There are 2 types of PUSH services provided by iMailG as detailed in this page.

Hosted PUSH Subscription

This type of service is very easy to setup. You just need to purchase the yearly or lifetime subscription via the (i) button located at lower right corner. And you can easily configure the various PUSH settings including the quiet time, ringtone and badge etc. The service is hosted on a highly secured Linux server that automatically checks your gmail account and sends PUSH notifications to your device.

There is nothing else to worry as the hosting server takes care of everything. The server and its communication links are highly secured using multiple levels of encryption including SSL and obfuscation and cipher-based encryption. The credentials are used solely for sending your notifications when new mails arrived, and would never be shared with any 3rd-party.

Private & Permanent PUSH

*NEW* open-source .Net application is released for iMailG Private PUSH - iGmail Service

*NEW* open-source python script is released for iMailG Private PUSH - iMailG python

Private PUSH is a new type of PUSH service designed for computer savvy users only. Comparing to the hosted PUSH subscription, it has the following advantages:

  • One-time fee - unlike the hosted subscription relying on external PUSH server, the private push is running on your own computer. In return, you save money because the reduction of server cost makes the annual subscription fee no longer necessary.
  • Privacy - your email password is stored locally on your own computer. Our PUSH server only processes the notifications sent from an agent script installed on your computer, and it doesn't need to know your email account at all. The agent script itself is open source and can be reviewed by anyone to ensure security.
  • Negligible - The extra load added to your computer is very minor and totally negligible.
  • Customization - With some programming knowledge, the PUSH message can be customized to suit your own taste. You may also program sophisticated quiet rules depending on your working schedule or even link it to your own calendar. All freedom is at your hand. But please NOTE that we DO NOT provide support for the agent.
The disadvantages are:
  • You need to take a bit trouble to install the Windows Service or the PHP agent script on your computer, although we do have detailed instructions as following.
  • You need to have a computer running during the time when you want to receive PUSH notification. Or you may upload and run the agent script (only 1 file) in any PHP hosting site (does require PHP5 with IMAP support and command prompt access to run php in command-line mode).
  • You need to be computer savvy as we don't provide support to the script running on your computer - seriously don't be surprised if you got no reply asking anything related to the agent script. e.g. if you want to know how to deploy the script as a background process, you need to google for any generic PHP CLI(command line) solution for your system by yourself. That said, we do provide some helpful links at the bottom of this page to save you some searching time.

Installation and Configuration

  1. First, we're honored to introduce an open-source application created by Nikos Bilalis running on the Windows Platform - iGmail Service. You should check it out if you're interested in running an agent on Windows platform. It's much simpler than the following PHP solution. Please skip step 2-3 and 6-7 if you choose to use this solution. Or if you are interested in Amazon EC2 hosting, try the python script created by Michael Komitee.
  2. In case the above open-source solutions don't suit your need, the other option is PHP - Install PHP5 with IMAP support depending on your operating system, as detailed in the following sections. NOTE: you must ensure the IMAP and "Multi-byte String" supports are present, otherwise the agent will quit itself after 10 seconds of running.
  3. Download the agent script bundle by clicking the link "igmailAgent7.zip", and unzip it into a folder on your computer, let's call it agent folder, e.g. /igmail/agent/ or any folder you like to name.
  4. Open iMailG on your device and purchase the "Private & Permanent PUSH" in the shopping cart.
  5. Wait for an email with instructions to create a file named "igmail.ini", then place this file in the agent folder.
  6. Start a command prompt and cd into the agent folder, e.g. MacOS X
    cd /igmail/agent/     Windows XP
    cd c:\igmail\agent\
  7. In the same prompt window, run the following command accordingly (NOTE: each line is a full command to be typed in the prompt): MacOS X
    /usr/local/php5/bin/php igmailAgent.php     Windows XP
    c:\php5\php.exe igmailAgent.php

MacOS X installation

  • Downloading the PHP package: It is recommended that you download PHP 5.2.x package from http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/php/
  • Once you download is complete, double-click on the file to start the installation process.
  • Press the "continue" buttons until install is finished.

Windows XP installation

  • Downloading the PHP package: It is recommended that you download PHP 5.2.x Windows Installer package from http://php.net/downloads.php
  • Once you download is complete, double-click on the file to start the installation process.
  • Press the "next" buttons and change the destination folder to "C:\PHP5".
  • Press the "next" buttons and select "do not setup a web server".
  • Press the "next" buttons and when choose items to install, select "IMAP" and "Multi-Byte String" from the extensions.
  • Press the "next" buttons and the "install" button until the install is finished.

Useful Tips

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