How are third-party mobile email apps reported?
Smartphones (and the people that own them) have multiple ways of accessing email. Users might use the built-in (or "native") email application on their phone, or they might download/install applications made by third-party software developers. For example, the native application on the iPhone is called Mail, while Gmail, Yahoo! and Mailbox also offer third-party applications for iOS.
Opens tracked on smartphones and tablets are classified as mobile opens in Email Analytics, regardless of the specific application used to open the email. In addition, webmail opens on smartphones (opens made outside an application, but still in the web browser on the device) are also classified as mobile opens.
In some cases, opens made in third-party email applications will appear in your stats as mobile webmail opens (for example, the AOL Mail iOS app appears as "AOL Mail using iPhone"). Custom applications, like Mailbox, that use WebKit as their rendering engine will appear as native iPhone mail app opens (for example, Mailbox appears as "Apple iPhone"). When this happens, Email Analytics is unable to differentiate between the native iPhone application and the Mailbox application because they both use WebKit to render, and provide the same type of identifying information back to us.
Third-party email apps we've tested are documented below:
iPhone| Application | Reports |
|---|---|
| Gmail app (iOS) | Gmail using Google Cache* |
| Yahoo! app (iOS) | Yahoo! Mail using Yahoo's Image Cache** |
| Mailbox app (iOS) | Apple iPhone |
| m.gmail.com (Mobile Safari) | Gmail using Google Cache |
| Outlook app (iOS) | Apple iPhone*** |
| Application | Reports |
|---|---|
| Gmail app (iOS) | Gmail using Google Cache* |
| Yahoo! app (iOS) | Yahoo! Mail using Yahoo's Image Cache** |
| Mailbox app (iOS) | Apple iPad |
| AOL app (iOS) | AOL Mail using iPad |
| Molto app (iOS) | Apple iPad |
| MyMail app (iOS) | Apple iPad |
| Outlook app (iOS) | Apple iPhone*** |
Android
| Application | Reports |
|---|---|
| Gmail app (Android) | Gmail using Google Cache |
| Yahoo! Mail app (Android) | Yahoo! Mail using Yahoo's Image Cache |
| Outlook app (Android) | Google Android |
* Prior to Google's image caching added in December 2013, these opens would have appeared as Gmail using iPhone or Gmail using iPad. **Prior to Yahoo’s image caching added in March 2018, these opens would have appeared as Yahoo using iPhone or Yahoo using iPad. ***Older versions of the Outlook iOS opens may report as Outlook on iOS.