emails and smartphones ... talk me through this

[Blossom'sGirl]

DH and I finally decided to get a pair of smartphones.  We have four email addresses with our internet company (One for account log in which we never give out, family one, homeschool one, and shopping one)  We also have a gmail account that we have been kinda sharing mostly for church and away from home communication because for some reason the internet account emails did not work on the laptops for sending emails.   

 

So now I am beginning to set up my smartphone and the first thing it wants is an email.  Is this usually the same email our wireless company will have?  Should we establish a whole new either imap or gmail account for us both or individually?  We would really rather have separate email accounts I think.  Also, can a google account have more than one email address associated with it?  I really don't want my current gmail address, but all my other devices and laptops are using that account which I do like for bookmarks and histories.

 

We also share a facebook account which may get tricky with Messenger if we want to communicate with each other.  People tell me that email is really dropping out of popularity but both dh and I are not really into FB much.  Dh is not a huge gadget guy.  The main reason we have shared email up till know is that he rarely checks it.

 

Would love some input.

 

 

[regentrude]

  People tell me that email is really dropping out of popularity

 

As somebody who receives a dozen emails a day and whose DH receives about one hundred I can assure you that email is not going anywhere anytime soon.

 

You can display the email from multiple email accounts on your phone; you do not need to create new accounts. I have three email accounts set up on my phone, none of which are related to my google account (that has another address which I am not using)

[Lanny]

If it is an Android phone, I believe (but am not positive) that the phone needs a Gmail account.  IMO one should not use email addresses on the domain of their ISP. If one changes to another ISP, that's an issue and can lead to losing contact with a lot of people, who do not update their email addresses, when asked to do so.

 

I have the Gmail App installed on my phone and use that for the Gmail email, which is the only email I send/receive on the phone.  I don't send/receive a lot of emails from my phone, but I did send one last night.

 

My phone also has an Email App, but I don't use that App, but I would, if I used another email account on my phone. 

 

 

[Blossom'sGirl]

Thanks.  It is an android and I am thinking gmail for the same reason  - I don't want my email chained to a specific ISP.   I do wonder if one is safer than the other.  I am planning on doing an email overhaul soon with all my accounts.  Most likely, I will not use my smartphone for online banking or shopping.  

[Lanny]

With regard to Facebook and Messenger. I usually spend 2 or 3 minutes a day on Facebook and I do not use Messenger unless one of my FB contacts sends me a message on Facebook. I assume that's what is meant by Messenger?

 

We live in Colombia, and like most people in the world (those outside the USA), we use a Messaging App called     "WhatsApp".  I read that Facebook paid about 20 billion dollars for WhatsApp, a few years ago. We use WhatsApp for several Chats in our HOA,  we sometimes use it within the house, I sent my wife and DD a couple of messages via WhatsApp when I was running errands today. 

 

ETA: I trust Gmail more with regard to Security. They are far from perfect, but probably way ahead of any local ISP with regard to Security of their servers. Any computer connected to a network, the Internet or another network, can be hacked if someone wants to try.

 

Edited March 14, 2018 by Lanny

[ashfern]

You can set up your emails to forward to your gmail account. I have 2 different business accounts and my alumni account all forward to my gmail. That way I only ever have to check one email account. My DH finally got a Facebook account this year. I think it's weird when people share FB accounts. All of my kids (biological & church kids) use the GroupMe app for messaging.

[Miss Tick]

If you share the email accounts, you may want to check your phone settings, once email is connected, so that deleting email from your phone does not delete it from the server. Or not! YMMV

[magnificent_baby]

I monitor all my emails from my phone, rarely my computer anymore. I have 2 gmail accounts, one for online shopping orders/coupons/junk and the other I use for personal (sports, church, kids' school communication, etc). They both operate under the same email icon so it's really easy to access either one. It's also nice to click on any dates mentioned in emails and enter an event on google calendar. 

 

DH has his own, no way would I want to sift through his. Any kids related activity gets both of our email addresses when signing up. 

[wendy not in HI]

I have 3 different gmail accounts.  I am able to toggle through them through the gmail app on my phone. For a long time, I just used my personal email on my phone and did work emails at the computer, but I feel like I need to check my work email more often now, so I added it to my phone's gmail app. 

 

I don't think you have to set up a new email account for your phone you can just use one you already have. I think you can decide if you want to access all of your current emails on your phone or just have access to one on your phone.

 

I shut off notifications on my work email over the weekends so I don't get those notifications when I don't want them, but I can open it up and check it if I feel like it.

 

I am also able to switch between gmail accounts for google docs and sheets.  I keep my work calendar separate from my home calendar...

 

I have an older yahoo account that I am also able to access on my phone, but I don't check it often...

 

My husband and I share facebook.  He doesn't have messenger on his phone, so if we get a message that is meant for him, I'll make sure he sees it when he's at home.  

 

 

[Farrar]

For communicating with each other, you're going to use text anyway so I don't see that there's any issues around that. Keep your same email and have it tied to both phones if you want. Or change it. Either way is fine.

 

If you're not into social media, it's okay. Email is no longer the chattiest form of communication that it once was because of social media, but it's still the workhorse of how people exchange one to one basic information, files, etc. It's a more reliable way to get in touch than social media in many cases. Everyone still has email.

[Tree Frog]

I use an app called Blue Mail that has 2 accounts tied to it, one a gmail account. I also use the gmail app for my personal ad business gmail accts, and the yahoo app for both my husband's and my accts. A lot of different apps, but they all serve a different purpose. Blue Mail is the easiest to use of the 3. 

 

[LucyStoner]

All of my email accounts point to a single gmail account. I can send email from each of these accounts from my gmail.