So I had this idea a little while back, and I think it is something gmail should really have. When I access my mail via imap (on my iphone), I would like to remove some messages from my inbox, and currently the only way to do this is to delete them. This kind of goes against what gmail is about. So I was thinking that google should implement some sort of feature where the 'delete' functionality in imap actually just archives the message. Thoughts?

Apparently, Google considers the default new iPhone IMAP Delete --> Trash/auto-deleted-after-30-days behavior to be an enhancement vs. previous Delete --> Archive only.

Here are instructions on how to bypass that:
http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/important-changes-to-email-deletion-on.html

[No, I don't have an iPhone, but read the blog anyway]. Next idea?

No, IMAP delete puts it in the trash. the "old" delete was on POP, which merely deleted the local version of the message but did nothing to the copy of the message on Google's servers. Not on to the next idea quite yet.

Basically you want to archive, rather than delete, messages at the server while you're connected via the iPhone (I trust I paraphrased *that* right). So how is Google's Recommended Workaround NOT what you're asking for? Here's the relevant snippet off the blog [url above]:

> [...] If you want mail you delete on your iPhone to get archived in
> Gmail rather than moved to the Trash, you can manually set
> up IMAP using the "Other" menu option and follow the instructions
> in the Gmail Help Center or in our instructional video.