<p>You may have noticed towards the end of 2012, Google started cleaning house and turning off some services many of us have come to depend on. One such service was Google's Sync Services for Gmail, which allowed iOS users to access their Gmail accounts via the Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) protocol, which enables "push" email. Its removal didn't go into effect for existing users right away, but the manner in which Google pulled support for Google Sync was a ticking time bomb for iOS users.</p><p>The effect is that the next major Apple release, like an iOS 7 or the debut of a new iPad or iPhone, will mean existing Google mail users will no longer have access to Google Sync. However, there are three ways iOS users can continue to use Google's email solution, and still be kept up to date with your messages.No longer grandfathered in</p><p>The main advantage that an EAS-configured Gmail account on iOS has over using the regular Gmail account setting is that it can be set up as a "Push" service rather than a "Fetch" service. Push is where Google will tell the email client on the device every time a new mail item is sent to your inbox. Fetch is where the mail client must ask Google to see if a new mail item has arrived in your inbox. With fetch, you can only ask the mail server every 15, 30 or 60 minutes if you have a new message.</p><p>The good news back in December was that any iOS configured Gmail accounts that were already connected to Gmail via the EAS configuration remained grandfathered in. This allowed Gmail account users to continue using the EAS configuration for as long as the device remained connected. However, whenever an iOS device that was once configured to use Gmail as an EAS client is either restored, updated to a major new iOS version, or upgraded to a new device entirely, the EAS connectivity setting will be lost.</p><p><a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/07/05/push-alternatives-for-your-gmail-messages-on-ios/">Keep reading...</a></p>