Forwarding attachments from your phone

Several people reported to me that they have had problems forwarding emails with attachments.  I ran some tests on both Android and iPhone.  Here is what I found:

If you are using an Android with the default email program that comes with the phone, as is the norm, and if you simply open an email that contains an attachment and then try to forward that email to someone else, the recipient will receive the email but not the attachment.  The reason for this problem is that the phone only sends what it has. By default, the phone does not download an attachment simply because you open an email.  Doing so would quickly clutter up the limited hard drive space you have on your phone as well as wastes bandwidth that costs extra when used excessively.

If you click on the attachment and download it to your phone and then try to forward it to someone, that forwarded message should include the attachment.   That was the case on several tests I tried on my Galaxy S5.  

With iPhone 6, when you forward an email, the phone should prompt you whether you want to include the attachment.  If you say yes, the phone downloads the attachment and then includes it in the forwarded email.  Some people reported that there are times when the iPhone does not ask whether you want to include the attachment.  In the tests I ran on an iPhone 6, however, it asked me every time, unless there was no attachment associated with the email.

Another option is to use the Gmail App rather than the default email app that comes with your phone. when using the Gmail App on either the iPhone or Android, there is no need to download the attachment at all. Forwarding an email that contains an attachment will automatically include that attachment for the sender regardless of whether it has been downloaded to your phone or not. This is obviously much more efficient if you do not intend to download the attachment for viewing on your phone otherwise.  By design, if you simply reply to the email, even Gmail will not include the attachment. 

If the Gmail app is not already on your phone it is a free download from Apple's App Store or the Google Play Store depending on your phone.  On Android, there should be no need to configure the app if you were already logged into your phone using your Gmail account. An iPhone will need to know your email address and password.  You can use the Gmail app or the default email app on your phone interchangeably. You can go back and forth and they will remain in sync.  So if you only want to use Gmail to forward emails, that is perfectly fine.