diff --git a/src/js/app-controller.js b/src/js/app-controller.js
index 95c7a84..272ed5b 100644
--- a/src/js/app-controller.js
+++ b/src/js/app-controller.js
@@ -36,36 +36,66 @@ define(function(require) {
         }
     };
 
+    /**
+     * Request an OAuth token from chrome for gmail users
+     */
     self.fetchOAuthToken = function(password, callback) {
         // get OAuth Token from chrome
         chrome.identity.getAuthToken({
                 'interactive': true
             },
             function(token) {
-                // fetch gmail user's email address from the Google Authorization Server endpoint
-                $.ajax({
-                    url: 'https://www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v1/tokeninfo?access_token=' + token,
-                    type: 'GET',
-                    dataType: 'json',
-                    success: function(info) {
-                        // login using the received email address
-                        self.login(info.email, password, token, function(err) {
-                            // send email address to sandbox
-                            callback(err, info.email);
-                        });
-                    },
-                    error: function(xhr, textStatus, err) {
+                if (!token) {
+                    callback({
+                        errMsg: 'Error fetching an OAuth token for the user!'
+                    });
+                    return;
+                }
+
+                // get email address for the token
+                self.queryEmailAddress(token, function(err, emailAddress) {
+                    if (err || !emailAddress) {
                         callback({
-                            errMsg: xhr.status + ': ' + xhr.statusText,
+                            errMsg: 'Error looking up email address on login!',
                             err: err
                         });
+                        return;
                     }
-                });
 
+                    // login using the received email address
+                    self.login(emailAddress, password, token, function(err) {
+                        // send email address to sandbox
+                        callback(err, emailAddress);
+                    });
+                });
             }
         );
     };
 
+    /**
+     * Lookup the user's email address. Check local cache if available, otherwise query google's token info api to learn the user's email address
+     */
+    self.queryEmailAddress = function(token, callback) {
+        // fetch gmail user's email address from the Google Authorization Server endpoint
+        $.ajax({
+            url: 'https://www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v1/tokeninfo?access_token=' + token,
+            type: 'GET',
+            dataType: 'json',
+            success: function(info) {
+                callback(null, info.email);
+            },
+            error: function(xhr, textStatus, err) {
+                callback({
+                    errMsg: xhr.status + ': ' + xhr.statusText,
+                    err: err
+                });
+            }
+        });
+    };
+
+    /**
+     * Instanciate the mail email data access object and its dependencies. Login to imap on init.
+     */
     self.login = function(userId, password, token, callback) {
         var auth, imapOptions, smtpOptions,
             keychain, imapClient, smtpClient, crypto, deviceStorage;
diff --git a/src/js/dao/devicestorage-dao.js b/src/js/dao/devicestorage-dao.js
index 24fd2f5..5f2c9cd 100644
--- a/src/js/dao/devicestorage-dao.js
+++ b/src/js/dao/devicestorage-dao.js
@@ -23,25 +23,35 @@ define(function(require) {
      * @param list [Array] The list of items to be persisted
      * @param type [String] The type of item to be persisted e.g. 'email'
      */
-    DeviceStorageDAO.prototype.storeEcryptedList = function(list, type, callback) {
+    DeviceStorageDAO.prototype.storeList = function(list, type, callback) {
         var date, key, items = [];
 
         // nothing to store
-        if (list.length === 0) {
+        if (!list || list.length === 0) {
             callback();
             return;
         }
 
+        // validate type
+        if (!type) {
+            callback({
+                errMsg: 'Type is not set!'
+            });
+            return;
+        }
+
         // format items for batch storing in dao
         list.forEach(function(i) {
             // put uid in key if available... for easy querying
             if (i.uid) {
                 key = type + '_' + i.uid;
-            } else if (i.sentDate) {
+            } else if (i.sentDate && i.id) {
                 date = util.parseDate(i.sentDate);
                 key = type + '_' + i.sentDate + '_' + i.id;
-            } else {
+            } else if (i.id) {
                 key = type + '_' + i.id;
+            } else {
+                key = type;
             }
 
             items.push({
@@ -61,7 +71,7 @@ define(function(require) {
      * @param offset [Number] The offset of items to fetch (0 is the last stored item)
      * @param num [Number] The number of items to fetch (null means fetch all)
      */
-    DeviceStorageDAO.prototype.listEncryptedItems = function(type, offset, num, callback) {
+    DeviceStorageDAO.prototype.listItems = function(type, offset, num, callback) {
         // fetch all items of a certain type from the data-store
         jsonDao.list(type, offset, num, function(encryptedList) {
 
diff --git a/src/js/dao/email-dao.js b/src/js/dao/email-dao.js
index fb22578..6748407 100644
--- a/src/js/dao/email-dao.js
+++ b/src/js/dao/email-dao.js
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ define(function(require) {
         }
 
         // fetch items from device storage
-        self._devicestorage.listEncryptedItems('email_' + options.folder, options.offset, options.num, function(err, emails) {
+        self._devicestorage.listItems('email_' + options.folder, options.offset, options.num, function(err, emails) {
             if (err) {
                 callback(err);
                 return;
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ define(function(require) {
 
         fetchList(options, function(emails) {
             // persist encrypted list in device storage
-            self._devicestorage.storeEcryptedList(emails, 'email_' + options.folder, function() {
+            self._devicestorage.storeList(emails, 'email_' + options.folder, function() {
                 callback();
             });
         });
diff --git a/test/new-unit/email-dao-test.js b/test/new-unit/email-dao-test.js
index 4283d8f..e368952 100644
--- a/test/new-unit/email-dao-test.js
+++ b/test/new-unit/email-dao-test.js
@@ -371,7 +371,7 @@ define(function(require) {
                     imapClientStub.getMessage.yields(null, {
                         body: 'asdf'
                     });
-                    devicestorageStub.storeEcryptedList.yields();
+                    devicestorageStub.storeList.yields();
 
                     emailDao.imapSync({
                         folder: 'INBOX',
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ define(function(require) {
                         expect(err).to.not.exist;
                         expect(imapClientStub.listMessages.calledOnce).to.be.true;
                         expect(imapClientStub.getMessage.calledTwice).to.be.true;
-                        expect(devicestorageStub.storeEcryptedList.calledOnce).to.be.true;
+                        expect(devicestorageStub.storeList.calledOnce).to.be.true;
                         done();
                     });
                 });
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ define(function(require) {
             describe('IMAP: list messages from local storage', function() {
                 it('should work', function(done) {
 
-                    devicestorageStub.listEncryptedItems.yields(null, [{
+                    devicestorageStub.listItems.yields(null, [{
                         body: ''
                     }]);
                     keychainStub.getPublicKeys.yields(null, [{
@@ -405,7 +405,7 @@ define(function(require) {
                         offset: 0,
                         num: 2
                     }, function(err, emails) {
-                        expect(devicestorageStub.listEncryptedItems.calledOnce).to.be.true;
+                        expect(devicestorageStub.listItems.calledOnce).to.be.true;
                         expect(keychainStub.getPublicKeys.calledOnce).to.be.true;
                         expect(cryptoStub.decryptListForUser.calledOnce).to.be.true;
                         expect(err).to.not.exist;
diff --git a/test/unit/devicestorage-dao-test.js b/test/unit/devicestorage-dao-test.js
index 5e6ace3..0cc9dbc 100644
--- a/test/unit/devicestorage-dao-test.js
+++ b/test/unit/devicestorage-dao-test.js
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ define(['underscore', 'cryptoLib/util', 'js/crypto/crypto', 'js/dao/devicestorag
     });
 
     asyncTest("Store encrypted list", 1, function() {
-        storage.storeEcryptedList(devicestorageTest.encryptedList, 'email_inbox', function() {
+        storage.storeList(devicestorageTest.encryptedList, 'email_inbox', function() {
             ok(true, 'Store encrypted list');
 
             start();
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ define(['underscore', 'cryptoLib/util', 'js/crypto/crypto', 'js/dao/devicestorag
             num = 6;
 
         // list encrypted items from storage
-        storage.listEncryptedItems('email_inbox', offset, num, function(err, encryptedList) {
+        storage.listItems('email_inbox', offset, num, function(err, encryptedList) {
             ok(!err);
 
             // decrypt list