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How is the Android experience without GMail?

C

CodeM0nkey

Newbie
Hello,
I'm interested in getting an Android phone for the first time, but not very eager to use a GMail account. I have one, but I don't particularly like the interface, and I would much rather use my Yahoo! or Hotmail accounts in my everyday use.

I understand that Android offers several applications, such as Google Now, for which having a GMail account is an advantage and provides more functionality and better integration. I really don't see myself using a GMail account for everything, even though that is obviously what Google wants. How would my experience on Android be without one?
 
Well other than needing Gmail for playstore and goggle based apps you don't really need to "use" Gmail. The native android mail client is actually very nice. Not to mention the several other various mail apparently DroidMail, K9 etc. Your experience wouldn't be hampered. You could even disable sync on the gmail app or uninstall it all together (if youre rooted) .

The Cyanogen team has a mod that operates independently of Google and offers Google applications a separate install.
 
I have my gmail for signing into the play store, but that's it. You don't actually have to use it as your primary email


You can easily sync the phone to check multiple email accounts. Mine has 3
 
First off as already stated, without a GMail account, you don't get access to the Play Store, and no, Owning an Android does not mean you NEED to use the Gmail account for your email. You can perfectly use Hotmail and Yahoo! for emails on an Android phone. You just need the Gmail account to login to certain areas. You just need to have one. You never even need to open it ever.
 
One more thing: In a review of the Nexus 4, the guy says that in Android 4.2 Google has updated "GMail". Is this app for GMail only, or is that the mail client that you guys were talking about, which can be used with any account?
 
Android comes with 2 email apps by default, one that does polling (refreshes at a set period, like every hour) which you can use for any email account, and the Gmail app which is push email (you get the email as soon as the account receives it). The review was talking about the GMail only app.

From the Android market, there is also a separate Hotmail app and Yahoo! app if you prefer to use those email clients.
 
And how do these two mail apps compare? Is the GMail app better?
Also, do I need GMail to use Google Now (such as the feature that checks your emails for hotel reservations)?
 
You need a Gmail account to use Google features like Google Now AFAIK, but you don't actually have to use Gmail. It will just ask you to login using your Gmail account, and then you can practically forget about it. Basically your Gmail account serves as your unified account for Play Store, YouTube, Google Maps, Latitude, Now, etc. Basically everything Google. It doesn't have to be used for email. It's just a one login for all kind of thing.

As for email apps, can't say. I've long abandoned Yahoo!, and my Hotmail is just a sort of dummy account which I use for making accounts in various services, like DropBox. My Gmail is my primary account so I use the Gmail app.
 
Remember that this is android: you don't have to use either the built in email or Gmail apps. If you find an app in the Play Store that you prefer you can use that instead.

In fact I don't have either app installed on my phone ;). In contrast my wife uses both, but for different accounts which she prefers to keep separate (none of this unified inbox stuff for her :)).
 
you dont have to use a Gmail account for android phone, you only need a Google account. you will need Google account for downloading apps from Play, backing up data (including contacts). which means that you'll need to login only once, in the phone setup and thats it. later on, which ever email client you use, thats entirely upto you!
 
ayaznoor said:
you dont have to use a Gmail account for android phone, you only need a Google account. you will need Google account for downloading apps from Play, backing up data (including contacts). which means that you'll need to login only once, in the phone setup and thats it. later on, which ever email client you use, thats entirely upto you!
Click to expand...

This. I did not need to have Gmail in order to get apps on my Galaxy S3 from the Playstore. I used my Google account which I signed up for with my Cogeco email address. You do not need Gmail.
 
Codem0nkey, something else to consider is keeping track of your contacts. If you add all of your contacts to your Gmail account, they will be safe because they are always backed up to the Google servers. So even if you factory reset your phone and wipe it completely, as soon as you re-enter your Google account login (your Gmail address) and your password, the phone will sync with the Google servers and automatically upload all of your contacts back into your address book on your phone. You never have to worry about losing them. ;)
 
Pookeysgirl said:
This. I did not need to have Gmail in order to get apps on my Galaxy S3 from the Playstore. I used my Google account which I signed up for with my Cogeco email address. You do not need Gmail.
Click to expand...

I never knew you didn't need a Gmail account to log into Google! I'm old school, meaning I got my Gmail account back when it was beta and invite only. Been using Gmail since before Android ever existed, so I had no idea you could log in to a Google account without a Gmail address.

It's nice to learn new things.. thanks. ;)
 
ayaznoor said:
you dont have to use a Gmail account for android phone, you only need a Google account. you will need Google account for downloading apps from Play, backing up data (including contacts). which means that you'll need to login only once, in the phone setup and thats it. later on, which ever email client you use, thats entirely upto you!
Click to expand...

Pookeysgirl said:
This. I did not need to have Gmail in order to get apps on my Galaxy S3 from the Playstore. I used my Google account which I signed up for with my Cogeco email address. You do not need Gmail.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm old school in using Gmail or something, but isn't your GMail account = your Google account?
 
I personally find the Gmail app not quite as good as the pc version, but does work well. I use k9, it's very configurable. You can push any other accounts to it. Android is great, with or without Gmail.
 
chanchan05 said:
Maybe I'm old school in using Gmail or something, but isn't your GMail account = your Google account?
Click to expand...
It is. If you have a Google account by default you have a Gmail account ( or vice versa). You also have 5GB on Google Drive, Google Docs, etc. There's no requirement to use any of it to keep your account active.
 
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