Android email app - download headers only

[#1]

Apologies for another basic question but I am just getting to grips with my new android smartphone

As I am on a PAYG tariff I want to limit data usage. As such I would like to download only the email headers and then only download the email and attachments if I decide I want to.

I haven't managed to find an App which gives this option and is this available using POP and IMAP

[#2 · Accepted solution]

I use K9 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fsck.k9&hl=en_GB it has a setting to set the size of message to fetch . The minimum is 32kb though , but it will stop downloading attachments and large emails

[#3]

That is one option and this seems to cover it

Fetch messages up to

Set a limit on how much of a message is downloaded during synchronization. When viewing messages larger than this value you will see a button saying Download complete message that allows you to download the rest of the message.

[#4]

+1 for K-9 Mail.

[#5]

K-9 installed and setup (at the second attempt as I screwed up the original settings) and seems to work just fine

[#6]

I have been using K-9 for some time. Excellent app although I do find deleting emails long-winded having to go into each account separately and enter the relevant inbox then select an email then press the menu to Select All then delete then go to the Trash folder and do the same. Only have 4 accounts but maybe I am missing a simpler method

[#7]

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@Oldjim wrote:

As I am on a PAYG tariff I want to limit data usage. ...

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I'm also on PAYG (3-2-1 from Three) so most of the time I have my Mobile Data turned off, and it's only turned on when there's no WiFi connectivity available.  Mind you, I try to remember to turn the WiFi off too when it's not needed to prevent the battery draining quicker than necessary. 

[#8]

I use a different system

I have background downloading when not on wifi blocked and then I only download when I want to

[#9]

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@Mav wrote:

I have been using K-9 for some time. Excellent app although I do find deleting emails long-winded having to go into each account separately [..] Only have 4 accounts but maybe I am missing a simpler method

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You might well be! K9 has a couple of 'virtual' folder views called 'Unified Inbox' and 'All Messages'. I don't use them myself but it looks like you can set which folders (your four inboxes in your case) appear in the 'Unified Inbox' as if they were a single inbox.

[#10]

I have used the Unified Inbox. It seems that no specific settings need to be actioned as it simply lists all emails received from the various inboxes in one place. Selecting all and Delete removes them from that list but to actually fully delete them then you still have to go to each account's Trash folder and delete from there. Unless there is still a setting I have missed?

[#11]

Ah, apologies, I see what you mean - I didn't pick up on the Trash folder aspect. I'm not sure what to suggest for that as I run my own mail server and purge old mail automatically from user's trash folders.

[#12]

@MJN Not to worry and thanks for the suggestion.

I only tend to use K9 if I am out and expecting an email that I may need to deal with. The most emails that get downloaded each time is between 10 and 20 as it never picks up the spam. So it's a little inconvenient to delete them after but not a major hassle.

[#13]

Worth mentioning that if you're using a fairly recent iteration on Android then the Doze function doesn't play well with K9 at the moment (only relevant if you rely on push email)

@Mav, in folder view, there's an overflow menu for emptying Trash (see attached).

[#14]

@bobpullen

Thanks Bob but that still only empties the trash of an individual folder. What I want is a way of deleting all trashed item in all account in one go.

I am certain this was available in a previous version but I stopped using K9 when I got the Samsung Galaxy S5Mini as I thought the Samsung email app was bettter. But I don't like what they have done to it on the A5 hence reverting to K9.