What's 2010 hold for Exchange server support on the Droid?

[TheCleaner]

I know TouchDown is out there but I really don't like it and think that the built in could work fine if it was "better".

Has anyone heard if 2.1 or higher will have better Exchange support? I'm curious why Google can't make Activesync on the Droid work like a WinMobile phone if they've gone so far as to license it from MS.

Anyone else in my shoes that simply wants all the things that TouchDown offers included with the phone's default apps?

 

[640k]

because it's not a winmo/microsoft product?

google calendar sync works great for synching the calendar online. contacts can be manually exported.

if you have activesync for exchange setup, it does communicate with the phone.

 

[TheCleaner]

because it's not a winmo/microsoft product?

google calendar sync works great for synching the calendar online. contacts can be manually exported.

if you have activesync for exchange setup, it does communicate with the phone.

Get back to OT.

If Google can license the technology I would think they could provide policy support and signatures and the ability to accept/decline meetings, etc. in the default app.

 

[640k]

that's what corporate calendar and email are for. exchange support is built in. your infrastructure must support it.

tethering your device to a PC is yesterday's technology.

 

[BzB]

I know TouchDown is out there but I really don't like it and think that the built in could work fine if it was "better".

Has anyone heard if 2.1 or higher will have better Exchange support? I'm curious why Google can't make Activesync on the Droid work like a WinMobile phone if they've gone so far as to license it from MS.

Anyone else in my shoes that simply wants all the things that TouchDown offers included with the phone's default apps?

just curious, what don't you like about touchdown? it's way better than the native exchange/email support and the best (imo) 3rd party exchange client available.

even if google improves exchange support there is still a lot of work needed on their email app ui and functionality. i just don't see google adding the functionality to it's default email app to bring it on par with touchdown. it would be nice though.

 

[bllarkin]

Get back to OT.

If Google can license the technology I would think they could provide policy support and signatures and the ability to accept/decline meetings, etc. in the default app.

There are updates to the implementation coming. I know on that leaked document from VZW from 6 weeks or so ago, they talked about Accept/Declining meetings from within the email app (you can do this, by the way, you just have to go into the calendar to do it). I know Signatures are a big thing (and it is an assigned issue on the Android site. Do I see all off this coming in 2.1? I doubt it, but it looks like some of it is coming in that update, and probably more in the next one.

 

[REARless]

that's what corporate calendar and email are for. exchange support is built in. your infrastructure must support it.

tethering your device to a PC is yesterday's technology.

I agree, if you are stuck in the MS - Exchange world, get a Windows OS phone.

The Droid is flawless with GMail.

I would rather see Android programmers spend time on issues other than collaborating with the Evil Empire.

 

[bllarkin]

just curious, what don't you like about touchdown? it's way better than the native exchange/email support and the best (imo) 3rd party exchange client available.

even if google improves exchange support there is still a lot of work needed on their email app ui and functionality. i just don't see google adding the functionality to it's default email app to bring it on par with touchdown. it would be nice though.

I don't know about the OP, but I don't like the look of TD at all. For me, it wasn't very intuitive. Also, having to spend $20 on functionality that was supposed to be built in isn't going to happen. The Exchange implementation as it is now is fine for me, as I don't have any issues with policy enforcement or anything on our system. Yes, I want signature support and having to go into the corporate calendar to accept appointments is a little annoying, but not enough that I need to spend $20 on an app just for a few little things.

 

[bllarkin]

I agree, if you are stuck in the MS - Exchange world, get a Windows OS phone.

The Droid is flawless with GMail.

I would rather see Android programmers spend time on issues other than collaborating with the Evil Empire.

Most corporate/large business environments use Exchange, so having Android work well with those systems is a benefit for the platform (more users) and for us as users (more users in a corporate environment = more voices for issues = more support). Exchange works well on Blackberry, iPhone, and WinMo platforms (not sure on WebOS, never used it), and Android is coming along. It's the first time they have implemented it, so I am sure the evolution will get the implementation better just as it has on other platforms.

 

[TheCleaner]

that's what corporate calendar and email are for. exchange support is built in. your infrastructure must support it.

tethering your device to a PC is yesterday's technology.

I use the corp calendar and email my nasioc brother, but it's nowhere near what TouchDown is and like bllarkin said the interface just looks too cartoony for me.

Maybe I'm missing what Activesync licensing means for google. They bought it, so I would think it would include every functionality and the SDK's and APIs to harness that functionality just like a WinMo phone (or even the IPhone) does.

 

[Groucho]

Your best bet is to go with Touchdown. They have a vested interest in improving their application's interaction with Exchange, Google does not.

 

[bllarkin]

that's what corporate calendar and email are for. exchange support is built in. your infrastructure must support it.

tethering your device to a PC is yesterday's technology.

I use the corp calendar and email my nasioc brother, but it's nowhere near what TouchDown is and like bllarkin said the interface just looks too cartoony for me.

Maybe I'm missing what Activesync licensing means for google. They bought it, so I would think it would include every functionality and the SDK's and APIs to harness that functionality just like a WinMo phone (or even the IPhone) does.

That should be what it means, but there were even issues with the iPhone in their first implementation with Exchange support. Give Android developers a little time, just because they have the APIs and such doesn't mean it just plugs in to the Android framework easily. They are still having to adapt it to work properly. As it is, I think the implementation we have is a decent starting point (though the lack of policy support is a deal breaker for some on a more locked-down Exchange environment).

 

[640k]

because the implementation exists, proper development is needed. the platform is designed for just that. it's not like your needs can't be met. when i first switched to android, i longed for an outlook-esque app.

i don't have coporate access, so i don't miss outlook at all. i'm glad to be freed from that tyrrany.

 

[BzB]

don't know about the OP, but I don't like the look of TD at all. For me, it wasn't very intuitive. Also, having to spend $20 on functionality that was supposed to be built in isn't going to happen. The Exchange implementation as it is now is fine for me, as I don't have any issues with policy enforcement or anything on our system. Yes, I want signature support and having to go into the corporate calendar to accept appointments is a little annoying, but not enough that I need to spend $20 on an app just for a few little things.

i suppose it could look a little more...industrial?...but the functionality it provides overshadows any issues with looks by far, in my book. as for intuitiveness, it's easier to setup than the native email/exchange and everything else seems pretty straight forward...to me at least. activesync push works flawlessly, you can choose which folders you want to keep synced, show received and sent messages in one view (had my bb set up like this), meeting requests, calendar sync, contacts sync, tasks sync, signatures, custom alerts, change font sizes, etc.

as for the cost, i was lucky enough to purchase this when it was $10 bucks so i understand those who were chafed when they raised the price to $20. but that said, you can't blame the developer for charging for an application that provides better and more extensive functionality than google provided standard. it would be nice if google included that functionality in android, but they didn't. plus we don't know when or if they will improve it to the level of what an app like touchdown does.

coming from a blackberry that i relied on heavily for work email/outlook (exchange) integration this application made the transition to android so much easier. i tried the native email app for a couple days and really disliked it. it's far too spartan for my needs. and to be honest, although the droid is much better overall than the blackberry i had i might have been forced to go back to blackberry if it weren't for touchdown.

to each their own though. the native email app cuts it for some users, in my case it was dreadful though. i do hope they improve the native email/exchange integration. this is one area where android really lacks for business users on exchange imo.

 

[bllarkin]

Yeah, I think that's where the difference is. I primarily use mine for email and calendar. I very rarely have to accept appointments, so going into the calendar to do it for the time being isn't a big deal. Replying to emails is easy enough, and I don't sync contacts, tasks, or anything like that with Exchange, so it doesn't matter.