When Gmail warns that Check mail from other accounts is going away, the official help often points to the app. Add Yahoo, Outlook, or hosting mail on your phone and you are done. That works on mobile. At a desk, it does not solve the same problem.
Check mail on the web put messages into your main Gmail account. One search, one archive, one set of filters. The app with IMAP adds another account: you switch profiles to read and reply. That is not one inbox. It is an account picker.
When the app is enough
If you handle almost everything from your phone and switching inboxes does not bother you, Google’s path can be fine. It also works as a backup while you set up something else.
When it is not enough
- You live in the laptop browser.
- You have several mailboxes (info@, sales@, ISP) and want them together.
- You rely on filters, labels, and advanced search in one place.
Then you need something that still inserts mail into the web account. GetPopMail targets that gap: it syncs IMAP mailboxes into Gmail web with labels, without asking you to leave the desktop.
Before you treat the Gmail notice as settled, try a real week with the app only. If you keep opening two windows, you already have the answer.