macOS Sierra Mac Mail Gmail Nightmare

[Zwhaler]

Hello. I am aware that I will probably have to jump ship on Mac Mail after this experience; however, I wanted to put this out there in case others have had similar issues. I recently updated my 5,1 Mac Pro to Sierra. Overall it didn't break that much stuff. The biggest problem by far has been with Mail:

1. None of my Gmail accounts will work without turning off Google's protection against "Less Secure Apps". I don't want to turn this feature off as it assists in protecting my account. Furthermore, there was no need to do so on Mavericks with identical settings.

2. For accounts that have 2 Step Verification, I don't even have the option to turn off "Less Secure Apps", and am therefore unable to continue using Mac Mail with Gmail securely.

That means that I have to use double less protection (no 2 step verification and no protection against less secure apps) to get Mac Mail to work with my Gmail accounts that were fine a week ago. This all worked fine in Mavericks WITH protection against "Less Secure Apps" turned on!

3. The password field in Mail Preferences is gone. I mean, it is literally gone. Even if I go into server settings it is not there. What kind of joke is this? Are the employees at Apple stupid, or did they seriously intend to remove this without adequately replacing it? I am aware that if I try to send an email from an offline account, it brings up a pop up window where I can dig into the servers and find a password field. BUT, since Google's solution to this Mac Mail nightmare is to use App Passwords, how come when I finally put in the App Password to this evasive password field, it doesn't work at all???

EDIT: Internet Accounts did the trick... why in the world there is zero indication of this while stuck in a nauseating loop trying to fix the problem in Mac Mail is beyond me!

 

[chrfr]

2. For accounts that have 2 Step Verification, I don't even have the option to turn off "Less Secure Apps", and am therefore unable to continue using Mac Mail with Gmail securely.

That means that I have to use double less protection (no 2 step verification and no protection against less secure apps) to get Mac Mail to work with my Gmail accounts that were fine a week ago. This all worked fine in Mavericks WITH protection against "Less Secure Apps" turned on!

Ddi you set up your Google account in the "Internet accounts" section of System Preferences? I use Gmail in Sierra with 2-factor authentication enabled and have never had any of the problems you're having.

 

[Zwhaler]

Ddi you set up your Google account in the "Internet accounts" section of System Preferences? I use Gmail in Sierra with 2-factor authentication enabled and have never had any of the problems you're having.

That did the trick... I don't understand why Mac Mail didn't point this out to me or provide the password field in the app? Pretty ridiculous. This is supposed to be their latest software, and there was no way to fix it in the actual app where the problem was occurring, nor did it say where to go to fix it.

 

[Zwhaler]

Allow me to add that, much to my disgust, Sierra broke my dictionary widgets in Dashboard. Apple's own app!! They obviously don't care much about legacy. Some may wonder why I still use Dashboard–because it's useful! I hit one button and can look up words in dictionary and thesaurus. I'm not happy with that. I found a potential solution online, but I won't be able tyo try it for awhile. The trend here is that the update breaks stuff that I then have to fix in order to use. Not the b est experience, but if I can restore functionality the upgrade might be worth it (mostly for Final Cut Pro 10.3).

 

[steve62388]

Allow me to add that, much to my disgust, Sierra broke my dictionary widgets in Dashboard. Apple's own app!!

Don't be disgusted or surprised. Dashboard has been on it's last legs for a long time, you're just going to have to move on.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

You know the look up feature, right?

 

[Zwhaler]

Don't be disgusted or surprised. Dashboard has been on it's last legs for a long time, you're just going to have to move on.

I know... then they should just pull the plug already instead of just pretend. My question too then is, why? Does it need to go just because it isnt brand new anymore, change for the sake of change? That's one thing I don't like about Apple lately. Why do they need to release a new macOS every year? Why not do it on a non-annual schedule but actually make releases when they are ready and make sense, instead of "just because".