|
|
- # FairEmail
-
- If you have a question, please check the frequently asked questions below first.
- At the bottom you can find how to ask other questions, request features and report bugs.
-
- ## Frequently Asked Questions
-
- <a name="FAQ1"></a>
- **(1) Which permissions are needed and why?**
-
- * have full network access (INTERNET): to send and receive email
- * view network connections (ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE): to monitor internet connectivity changes
- * run at startup (RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED): to start monitoring on device start
- * in-app billing (BILLING): to allow in-app purchases
- * foreground service (FOREGROUND_SERVICE): to run a foreground service on Android 9 Pie and later, see also the next question
- * prevent device from sleeping (WAKE_LOCK): to keep the device awake while synchronizing messages
- * Optional: read your contacts (READ_CONTACTS): to autocomplete addresses and to show photos
- * Optional: find accounts on the device (GET_ACCOUNTS): to use [OAuth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OAuth) instead of passwords
-
- <a name="FAQ2"></a>
- **(2) Why is there a permanent notification shown?**
-
- A permanent status bar notification with the number of accounts being synchronized and the number of operations pending is shown
- to prevent Android from killing the service that takes care of receiving and sending email.
-
- Most, if not all, other email apps don't show a notification with the "side effect" that new email is often not or late being reported.
-
- Background: this is because of the introduction of [doze mode](https://developer.android.com/training/monitoring-device-state/doze-standby) in Android 6 Marshmallow.
-
- <a name="FAQ3"></a>
- **(3) What are operations and why are they pending?**
-
- The low priority status bar notification shows the number of pending operations, which can be:
-
- * add: add message to remote folder
- * move: move message to another remote folder
- * delete: delete message from remote folder
- * send: send message
- * seen: mark message as seen/unseen in remote folder
- * flag: star/unstar remote message
- * headers: download message headers
- * body: download message text
- * attachment: download attachment
-
- Operations are processed only when there is a connection to the email server or when manually synchronizing.
- See also [this FAQ](#FAQ16).
-
- <a name="FAQ4"></a>
- **(4) What is a valid security certificate?**
-
- Valid security certificates are officially signed (not self signed) and have matching a host name.
-
- <a name="FAQ5"></a>
- ~~**(5) What does 'no IDLE support' mean?**~~
-
- ~~Without [IMAP IDLE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAP_IDLE) emails need to be periodically fetched,~~
- ~~which is a waste of battery power and internet bandwidth and will delay notification of new emails.~~
- ~~Since the goal of FairEmail is to offer safe and fast email, providers without IMAP IDLE are not supported.~~
- ~~You should consider this a problem of the provider, not of the app.~~
- ~~Almost all email providers offer IMAP IDLE, with as notable exception Yahoo!~~
-
- <a name="FAQ6"></a>
- **(6) How can I login to Gmail / G suite?**
-
- Preferably select Gmail as provider and select an account on your device.
-
- To login to Gmail / G suite you'll often need an app password, for example when two factor authentication is enabled.
- See here for instructions: [https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833](https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833).
-
- If this doesn't work, see here for more solutions: [https://support.google.com/mail/accounts/answer/78754](https://support.google.com/mail/accounts/answer/78754)
-
- <a name="FAQ7"></a>
- **(7) Why are messages in the outbox not moved to the sent folder?**
-
- Messages in the outbox are moved to the sent folder as soon as your provider adds the message to the sent folder.
- If this doesn't happen, your provider might not keep track of sent messages or you might be using an SMTP server not related to the provider.
- In these cases you can enable the account option *Store sent messages* to let the app move messages from the outbox to the sent folder after sending.
-
- <a name="FAQ8"></a>
- **(8) Can I use a Microsoft Exchange account?**
-
- You can use a Microsoft Exchange account if it is accessible via IMAP.
- ActiveSync is not supported at this moment.
- See here for more information: [https://support.office.com/en-us/article/what-is-a-microsoft-exchange-account-47f000aa-c2bf-48ac-9bc2-83e5c6036793](https://support.office.com/en-us/article/what-is-a-microsoft-exchange-account-47f000aa-c2bf-48ac-9bc2-83e5c6036793)
-
- <a name="FAQ9"></a>
- **(9) What are identities?**
-
- Identities represent email addresses you are sending *from*.
-
- Some providers allow you to have multiple email aliases.
- You can configure these by setting the email address field to the alias address and setting the user name field to your main email address.
-
- <a name="FAQ10"></a>
- **(10) What does 'UIDPLUS not supported' mean?**
-
- The error message *UIDPLUS not supported* means that your email provider does not provide the IMAP [UIDPLUS extension](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4315).
- This IMAP extension is required to implement two way synchronization, which is not an optional feature.
- So, unless your provider can enable this extension, you cannot use FairEmail for this provider.
-
- <a name="FAQ11"></a>
- **(11) Why is STARTTLS for IMAP not supported?**
-
- STARTTLS starts with a not encrypted connection and is therefore not secure.
- All well known IMAP servers support IMAP with a plain SSL connection, so there is no need to support STARTTLS for IMAP.
- If you encounter an IMAP server that requires STARTTLS, please let me know.
-
- For more background information, please see [this article](https://www.eff.org/nl/deeplinks/2018/06/announcing-starttls-everywhere-securing-hop-hop-email-delivery).
-
- tl;dr; "*Additionally, even if you configure STARTTLS perfectly and use a valid certificate, there’s still no guarantee your communication will be encrypted.*"
-
- <a name="FAQ13"></a>
- **(13) How does search on server work?**
-
- You can start searching for messages on sender, subject or text by using the magnify glass in the action bar of a folder.
- The server executes the search.
- Scrolling down will fetch more messages from the server.
- Searching by the server might be case sensitive or case insensitive and might be on partial text or whole words, depending on the provider.
- Search on server is a pro feature.
-
- <a name="FAQ14"></a>
- **(14) How can I setup Outlook with 2FA?**
-
- To use Outlook with two factor authentication enabled, you need to create an app password.
- See [here](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12409/microsoft-account-app-passwords-two-step-verification) for the details.
-
- <a name="FAQ15"></a>
- **(15) Can you add ... ?**
-
- * More themes: the goal is to keep the app as simple as possible, so this will not be added.
- * Encryption: there is too little interest in sending/receiving encrypted messages to justify putting effort into this.
- * Multiple select: swiping is easier and doesn't have the risk of accidental touches, so multiple select would not add anything.
- * Swipe left/right for previous/next message: this would be confusing since sometimes a message and sometimes a message conversation would be shown.
- * Preview message text: this is not always possible because the message text is initially not downloaded for large messages and besides that the subject is supposed to tell what the message is about.
- * Filter rules: filter rules should be executed on the server because a battery powered device with possibly an unstable internet connection is not suitable for executing filter rules.
-
- <a name="FAQ16"></a>
- **(16) Why are messages not being synchronized?**
-
- Possible causes of messages not being synchronized (sent or received) are:
-
- * The account or folder(s) or not set to synchronize
- * The number of days to synchronize is set to low
- * There is no usable internet connection
- * The email server is temporarily not available
- * Android stopped the synchronization service
-
- So, check your account and folder settings and check if the accounts/folders are connected (see the legend menu for the meaning of the icons).
-
- On some devices, where there are lots of applications competing for memory, Android may stop the synchronization service as a last resort.
- Some Android versions,
- in particular of Huawei (see [here](https://www.forbes.com/sites/bensin/2016/07/04/push-notifications-not-coming-through-to-your-huawei-phone-heres-how-to-fix-it/) for a fix)
- or Xiaomi (see [here](https://www.forbes.com/sites/bensin/2016/11/17/how-to-fix-push-notifications-on-xiaomis-miui-8-for-real/) for a fix)
- stop apps and services too aggressively.
-
- <a name="FAQ17"></a>
- **(17) Why does manual synchronize not work?**
-
- If the *Synchronize now* menu is dimmed, there is no connection to the account.
-
- See the previous question for more information.
-
- <a name="FAQ18"></a>
- **(18) When should I enable 'Store sent messages' ?**
-
- The option *Store sent messages* should be enabled only
- when the email server does not store sent messages in the sent folder (it should)
- or when an SMTP server not related to the account is being used.
-
- <a name="FAQ19"></a>
- **(19) Why are the pro features so expensive?**
-
- The right question is "*why are there so many taxes and fees?*":
-
- * VAT: 25% (depending on your country)
- * Google fee: 30%
- * Income tax: 50%
-
- So, what is left for the developer is just a fraction of what you pay.
-
- Note that only some convenience and advanced features need to be purchased, which means that FairEmail is basically free to use.
-
- Also note that most free apps will appear not to be sustainable in the end, whereas FairEmail is properly maintained and supported,
- and that free apps may have a catch, like sending privacy sensitive information to the internet.
-
- <a name="FAQ20"></a>
- **(20) Can I get a refund?**
-
- If a purchased pro feature doesn't work as intended
- and this isn't caused by a problem in the free features
- and I cannot fix the problem in a timely manner, you can get a refund.
- In all other cases there is no refund possible.
- In no circumstances there is a refund possible for any problem related to the free features,
- since there wasn't paid anything for them and because they can be evaluated without any limitation.
- I take my responsibility as seller to deliver what has been promised
- and I expect that you take responsibility for informing yourself of what you are buying.
-
- <a name="FAQ21"></a>
- **(21) How do I enable the notification light?**
-
- Before Android 8 Oreo: there is an advanced option in the setup for this.
-
- Android 8 Oreo and later: see [here](https://developer.android.com/training/notify-user/channels) about how to configure notification channels.
-
- <a name="FAQ22"></a>
- **(22) Why do I get 'Couldn't connect to host' ?**
-
- The message *Couldn't connect to host ...* means that FairEmail was not able to connect to the email server.
-
- Possible causes are:
-
- * A firewall is blocking connections to the server
- * The email server is refusing to accept the connection
- * The host name or port number is invalid
- * The are problems with the internet connection
-
- If you are using a VPN, the VPN provider might block the connection because it is too aggressively trying to prevent spam.
-
- <a name="FAQ23"></a>
- **(23) Why do I get 'Too many simultaneous connections' ?**
-
- The message *Too many simultaneous connections* is sent by the email server when there are too many connections to the same email account at the same time.
-
- Possible causes are:
-
- * There are multiple email clients connected to the same account
- * The same email client is connected multiple times to the same account
- * The previous connection was terminated abruptly for example by losing internet connectivity
-
- <a name="FAQ24"></a>
- **(24) What is browse messages on the server?**
-
- Browse messages on the server will fetch messages from the email server in real time
- when you reach the end of the list of synchronized messages, even when the folder is set to not synchronize.
- You can disable this feature under *Setup* > *Advanced options* > *Browse messages on the server*.
-
- <a name="FAQ25"></a>
- **(25) Why can't I select an image, attachment or a file to export/import?**
-
- If a menu item to select a file is disabled (dimmed),
- likely the [storage access framework](https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/document-provider),
- a standard Android component, is not present,
- for example because your custom ROM does not include it or because it was removed.
- FairEmail does not request storage permissions, so this framework is required to select files and folders.
- No app, except maybe file managers, targetting Android 4.4 KitKat or later should ask for storage permissions because it would allow access to *all* files.
-
- <br>
-
- If you have another question, want to request a feature or report a bug, you can use [this forum](https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/source-email-t3824168).
- Registration is free.
|