desktop-packages team mailing list archive

[Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Specification updated with a new flow diagram.
<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/OnlineAccounts?action=diff&rev2=27&rev1=26>

I'm not sure I have it right yet, though. What if you set up two
accounts of the same type, but you want an app to be authorized for only
one of them? For example, if you add personal and work Google Accounts
on your work PC so that you can see both their calendars, but you want
to access only work e-mail.

** Changed in: unity-control-center (Ubuntu)
       Status: In Progress => Triaged

** Changed in: unity-control-center (Ubuntu)
     Assignee: Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt) => (unassigned)

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop
Packages, which is subscribed to unity-control-center in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1522360

Title:
  Online Accounts authorization on desktop (unity7) is confusing

Status in unity-control-center package in Ubuntu:
  Triaged

Bug description:
  Unlike the phone (unity8) interface, in the desktop (unity7) when a Google account is created in "System Settings" -> "Online Accounts", all applications which can use it get automatically enabled.
  Some of these applications, such as Shotwell, have their own UI and use the account only when the user is actively using them, while others (such as Empathy and Evolution) provide background services which start synchronizing the user calendar or contacts as soon as the account is created, but without showing any UI on screen.

  Now, the problem is that the first time that these processes start
  using the newly created account, they need to be authorized by the
  user: this is not something that we can control, as it's a requirement
  from the remote server (Google's, in this example). This means that
  until we show a UI containing the Google's authorization page, these
  application won't work. The solution we implemented (and that we are
  currently using) is that when these applications try to authenticate,
  we refuse their request and instead emit an OSD notification, saying

          Applications can no longer access your Google Online Account
             Choose <b>Online Accounts</b> from the user
             menu to reinstate access to this account.

  If the user is clever enough, he'll open "System Settings" -> "Online
  Accounts" and after clicking on the Google account they'll be prompted
  to authorize the applications that previously requested access to it.
  Until the user has done that, these applications won't be able to
  interact with the account.

  Some users (actually, Canonical developers) have been left confused by
  this message, thinking that it was the symptom of an error that had to
  be fixed.

  I would like to propose a couple of simple suggestions to fix this bug:
  1) Reword the notification message a bit, maybe by saying "Some applications cannot access..." (note that I removed "no longer")
  2) Some releases ago, the system settings indicator on the top right corner of the screen would become red in this situation, and also the "Online Accounts" menu item inside that menu would appear in red: that helped a lot our users in finding their way. However, this no longer happens.

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/unity-control-center/+bug/1522360/+subscriptions