Start with Step 5, where you review the account settings.
The only change between creating the first email account and adding more is that you will be asked whether the new account is the primary or default account. See the later section “Setting the primary email account” for details.
The new email account is synchronized immediately after it’s added, and you see the inbox. See the later section “Checking the inbox.”
Adding an account manually
If your email account isn’t recognized, or some other booboo happens, you have to manually add the account. The steps in the preceding sec- tions remain the same, but you need to provide more specific and techni- cal details. This information includes tidbits such as the server name, port address, domain name, and other bothersome details.
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My advice is to contact your ISP or email provider: Look on their website for specific directions on connecting an Android tablet to their email account.
Contact them directly if you cannot locate specific information.
The good news is that manual setup is very rare these days. Most ISPs and webmail accounts are added painlessly, as described earlier in this chapter.
Adding a corporate email account
The easiest way to set up your evil corporation’s email on your tablet is to have the IT people do it for you. Or you may be fortunate and on the organi- zation’s intranet you’ll find directions. I present this tip because configuring corporate email, also known as Exchange Service email, can be a difficult and terrifying ordeal.
It’s possible to add the account on your own, but you still need detailed information. Specifically, you need to know the domain name, which may not be the same as the outfit’s website domain. Other details may be required as well.
Above all, you need to apply a secure screen lock to your tablet to access Outlook email. This means you need to add a PIN or password to the device, which is covered in Chapter 20. You cannot access the Exchange Server with- out that added level of security.
And there’s more!
You also need to grant Remote Security Administration privileges. This means your organization’s IT gurus will have the power to remotely wipe all information your Android tablet. You must activate that feature, which is part of the setup process.
The bonus is that when you’re done, you’ll have full access to the Exchange Server info. That includes your email messages, as well as the corporate address book and calendar. Refer to Chapter 5 for information on the tablet’s address book app; the Calendar app is covered in Chapter 14.
Message for You!
New email arrives into your tablet automatically, picked up according to the Gmail and Email apps’ synchronization schedules. On newer tablets, use the Gmail app to read all your email. Otherwise, use the Email app to read non‐Gmail email.
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Getting a new message
The arrival of a new email epistle is heralded by a notification icon. Each email app generates its own version.
For a new Gmail message, the New Gmail notification, similar to the one shown in the margin, appears at the top of the touchscreen.
For a new email message, you see the New Email notification.
Conjure the notifications drawer to review the email notifications. Tap a notification to be whisked to an inbox for instant reading, as described in the next section.
Checking the inbox
To peruse your Gmail, start the Gmail app. The Gmail inbox is shown in Figure 6-1.
Choose non‐Gmail accounts by tapping the account icon from the navigation drawer (refer to Figure 6-1). You can view only one account’s inbox at a time.
If your tablet still uses the Email app, open it to view its inbox. You see a single account’s inbox, or you can choose to view the universal inbox, shown as Combined view in Figure 6-2.
✓Gmail doesn’t show up in the Email app. Use the Gmail app to read your Google mail.
✓The Gmail app lacks a combined inbox. To view specific inboxes, tap an account bubble on the navigation drawer, as illustrated in Figure 6-1.
✓Multiple email accounts that are gathered in the Email app are color‐
coded. When you view the combined inbox, you see the color codes to the left of each message — as long as messages from multiple accounts are available.
✓To view an individual account’s inbox in the Email app, choose the account from the navigation drawer.
Reading email
To view a specific email message, tap its entry in the Inbox, as shown earlier in Figures 6-1 and 6-2. Or you can choose a new email notification. Reading and working with the message operate much the same whether you’re using the Gmail or Email app:
✓Swipe the message up or down by using your finger to read it.
✓Browse between messages by swiping the screen left or right.
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✓Tap the left‐pointing arrow or chevron at the top left corner of the screen to return to the inbox.
To work with the message, use the icons that appear above or below the message. These icons, which may not look exactly like those shown in the margin, cover common email actions:
Reply: Tap this icon to reply to a message. A new message window appears with the To and Subject fields reflecting the original sender(s) and subject.
Figure 6-1: The Gmail inbox.
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Reply All: Tap this icon to respond to everyone who received the original message, including folks on the Cc line. Use this option only when everyone else must get a copy of your reply.
Forward: Tap this icon to send a copy of the message to someone else.
Delete: Tap this icon to delete a message.
You may not see the Reply All and Forward icons when the tablet is in its vertical orientation. Turn the tablet horizontally to see all three icons, along with the Favorite icon.
Additional email commands can be found by tapping the Action Overflow icon, as shown in the margin. The commands available depend on what you’re doing in the Gmail or Email app at the time you touch the icon.
If you’ve properly configured the Email program, you don’t need to delete messages you’ve read. See the section “Configuring the Delete Email from Server option,” later in this chapter.
Figure 6-2: Messages in the Email app.
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Write a New Email Message
The Gmail and Email apps not only receive electronic mail but can also be used to spawn new mail. This section describes the various ways to create a message using your tablet.
Starting a message from scratch
Creating a new email epistle works similarly in both the Gmail and Email apps. The key is to find the Compose icon. Tap that icon and then fill in the blanks, adding a recipient, subject, and message text. Figure 6-3 shows how the email composition screen might look. Its features should be familiar to you if you’ve ever written email on a computer.
Figure 6-3: Writing a new email message.
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To send the message, touch the Send icon, illustrated in Figure 6-3 and shown in the margin.
✓To choose an email account for sending, tap the chevron next to your name atop the Compose screen, shown in Figure 6-3. Otherwise, the pri- mary or default email account is used. See the later section “Setting the primary email account.”
✓You need only type a few letters of the recipient’s name. Matching con- tacts from the tablet’s address book appear in a list. Tap a contact to automatically fill in the To field.
✓If you can’t see the CC and BCC fields, tap the chevron, shown in Figure 6-3, to display those fields. Or you can tap the Action Overflow icon and choose the Add Cc/Bcc command.
✓To cancel a message, tap the Action Overflow icon and choose Discard.
This action might also be found on the Compose screen. Tap the OK button or Discard button to confirm.
✓Save a message by choosing the Save Draft action from the Action Overflow menu. Drafts are saved in the Drafts folder. You can open them there for further editing or sending.
✓Some tablets feature a formatting toolbar in the Email app. Use the tool- bar to change the way the text looks in your message.
Sending email to a contact
A quick and easy way to compose a new message is to find a contact and then create a message using that contact’s information. Heed these steps: