Last year, as part of an initiative to enhance user security, we encouraged developers to switch to OAuth 2.0 if their applications used plain passwords to authenticate to Google. To further that effort, we are now giving Google Apps admins increased control over user security by allowing them to block access to less secure applications in the Admin console (Security > Basic Settings > Less Secure Apps Access). Admins can change this setting at any time for their entire domains or specific organizational units.
For existing customers, this setting in the Admin console will be checked to allow access to less secure apps. If an admin leaves this setting as is, less secure applications will continue to work for any existing end users who already have them configured. New end users (e.g. new hires) who want to access less secure apps will need to enable them using an option on their My Account pages (under Sign-in & security).
If an admin decides to block access to less secure apps via the Admin console setting, their end users will not see this option on their My Account pages and will instead receive an error message when they try to access less secure apps.
Please note the following:- If an admin chooses to block access to less secure apps by disabling the Allow access for less secure apps setting in the Admin console, Google Sync/ActiveSync―which allows users to access their Google Apps accounts from devices and apps like the Windows Phone and iOS native mail app―will no longer work.
- If an admin chooses to block access to less secure apps by disabling the Allow access for less secure apps setting in the Admin console, ASPs (Application-Specific Passwords) will stop working for 2SV users.
Check out the Help Center articles and FAQ below for more information. This is a gradual rollout; we recommend waiting two weeks for the changes to fully propagate and the controls to work as intended.
Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release
Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)
Impact:
Admins and end users
Action:
