Gmail down for some iOS, Android users

It seems Gmail is down for some iOS and Android devices. A number of users are complaining of an IMAP error occuring when they try to access Gmail through their devices. According to reports, users are receiving a 'mail service imap.gmail.com is not responding' error message when trying to access their accounts via IMAP.

The cause of the problem is currently not clear, but Google has stated in an email to AllThingsD that it is looking into the problem and is working on rolling out a fix. Google also states on its support page under the ‘Pop, IMAP and Sync’ tab, “We are aware of an issue where users are receiving an error that '"imap.gmail.com" is not responding' when using IMAP on their computers, mobile devices, or tablets. We are currently working on resolving this issue”. It has also listed a couple of workarounds on the page. The workarounds include trying to access Gmail through a web browser or by installing the Gmail application for the various devices while the problem is being sorted out.

Gmail acting up for some iOS, Android users

Currently, the Google Product Forums are witnessing a flood of posts by Gmail users complaining of the issue. The issue was first reported on August 8, and was first thought to be a problem faced mainly by iOS users, but some Android users have complained of the problem too. Gmail is one of the most widely used email services available today. Thankfully, only a handful of users are facing this issue, and it is not widespread.

This is not the first time one of Google’s services has failed. The company’s popular chat and messenger service, Google Talk, suffered a worldwide outage late last month. Users trying to access the service were seeing error messages or experiencing unexpected behaviour. In the first message that Google posted after the outage, it confirmed that it was investigating the issue, and would provide more information soon. In a later update, Google added, "We're aware of a problem with Google Talk affecting a majority of users. The affected users are able to access Google Talk, but are seeing error messages and/ or other unexpected behavior. We will provide an update by 7/26/12 5:20 PM detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change."

After the issue with Gtalk was fixed, Google issued an apology, “The problem with Google Talk should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better. If you are still experiencing an issue, please contact us via the Google Help Center”.