My brother has Alzheimers, but still likes to send emails to his kids.
His email is a Gmail account.
Something changed and Apple Mail isn't letting him read mail. Mail is requiring some form of certification from Google. Every change I have tried to make, logging in as him on my computer results in a text message being sent to his cell phone.
Except that he doesn't have text messaging on his cell phone.
If I want to change his appleID, it wants to send a text message to his cell phone. If I want to change his phone number it wants to send a text message to his cell phone.
Even if I could change it, I know that he is going to increasingly run into 2-factor authentication situations. I don't want to have to phone him 3 times a week to read off his latest 6-digit code.
So, generalizing the problem:
Google periodically wants to use verification in some form to prove that you are you. At present I know of the following ways:
- Google will text you a 6 digit code to your cell number. This requires a cell phone that can receive texts.
- You can run the Authenticator app on your phone which will generate a verification code. This requires a smart phone.
- You can download batches of 10 one time verification codes. But you have to verify using one of the above to do so.
Apple will use a voice call and a machine read 6 digit code, but Google doesn't have that as an option.
Is there a way to maintain a Google account without owning a cell phone. This could be:
- A verification system I've not detailed above, such as a fob,
- Google Authenticator running on his mac.
- A way to turn off verification. Risky.