That's a disadvantage to me, because I pay my email provider in part for the reliability of not losing my emails, and also because I tend to access my email from several different devices and I want to make sure everything is synchronized. What's the advantage of downloading them all locally?
The reason in the reply of yetanother12345 plus that I don't need to access my mail from multiple devices.
When I'm working I always have access to my laptop with the complete mail archive.
When I'm not working I don't need the mail archive. Access to the latest mail in the POP3 server is enough. Proof is all these years since 1994. Furthermore I didn't have any access to my mail when away from my computer up to my first Android phone in 2011. Nothing bad happened to me and to the vast majority of people, which were handling mail in the same way pre smartphones. I mean: no access when on the move.
BTW, when I send mail from the phone I BCC myself so I'll download the message for permanent storage later on.
Not the guy you're asking, but I prefer POP3 over IMMAP for the exact same reasons as you pay a third party: "reliability of not losing my emails, and also because I tend to access my email from several different devices and I want to make sure everything is synchronized"
The difference is that with the third-party approach, the third party is really a risk factor of unknown magnitude (even if trusted and paid). With the "local" approach you are in full control.
