Apple Mail versus Gmail

I have a similar question but mine is about Apple mail versus Outlook Classic. I had to switch to Outlook Classic on my PC and I still use the Apple mail on my iPhone 15. However, I'm missing some emails now since I switched and my PC says that my server is connected to Microsoft exchange. So I'm getting notifications from the mail app, from Outlook classic and from ACBLISTS_ORG. How can I merge them all together or is that even possible? I hope I explained it clearly enough.

@Misty Dawn,

Am I understanding you correctly, that you just want to switch applications? If that is the case, then you should be able to simply add your iCloud account to the Gmail app, providing it allows for third-party imap email accounts. You should not have any duplicate emails with the default mail app, even if you get emails from another application.

@Joe,

Why not just use the Microsoft Outlook application for iOS, and get rid of your mail application? Seems like the logical choice for me.

Hi,
According to the below forum thread from 2020, if you've got an iCloud mail account,you probably won't be able to read your iCloud emails using the gmail app, unless things have changed?
https://support.google.com/mail/thread/6076164/read-icloud-emails-on-gmail?hl=en
So, I'll try to answer your questions anyway.
I use Outlook, and I stopped using the mail app years ago.
First question: How do I do this without creating any problems for myself in the transition?
When I did this, I didn't have any problems. I just removed my gmail and Hotmail accounts from the mail app. I was worried that by removing the accounts from the mail app, all my emails would get deleted from the servers, but they didn't. In retrospect this makes sense, because you're removing your accounts from your phone, and not the messages themselves. I installed outlook first, added my gmail and Hotmail accounts to it, and then deleted my accounts from the mail app.
Second, what are the pros and cons of both apps I should first consider? The reason I switched in the end was simple: I didn't like the fact that when you get a new email coming in from a third-party account like gmail or Hotmail,, the native mail app doesn't alert you to it straight away. It refreshes every 15 minutes I think. I like to get notified as soon as messages come in, so that's why I switched. A small thing I know, but for me it's pretty significant.
Third, what happens to mails stored on my phone? Are they all going to get deleted? Will I have two copies of them on my phone if I still keep the native Mail app on my phone? See Brian's answer above. I was concerned about this, I didn't want two copies of every email on my phone either, which is why I deleted my accounts from the mail app. But remember, you're deleting your accounts, and not the messages. But according to Brian's answer above, I needn't have done this.
Fourth, what about all the messages I’ve starred on Apple Mail in the past? I’ve had Apple Mail on my phone and have been using it since I got my first iPhone. I don't know about this. The best thing to do would be to do an internet search.
I've tried both Gmail and Outlook, and I just prefer Outlook. Both are accessible, but I don't know, there's just something about Outlook I like. Maybe I'm just used to it. Outlook for iOS is free, unlike the version for Windows which is part of Office, and you have to pay for.