iOS email flags with gmail via Exchange Activesync aka Google Sync

I sync my iOS (now v8.2) email to my paid gmail google apps account via Exchange Active Sync / aka Google Sync. This is accomplished on the iPhone / iPad by adding an Exchange account. All works fine but flag syncing seems to have been broken since the first release of iOS 8.

In the past, setting your email domain to either "Google" or "gmail.com" allowed for flag syncing but this seems to have no affect now. I can't say for sure that this is an iOS issue vs a gmail issue.

If I "star" a message via the gmail web interface, my iPhone seems to receive the push notification that something has changed (the spinner next to my connection type briefly spins) but messages are not flagged.

Any suggestions?