google gets imap

Three years of waiting, Gmail might finally bring in IMAP, “an application layer Internet protocol […] that allows a local client to access e-mail on a remote server.” Download Squad reports that several of its readers are seeing an option to enable IMAP Access to other client.

Google has been having POP3 since the day it launch, but IMAP has many advantages over POP3 (according to Wikipedia), including faster response time and can synchronize the state of the messages with the server so you don’t have to “sift through emails that had already been answered,” as Download Squad’s Chris Gilmer put it.

Here’s my question though: How come Google is now building a lot of things that are specifically Made for iPhone? Anyways, the option can be found under Setting->Forward and POP/IMAP, go there and see if you have it. :)

[screenshot from Download Squad]

UPDATE: The Gmail Blog confirms the news, adding that they will “roll out the feature over the next couple of days.” Google created a little video on how to setup IMAP on iPhone.