Push-IMAP, which is otherwise known as P-IMAP or ''Push extensions for

Internet Message Access Protocol In computing, the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is an Internet standard protocol used by email clients to retrieve email messages from a mail server over a TCP/IP connection. IMAP is defined by . IMAP was designed with the goal of per ...

'', is an email protocol designed as a faster way to synchronise a mobile device like a PDA or

smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

to an email server. It was developed by

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

and other partners, and based on

IMAP In computing, the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is an Internet standard protocol used by email clients to retrieve email messages from a mail server over a TCP/IP connection. IMAP is defined by . IMAP was designed with the goal of per ...

with additional enhancements for optimization in a mobile setting. It was submitted as input to the

Lemonade Profile The Lemonade Profile is a set of protocols and mandatory extensions which provides email access to diverse environments, including mobile handsets and other resource constrained devices. It is the product of an IETF Working Group, and is largely bas ...

IETF Working Group The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a standards organization for the Internet and is responsible for the technical standards that make up the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). It has no formal membership roster or requirements and a ...

- but was not included in the resulting RFC 4550.

The protocol

The protocol was designed to provide for a secure way to automatically keep communicating new messages between a server and a mobile device like a

PDA PDA may refer to: Science and technology * Patron-driven acquisition, a mechanism for libraries to purchase books *Personal digital assistant, a mobile device * Photodiode array, a type of detector * Polydiacetylenes, a family of conducting poly ...

Smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...

. It should reduce the time and effort needed to synchronize messages between the two by using an open connection that is kept alive by some kind of heartbeat. To reduce necessary

bandwidth Bandwidth commonly refers to: * Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range * Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...

, it uses compression and command macros. Additionally, P-IMAP features a mechanism for sending email that is derived from (but not identical to)

SMTP The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an Internet standard communication protocol for electronic mail transmission. Mail servers and other message transfer agents use SMTP to send and receive mail messages. User-level email clients typical ...

, and so a rich email service is provided using a single connection. P-IMAP should not be viewed as an alternative to the

IMAP IDLE In email technology, IDLE is an IMAP feature described iRFC 2177that allows a client to indicate to the server that it is ready to accept real-time notifications. Significance The IDLE feature allows IMAP email users to immediately receive any mai ...

command (RFC 2177). In fact, IDLE is one of the required mechanisms for a P-IMAP server to notify the client (optional notifications are

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

WAP Push Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network. A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that use the protocol. Introduced in 1999, WAP achieve ...

Other mobile technologies

Although they are both based on IMAP, the

Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Mail is an email service launched on October 8, 1997, by the American company Yahoo (2017–present), Yahoo, Inc. The service is free for personal use, with an optional monthly fee for additional features. Business email was previously av ...

and

iCloud iCloud is a Personal cloud, cloud service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011 as a successor to MobileMe. , the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016. iCloud enables users to sync their data to t ...

push email services for iPhone do not use a standard form of P-IMAP. Yahoo! Mail uses a special UDP message to trigger an email synchronization, while

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

's iCloud push email uses a variant of

XMPP Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP, originally named Jabber) is an open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), it ...

References

External links

* * * {{Email clients Internet mail protocols

The protocol

Other mobile technologies

See also

References

External links