How does an e-mail app work?

[Abudis]

I know it's a weird question. Let me explain what I mean.

Everytime I wanted to view my Microsoft e-mail, I went onto the Outlook website, log-in (email address and password) and view my mail. The same thing for Gmail. The same for my university e-mail.

Because I wanted to have my University e-mail address show up in my phone, I tried using the stock Samsung e-mail app. I opened it, choose "Other" at the step where it asks you what type of e-mail you want to set-up and then asks me for my email address and the password and boom. All my e-mails, my folders, everything is there

How does this work exactly? Or maybe, not exactly, ELI10

[minibois]

1 minute ago, Abudis said:

Because I wanted to have my University e-mail address show up in my phone, I tried using the stock Samsung e-mail app. I opened it, choose "Other" at the step where it asks you what type of e-mail you want to set-up and then asks me for my email address and the password and boom. All my e-mails, my folders, everything is there

How does this work exactly? Or maybe, not exactly, ELI10

In short: API.

Different email providers will have different systems (POP, IMAP) or API's through which it is possible for an email client to get data. What data? Your emails, contacts, etc.

 

This video gives a bit of information on what an API does:

(note the title!)

it only shows a couple different aspects, but just think about it this way:

- you log in to your email in a new client

- client gets this info, wraps it up, presents it to the email provider (i.e. Gmail)

- email client checks if stuff is alright (right password and stuff) and if it checks out, gives the email client a 'token'. This token allows the email client to work with Gmail

- now the email client can ask Gmail for your mail and such, using this token.

- this asking for mail and such is the API part doing its work.

[flashiling]

well. if they're setup as an imap it automatically synchronizes the data from the web server to your local storage.

Outlook and Gmail are just interfaces that you use to view the mails

[andjayik]

What email apps for windows 10 can you use to have all your email come up in one program like outlook. I have gmail and others i want all my email into one email client.

[Abudis]

Thank you all for your answers, I have a slightly better understanding now. So if I get it right, the API is setup on the email provider side of things? Are there "types" of API somewhat standard or does every provider have to build their own?

[Aljaxus]

On 9/17/2020 at 8:20 AM, Abudis said:

Thank you all for your answers, I have a slightly better understanding now. So if I get it right, the API is setup on the email provider side of things? Are there "types" of API somewhat standard or does every provider have to build their own?

There are written standards for all these protocols (IMAP, SMTP, POP, ...) It's internet traffic - you have protocols like http(s) for webpages/webapps (gmal.com / outlook.com) and then you have SMTP - which is for example most likely used by this very forum software to send you emails when needed - and FTP and many, many other well-known protocols.

 

These are just the standardized ways that are used by different services to communicate with each other. Like the example given above (the linustecttips.com forum), when the forum software "decides" that it's time to send you an email it most likely doesn't sent it by itself. It constructs the email content (and other stuff like who to send it to etc...) and then it just passes that information to the email server (something like gmail and outlook - not the webpages, but the services that are used for actual email processing. you as a user don't really interact with these) which then sends the notification email to Google's (or Microsoft's) email servers which then process the email, verify that the sender it "leggit" (to determine if it's spam or phishing, etc..) and if everything checks out it stores it and send you a "HEY! you have a new email" to your phone.

 

It's a bit more complicated than that, but I hope you get the point