Frustrated trying to get the native gmail application working on your windows mobile 6.1 handset?

I've had my LG i910 smart phone almost a year now. It runs Windows Mobile 6.1.  I've been using the messaging application to gather my gmail, but like all those who are googleites I wanted to use the native gmail application like you can on iphone and blackberry. 

I found an instruction description which worked for me.  There are a few nuances to the process which I'll try and describe here.

The original blog post is here. Thanks to Sherif  for posing the instructions.

The problem is that Windows mobile 6.1 doesn't have a Java Runtime Engine (JRE), so when you try and download the gmail.jad file, there is no program associated with it to launch and handle the code.

IBM has been kind enough to publish a Windows mobile compatible JRE. The file can be found by clicking here: IBM MIDP 2.0 Java Emulator V2.3.CAB. You should be automatically prompted to install the CAB.


Now visit the Google mobile site and download the gmail.jar file. http://gmail.com/app/v2.0.6/L1/gmail-g.jar

This should now launch the IBM MIDP application and give you a tidy Gmail - 2.0.6 menu. I was tempted to choose install, but I found that choosing the Actions menu and then the Launch option was better.

You should be prompted for a gmail login. The text fields look like they should accept text, but when you use the text input, nothing happens. You must tap the email address and password fields to open an input screen. After logging in, I was prompted to authorize gmail to access the data network until gmail is closed. I liked this option. I had to explicitly allow the app to access the data app.


Feel free to leave comments below with questions. I'll help as much as I am able.

Randy