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by licebmi__at__ 1932 days ago
Doesn't k9 already supports IDLE? I kinda remember researching about this years ago, unfortunately, IDLE on it's own is no equivalent to native push notifications that use google services. Either way, it was just a hobby research and I might be wrong.
1 comments
aasasd 1932 days ago
Last time I looked into this, K9 didn't work in background continuously (since Android requires displaying a notification for that, and K9 never implemented it). And nothing seems to be happening in this regard.

However, I wasn't able to make FairMail to deliver without a considerable delay either—despite it displaying a notification and being excluded from ‘battery optimization’. But apparently it's just me.

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g_p 1932 days ago
Out of interest, do you use a phone with a custom OEM firmware that has battery-saving features. I've seen issue with FairEmail (and other well-behaved foreground-service using apps) on some OEMs' firmwares. Heck, sometimes even big-name OEMs like Samsung cause issues.

On "pure" Android (thinking Pixel, and the relatively pure Motorola devices, etc.) there's no delays at all - it's really impressive. I'll get the notification on my phone consistently before on my PC.

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aasasd 1932 days ago
It's a Pixel. Starting with 9 or 10, Android limits apps' background activity unless they show a notification (and probably has limits for those too when the screen is off). Plenty of apps had to deal with this, I have four of these notifications.

These limits don't apply to notifications via Google's services (GCM or whatever they're currently called). So if you're using the Gmail app or another app for a specific mail service, sure you will receive push notifications quickly.

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g_p 1932 days ago
Interesting - I've not been able to reproduce this on a Pixel 3a or 4a 5G. FairEmail, with foreground notification, doesn't have any issues delivering notifications.

As you say, Google is making it a lot harder, but FE with a foreground notification seems to do this fine for me.

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muppetman 1932 days ago
EDIT: See comment below this - it appears I might be talking out my bottom.

It's easy to change an app's background ability in Android. By default apps are forced into the background, but if you change that your k9 email will notify you all day long (it does support IDLE)

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aasasd 1932 days ago
There's an issue on their tracker that discusses implementing the notification, and docs that say that without it K9 can only check mail every 15 minutes or so, even if excluded from battery optimization. So I don't know what support for IDLE and ‘background ability’ you're talking about. Before Android 9 or so, sure—it could just run in the background and connect to the servers whenever it wanted.
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muppetman 1932 days ago
Interesting - I can't say I've encountered this but I'm going to check the bug tracker now. Thank you - I have updated my parent comment.
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aasasd 1932 days ago
Here it is: https://github.com/k9mail/k-9/issues/857

The issue is even older than I thought, though I was pretty sure the requirement for a notification specifically appeared around Android 8 or 9.

Also, seeing as K9 doesn't look to be anywhere near frequently updated, I'm not expecting this to change soon.

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