Impossible to authenticate with Google

If your that paranoid about Google reading your emails and knowing more about you, why are you using Gmail to begin with? If you really need to use Gmail, just get a prepaid sim and use that as your “phone number”…

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Yes you are right (no need to shout) I had app password working for six weeks but a few days ago my account would not connect so I thought Google has stopped app password. I have just checked again and my 2fa was off, I think I must have turned it off trying to get Claws working, anyway all working again now both Android and Claws.

I don’t think people are paranoid, gmail is handy for some mail but normally have other mail accounts for private stuff. Hence multiple accounts in K9

I’m not disagreeing here. I personally have a separate email account that’s not a Gmail account for private emails. That doesn’t mean that Google doesn’t have true 2FA options. They do. Some are more secure (U2F) than others (TOTP)…

I use a Gmail account for a lot of “throwaway” stuff – announcements, newsletters, and the like – and rarely actually send anything from Gmail. For that on my Android phone I use the native Gmail app, and on the Chromebook, which I use more and more these days, I simply use the browser interface. For my “serious, private” email account, I use Thunderbird on my WIn desktop box and K-9 Mail on my Chromebook. Works like a charm. I see that K-9 is going to be folded into the Thunderbird “family” so that may make it easier to synchronize across devices.

Otherwise you can also compile the app yourself. The code just compiles if you open it with Android Studio. The only disadvantage is that you either need a rooted device where signature checking is disabled, a decent backup - restore solution (also root required) or to setup your accounts again (should work for IMAP, but not for POP3 accounts who would lose mail).

The curent snapshot works excelent with Gmail.

I need a Gmail account because I control some Google API keys for projects I work on. I don’t use the mail address for anything non-Google related.

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I understand that. If you use google service, one needs a google account. I have one for “throwaway” stuff just like @slyphnoyde does. I still have 2FA enabled though…

Then the new question would be: “If you are that paranoid, why do you trust Google with you projects?”

I can hardly imagine any functionality you wouldn’t be able to implement with alternatives to Google‘s.

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The fact is that one currently needs 2FA and app password to interact with Gmail in K9.

I think it is time to stop arguing with one another about what we think about that. 1. Google probably does not read this thread. 2. Even IF Google read this thread, they are not likely to revert to previous behavior.

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Exactly. Google has made this decision and if one wants to continue using a mail client that doesn’t support OAuth authentication will have to enable 2FA. I’ve had accounts enabled with it for several years without any major issues…

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there used to be a trick to use app passwords without 2FA:

  • turn 2FA on
  • set up the app password
  • turn 2FA back off

I don’t know if this still works; Of course this does not help if your concern is sharing your phone number with google, but it helps if your concern is that you don’t want to use 2FA for other reasons.

With OAuth working like a charm in 6.100 there’s no longer a need for any tricks or workarounds :slightly_smiling_face:

I would say there is. If you are a cautious user, you do not use beta software. Thus, I would only agree with you once the stable 6.200 is released.

was spricht eigentlich gegen 2FA? Erschließt sich mir nicht.

Reine Paranoia würd ich sagen :woman_shrugging:

The feature “less secure apps” has been removed by Google recently. Hence, less secure apps feature will replace with Google Apps Password. Now if you are planning to access your Google Workspace or Gmail using third party apps. Then, you need to generate Google Apps password.

Steps to Create Google Apps Password

You need to turn on 2 step verification before generating apps password because this is mandatory.

Steps to Turn On 2 Step Verification

  • Login to your Google account.
  • Choose Security option.
  • Now click on 2 Step Verification.
  • Enter your password and OTP to turn on 2 step verification.

Steps to Generate Google App Password

  • Firstly, login to your Google Mail account.
  • After that, choose Security option.
  • Now choose App Password under security.
  • Enter your account’s password and press Next.
  • Thereafter, choose an App and Device accordingly.
  • Click on Generate button for creating 16 digit app password.

Pretty sure he knows all that - his question was simply what would be said against 2FA and that he didn’t get it :wink:

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