Gmail on iOS: Why does Gmail take so long to load whereas Mail stays in memory?

5 points by kuhnster ↗ HN
Are all apps treated equally in iOS and does Mail get special privileges?

5 comments

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Gmail is a hybrid app where certain elements are developed in html5 and displayed in UIWebview. Mail is a native app.
Exactly, I think we're comparing different things here. You can install Gmail (POP3/iMap) inside Mail.app
Apple can use private/undocumented APIs which are forbidden from App Store apps. I believe you can run a strings command on the itunes file to see what the APIs are called.
This is complete speculation, and not even good speculation.

Gmail for iOS is essentially a single-site web browser, whereas the Mail app is a full iOS app utilizing the full CocoaTouch frameworks. A native app is going to have a faster experience.

Also, use objdump or something, like a professional -- not strings.