't work about IMAP for me is that I don't want deleting an email from my phone to delete it automatically from the server. I need to be able to save some important emails to my phone as reminders of key things I have to deal with, but delete all of the rest from my phone, even important ones, without removing them from the server. AND, I want to be able to choose which ones to delete from the server from my phone. That doesn't seem to be possible with IMAP, unless I'm missing something.

FORTUNATELY, I've found the answer to my original question, i.e. why I couldn't log in to webmail from my phone even though it appears nicely in a perfect mobile optimized screen. The reason is that I was using not only my user name, but @sonic.net. I noticed when I went to webmail on my desktop that @sonic.net is ALREADY PROVIDED by the system so including it messes up my login attempt. It would be good for other users for Sonic to make that clear also on the mobile login screen, but in any event my problem is solved. I can now use POP to retrieve/save/delete as I choose and can, whenever I want to, also use webmail to dump the spam from the server so it doesn't show up on my desktop.

Thanks again!

[rodrigo]

I've appended the "@sonic.net" to the form on mobile, it should go out with the next release.

[acohen]

Great! Thanks very much.

[virtualmike]

I need to be able to save some important emails to my phone as reminders of key things I have to deal with, but delete all of the rest from my phone, even important ones, without removing them from the server. AND, I want to be able to choose which ones to delete from the server from my phone. That doesn't seem to be possible with IMAP, unless I'm missing something.

Glad your situation is resolved.

Indeed, IMAP won't support what you're describing, but neither will web mail.