Gmail vs Mail app on iOS, is there any benefit to the latter?

[Kendo]

I've been using the native Gmail app on my iPhone for years. I like how the mailbox refreshes in real-time whenever new mail comes in. With the Mail app, you need to constantly pull down and refresh. With that being said, since there isn't a native Gmail app for Apple Watch, I was going to configure my Gmail account with the Mail app.

Is there any benefit to using the Mail app on iPhone? What are the advantages it has?

 

[Howard Ellacott]

It doesn’t fetch which is annoying but handoff with the Mac is useful and the app looks better compared to gmail which is very android like. I’d try it and see if the benefits outweigh the slight delay

 

[one more]

I can mainly think of disadvantages when using Gmail via Apple Mail - to name a few, fetching email and sorting it with labels is just way smoother in Gmail app.

The only possible AM plus I can think of is its UI, if you prefer it to that of Gmail app, but functionality-wise I still find Gmail better.

 

[Dog Bone Malone]

I use both on my 14PM. I find them equally useful and beneficial.

 

[Rendergroup]

Have also both apps.
On Mail app you can compose an email in plain TXT, Google app does not.
On Mail app you can use S/mime Certificates, Google app does not.

But...
Gmail app notifies an incoming email even faster than you Mac laptop, Workstation.

 

[KepsInscription]

Probably doesn't have Ads

 

[Insidious]

Apple’s Mail app has been disappointing for me lately. I was hoping iOS 17 would have improved it, but I’m still experiencing the same issues. It takes forever to refresh the inbox. Sometimes a refresh will show I have 1 or 2 new emails if I am viewing all mailboxes, but it will hang on “Checking for mail…” for awhile before it shows me the emails. Then they appear blank when I try to open them because they’re not finished downloading yet.

There are times where my inboxes stop refreshing all day and then I’ll get bombarded with important mail that I should’ve seen hours ago, even when I’ve tried refreshing the inbox manually throughout the day. So if I want Push support for Gmail, I need to use the Gmail app? I hate using 3rd party apps when Apple already has nice apps built in, but I think I’ll have to in this case.

 

[Kendo]

Apple’s Mail app has been disappointing for me lately. I was hoping iOS 17 would have improved it, but I’m still experiencing the same issues. It takes forever to refresh the inbox. Sometimes a refresh will show I have 1 or 2 new emails if I am viewing all mailboxes, but it will hang on “Checking for mail…” for awhile before it shows me the emails. Then they appear blank when I try to open them because they’re not finished downloading yet.

There are times where my inboxes stop refreshing all day and then I’ll get bombarded with important mail that I should’ve seen hours ago, even when I’ve tried refreshing the inbox manually throughout the day. So if I want Push support for Gmail, I need to use the Gmail app? I hate using 3rd party apps when Apple already has nice apps built in, but I think I’ll have to in this case.

I feel the same way with 3rd party apps but not with Google. After all, I use Gmail so their native Gmail app is almost a “1st party” to me. Same with Google Maps.

To me that’s different from say using “Coconut Battery” to check my battery level or another weather app to replace the default iOS weather app.