Many thanks, Philip. I'm confused, though.

First of all, I've just looked up oAuth on Wikipedia and the explanation of 
how it works went over my head - I don't understand how it can be possible 
for my to authorise access without supplying a password.

But secondly, whenever I log into Google or Chrome or Gmail, I am asked for 
a password - so if Google themselves make me type my password, in order to 
sign in, how is that any different from me typing my password in the K-9 
Mail sign-in screen when adding my Gmail account to K-9 Mail?

Finally and most importantly for me in the short term, are there any 
serious risks for me if I choose the setting to turn on  on access to "less 
secure" apps that Google offered me but said it didn't recommend me to 
choose? Or can I safely do this?

As a follow-up to the last question above, if you do consider that it's 
safe to choose this setting but consider that it will be safer still to 
change it once K-9 Mail incorporates oAuth, will it be straightforward for 
me to change the setting then? I can't see any way to get to webpage where 
the setting is, other than by following the link from the email Google sent 
me, which won't be a valid link in the long term.

Dave

On Wednesday, 18 January 2017 15:54:33 UTC, Philip Whitehouse wrote:
>
> The less-secure sign in means an app that doesn't use OAuth and instead 
> require you to provide your password.
>
> I've done some work to support this in K-9 (
> https://github.com/k9mail/k-9/issues/655). pEp have chosen to merge this 
> code, despite the fact it's fairly unfinished. K-9 needs some UI work and 
> testing of this feature, that will hopefully land in a future stable 
> release.
>
> Other apps may implement the protocol, I'm not sure which though.
>
> - Philip Whitehouse
>
> On Tuesday, 17 January 2017 22:49:41 UTC, Dave Rado wrote:
>>
>> I'm trying to add my recently created Gmail account as a second email 
>> account in K-9 Mail, but when I tried to add it, I was prevented from 
>> signing in - the sign-in screen said that my password was incorrect, 
>> although it wasn't; and a few seconds later I received an email from Google 
>> saying:
>>
>> "Google just blocked someone from signing into to your Google account 
>> from an app that may put your account at risk." Then if I click the link to 
>> confirm that it was me who had tried to sign in, it took me to a webpage 
>> that states: "Some apps use less secure sign-in technology which makes your 
>> account more vulnerable. You can turn off access for these apps, which we 
>> recommend, or turn on access if you want to use them despite the risks."
>>
>>
>> It then gives me the option to turn on access to "less secure" apps (not 
>> just to K-9 mail but to *all "*less secure" apps, which I find scary).
>>
>> Interestingly, I was able to add my Gmail account to the stock Android 
>> email app without any problems, so presumably that app uses what Google 
>> regards as a "more secure sign-in technology" - but I don't like the stock 
>> email app, which is why I got K-9 Mail in the first place.
>>
>> Does Google have reasonable grounds for claiming that K-9 Mail "uses a 
>> less secure sign-in technology"? Are the risks real or imaginary? And if I 
>> select the option to turn on access to *all* less secure apps, am I 
>> taking a serious risk? If so, what non-Google email clients for Android are 
>> available that use what Google would regard as a "more secure sign-in 
>> technology" and which have comparable functionality to K-9 Mail?
>>
>> Dave
>>
>

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "K-9 
Mail" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to [email protected].
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Reply via email to