IMAP IDLE & SMTP Auth.

[#1]

Can anyone confirm whether PN support IMAP IDLE? Previously they did not, but hopefully this may have changed.
If this is STILL not supported, could PN staff please explain why not and then perhaps go and turn that option on in their IMAP servers.
All modern implementations of IMAP would include this functionality and it would reduce the load on their servers if it were working and customers able to take advantage of it.
Could I also suggest that PN introduce SMTP authorisation and allow the use of their servers when not connected to their network, i.e. allow (authorized only) SMTP relaying so we'd have an SMTP server to use while travelling.
Quite frankly I'm surprised that PN don't already offer both these features as they would be a serious advantage for their customers. This lack is the sort of thing that makes one have to look elsewhere...

[#2]

IMAP IDLE no, I'll ask around about the possibility of enabling it. SMTP AUTH however is supported. It's available on subscription accounts and involves using your main plusnet username and password. SSL/TLS is not supported at present.

[#3]

Quote from: Bob

IMAP IDLE no, I'll ask around about the possibility of enabling it. SMTP AUTH however is supported. It's available on subscription accounts and involves using your main plusnet username and password. SSL/TLS is not supported at present.

I asked about SMTP AUTH ages ago and was told you didn't offer it, so glad to see that this has changed. In fact I later found instructions on setting up your SMTP AUTH on the iPhone, but it was wrong in that it indicated you could use the individual mailbox login details as an alternative to those for the main account. It doesn't work and you have now confirmed that it only works for the main account details. That's ok though and it works a treat, so I'm happy about that:-)
IMAP IDLE, oh yes, I'd really like that to be operating. It's such a waste of CPU time to be constantly checking for mail when there's none there, or when there's no-one at the receiving end to bother with it in any case. Push is so much better and IDLE works well for fixed connections. So yes please do see if you can get that turned on. Most modern IMAP servers support this.
Please let me know how you get on.

[#4]

I'm not entirely sure of the technicalities of IMAP IDLE but if it provides push email to iPhone then can we please have it as soon as possible. As a crackberry user as well push is an essential feature.
Thanks

[#5]

Excuse my ignorance. My Ipod Touch has push enabled on my email. In fact I turned it off, because I don't really want my Ipod to be constantly polling for email.  So I set it to check manually, when I look at my inbox.  IS IMAP IDLE something different?
John

[#6]

IMAP IDLE has nothing to do with push on iOS devices; IDLE is a means for Windows etc. clients to maintain a continuous connection to the IMAP server so that the client will promptly find out if a change has occurred (such as the receipt of a new e-mail). iOS push is different; it relies on one of two technologies, depending on the situation: Exchange ActiveSync, and/or Apple's own push notification servers and architecture.

[#7]

Quote from: hulls

My Ipod Touch has push enabled on my email. In fact I turned it off, because I don't really want my Ipod to be constantly polling for email.  So I set it to check manually, when I look at my inbox.

I think you're missing the point here. The purpose of PUSH is specifically to entirely eliminate the need for the client to keep checking for mail. When messages arrive at the server, they are 'pushed' to the client WITHOUT it having to keep manually asking if there's any new messages.
As far as using IDLE on the iPhone, I don't believe it would work as I don't think iOS supports IDLE. Apple would say it's not required as Exchange and MobileMe both provide PUSH services (albeit by different mechanisms). However, I would say that supporting IDLE for their IMAP accounts would be a good thing, so maybe some feedback to Apple should be submitted.
But, Apple's Mail client (Mail.app) DOES support IDLE and if Plus would turn on IDLE support (most modern IMAP clients would offer that) then we could have PUSH email down to our Macs and I guess WIndows users might be able to make use of it too (IDLE is a 'standard' part of IMAP and hence applicable to any IMAP client whether Mac, Windows, Linux etc).
So please, everyone needs to add their support in persuading Plus to provide IDLE for IMAP clients.

[#8]

I thank you for your correction.  So is IDLE another way of providing a similar thing to Push to Windows computers?

[#9]

It is a form of PUSH, but this is nothing to do with any specific platform. IDLE is just a feature of IMAP and as with all Internet standards, has nothing to do with Microsoft, thank goodness.
Having said that, any developer can create their own PUSH mechanism for their own messaging system, e.g. Microsoft, Apple, Google.
All we want here is for Plus to enable it on their IMAP servers. Please!
dick:quote

[#10]

Quote from: UKenGB

IDLE is a 'standard' part of IMAP and hence applicable to any IMAP client whether Mac, Windows, Linux etc.

Not quite *any* client. It's missing from the Modest client on my N900 smartphone which is one of my major bugbears about the device.
There's a list of compatible clients in the wiki article here.
I'm still waiting on some answers as to the implications of us enabling it...

[#11]

Quote from: Bob

Quote from: UKenGB IDLE is a 'standard' part of IMAP and hence applicable to any IMAP client whether Mac, Windows, Linux etc. Not quite *any* client. It's missing from the Modest client on my N900 smartphone which is one of my major bugbears about the device.

I didn't mean to suggest that all IMAP clients support IDLE, just that it is part of the IMAP standard that can be 'applied' to any client (i.e. if the developers so choose) as opposed to being in any way platform specific. Sorry for any confusion there.

Quote

I'm still waiting on some answers as to the implications of us enabling it...

The implications are lower CPU load for your servers and many happy customers:-) Please keep up the pressure.

[#12]

Quote from: UKenGB

The implications are lower CPU load for your servers and many happy customers:-)

If only things were that simple!
We use Courier on the mail collection servers. In order to support IMAP IDLE we'd need FAM support. Enabling FAM is pretty trivial but means that the IMAP servers would have to do a lot more polling of directories to make IDLE work - this would have a massive negative impact on the platform in its current guise.

[#13]

Just checking - is this still the case?  It appears that IDLE is still not on (testing an k9 Mail) - but is it still a big ask?
Cheers
Eserim

[#14]

Don't forget that the webmail system accesses the mailboxes using IMAP, so while most users using local clients will be using POP3, all of the webmail users will be using IMAP. Given that there are well over 500,000 Plusnet users in total that's going to mean a lot of simultaneous IMAP users, so no it's not a big ask - it's a colossal ask.

[#15]

Now this is odd.  I'm using K9 Mail, with polling switched off, I still had it switched to Push email (using IMAP IDLE) and this morning I started getting emails being flashed at me when they arrive.  or at least for a while I did.  Not sure if it works all the time.
Eserim