I’m working on a mobile app and need to fetch the most recent 25 sent emails from users’ email accounts. I’ve been looking into different approaches for each provider.
For Gmail, I found some Java libraries that might work. Yahoo seems to have their own Mail API that could be useful. However, I’m stuck when it comes to Hotmail/Outlook integration.
Has anyone successfully implemented email retrieval from Hotmail? I’m also concerned about adding too many external libraries to my project. Would it be better to use a unified solution or maybe try web scraping instead?
Any suggestions on the best approach for this kind of email integration would be really helpful.
Had this exact problem last year. Microsoft Graph API is your best bet for Outlook - works with both Hotmail and Outlook accounts through the same endpoint. Docs are solid and it uses standard OAuth2.
You’re smart to worry about app bloat. I went with IMAP instead since Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook all support it. One library handles all three providers instead of separate SDKs. You just configure different server settings for each.
IMAP authentication is trickier now - most providers killed basic auth, so you’ll need app passwords. But once that’s setup, grabbing sent emails is easy. Just navigate to the Sent folder.
Heads up: Yahoo’s IMAP gets flaky during busy times. Add retry logic if you go that route.
Microsoft Graph API is definitely the way to go for Hotmail/Outlook integration. I built this exact feature six months ago and hit the same issues with multiple provider support. You’re right about avoiding too many libraries. Started with provider-specific SDKs but the maintenance was a nightmare. Each provider has different rate limits, error handling, and auth quirks. One thing nobody mentioned - nail down your OAuth token refresh handling. Gmail tokens die after an hour, Outlook lasts longer. Your app needs to handle this smoothly without making users re-authenticate constantly. Also, fetching sent emails needs different permission scopes per provider. Request minimal permissions - users freak out when apps want broad email access. For sent items, you usually just need read-only mail permissions, not full mailbox access. The backend proxy approach someone mentioned earlier is solid. Keeps your mobile app light and gives you better rate limit control.
Web scraping emails is a nightmare. I’ve tried it - breaks every time providers update their UI.
Go with the unified approach. Skip juggling multiple APIs and OAuth flows for each provider. Get something that handles the complexity for you.
I deal with this at work constantly when integrating multiple email services. Automation workflows that connect all providers through one interface always save me.
For your mobile app, build a backend service that fetches emails automatically. Authenticate once with each provider, then pull those 25 recent sent emails on schedule or demand. Your app hits one clean endpoint instead of managing three integrations.
This keeps the heavy work and API credentials on your backend - way more secure than cramming multiple SDKs into your mobile app.
The automation platform I use makes connecting Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook dead simple in one workflow. No separate libraries cluttering your code.
Check out Latenode for this kind of unified email integration: https://latenode.com
gmail’s rate limiting will bite u - they’re strict on api calls. hit this issue pulling sent emails for a client dashboard. microsoft graph api handled high volume way better. also heads up - folder structures vary between providers. ‘sent’ folders use different names depending on the service.