As developers, we hate fragmentation. We want clean, standardized APIs.
But the world of email is the definition of fragmentation.
Google uses the Gmail API.
Microsoft uses the Graph API.
Legacy providers use IMAP/POP3.
Building an app that handles All mail in one app isn't just a UI challenge; it's a massive backend abstraction challenge.
I wanted to build a Universal Mail Client that treated all these different protocols as a single data stream. Here is how I approached building an Email Aggregator for Android.
- The Abstraction Layer To create a true all mail app I couldn't write separate logic for every provider in the UI layer.
I built a "Universal Adapter" pattern in the backend logic.
It normalizes the data structures (Subjects, Timestamps, Body).
It presents all mail in one email list to the Recycler View, regardless of whether it came from a REST API (Gmail) or a socket connection (IMAP).
- The "Smart Email Sync" Engine The hardest part of mobile development is battery life. Polling 5 different servers kills the battery.
I implemented a Smart Email Sync job. It batches network requests. Instead of waking the radio 50 times an hour, it intelligently fetches data to provide One Click Email Access whenever the user opens the app.
- Solving the Identity Crisis (OAuth & Tokens) Handling all mail login flows is a nightmare. OAuth2 implementation varies wildly between providers.
My goal was to build a Secure Email Client that abstracts this away.
The app securely stores refresh tokens in the Android Keystore.
It handles token rotation automatically.
This prevents the user from getting locked out, drastically reducing the need for all mail recovery flows due to expired sessions.
The Result
By solving these engineering problems, I built "mail App - All Mail Anywhere"
It is a free email app that successfully hides the complexity of the underlying protocols. It gives the user seamless all mail access without them ever knowing how hard it was to parse that IMAP packet.
If you are tired of dealing with fragmented interfaces, check out the result of this architecture.
You can examine the app here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.allmail.anywhere.inbox
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