Why can't you log out of email on Android?

EdGasket

I tried the Yahoo app and the Outlook app and neither will allow me to log out once signed in. This is a major security risk as anyone who shares, steals or finds your phone can then read your email and potentially request new passwords for bank accounts etc. which then get sent; guess where?, straight to your email.

The only thing you can do is delete the account from the tablet/phone but that is a difficult option to find and means next time you log in you have to go through pages of setting up the account again. So frustrating and I can't understand why this basic requirement to sign out has not been provided. Anyone know the answer?

shammyjack

A work around is Settings - Applications Manager - Running Aps. Scroll down to the guilty party and click on it then stop or force shut down.

The easiest way is to use the inbuilt email client in Android, it allows you to access multiple accounts at the same time . I use Yahoo and 2 others . No apps required !

Andy_L

Just use the phone lock (password/pattern/face recognition)

danthemoneysavingman

Yes, phone lock is your security!

EdGasket

shammyjack wrote: »

A work around is Settings - Applications Manager - Running Aps. Scroll down to the guilty party and click on it then stop or force shut down.

The easiest way is to use the inbuilt email client in Android, it allows you to access multiple accounts at the same time . I use Yahoo and 2 others . No apps required !

So does that mean if the App is stopped, it will log me out safely or will it be straight into my email again when started next time without any login passwords?

I will have a look for the inbuilt email client in Android and see how I get on with it, thanks. I have resorted to just using the web browser for email but it is not optimised for a small screen of course.

securityguy

EdGasket wrote: »

I tried the Yahoo app and the Outlook app and neither will allow me to log out once signed in. This is a major security risk

No it isn't: you're assumed to lock your phone. Most people want real-time delivery of their email, with notifications, not checking for and typing the password for each like we're all living in 1993.

And if your bank allows you to change your password via an email reset procedure you need a new bank.

EdGasket

securityguy wrote: »

No it isn't: you're assumed to lock your phone. Most people want real-time delivery of their email, with notifications, not checking for and typing the password for each like we're all living in 1993.

And if your bank allows you to change your password via an email reset procedure you need a new bank.

It's not about living in 1993, its about being able to share my tablet/phone with other family members without them being confronted with my personal emails.
Nearly every online bank and other types of account will send you a new password to your email account if you say you have forgotten it when signing in. That is why it is a security risk not to be able to sign out of email and why your email account is the most important one to keep secure..
It is a serious shortcoming not to be able to sign out. Just google it and you will find many people very unhappy about this as I am too.

securityguy

EdGasket wrote: »

It's not about living in 1993, its about being able to share my tablet/phone with other family members without them being confronted with my personal emails.

They're not intended as multi-user devices. Why don't they have their own phones?

Nearly every online bank and other types of account will send you a new password to your email account if you say you have forgotten it when signing in.

Other accounts, yes. Banks, no.

That is why it is a security risk not to be able to sign out of email and why your email account is the most important one to keep secure..
It is a serious shortcoming not to be able to sign out. Just google it and you will find many people very unhappy about this as I am too.

It's a single-user device. However many people are "very unhappy", none of them are sufficiently unhappy as to constitute enough of a market for anyone to do the (major) kernel re-engineering required to support both application isolation and user isolation. My phone locks thirty seconds after I last use it, and requires a password to get back into. No security risk at all (other than against very, very aggressive attackers, which is a security/usability trade-off). As, again, this isn't 1993, I don't know people who don't possess phones, and I wouldn't lend mine to someone else anyway. If you think there's a market for multi-user Android, the source is open, knock yourself out and write a mail application (it's not hard: my students did it pretty quickly).

DevilsAdvocate1

I have a few email addresses. One I use for companies when they insist on an email address. Another I use for my banks. A third one I use for work. I only have the work one attached to my phone.

Could you set yourself up with another email account and use this one just for banks and other companies where you will not need to access the emails on your phone?

EdGasket

DevilsAdvocate1 wrote: »

I have a few email addresses. One I use for companies when they insist on an email address. Another I use for my banks. A third one I use for work. I only have the work one attached to my phone.

Could you set yourself up with another email account and use this one just for banks and other companies where you will not need to access the emails on your phone?

That's an idea though I think I'll have to simply use the web browser to sign in /out of email rather than any app as I don't want to change how I like to use email in a major way. Basically I have my main email account which is for family and important stuff like banks and a 'junk' email account simply for signing up to offers or joining forums that require an email.

Reference reply by SecurityGuy; while most people might have their own phone, they are not necessarily internet capable smart phones which are quite expensive. We have one tablet in my family and we all share it, hence not wanting to be permanently logged into email.
As for "knock yourself out and write a mail application", yeah right, I'm Bill Gates and Steve Jobs all rolled into one; no problem, NOT! I doubt if more than one in a thousand on these forums has the ability to write apps for Android.

4743hudsonj

Android 4.2 or 4.3 upwards (cant remember which) support multi user profiles on android. Set up multiple profiles > set unlock password > Problem solved.

You can do this by going to settings then 'Users'