Google G Suite, OAuth, & Less Secure Apps

UPDATE:
June 15th, 2020 has come and gone. This means that if you wish to use Gmail or Google G Suite to send email from your Joomla! website you must do so using an "Application Specific Password". Keep reading to learn how to do this.

Most likely, if you are reading this, it is because you use G Suite for your domain email and you received an email from Google stating that they "will be turning off access to less secure apps (LSA)" in 2 stages. The first stage will be June 15th, 2020 so users who try to connect to an LSA for the first time will not be able to. The email also said "Starting February 15, 2021, G Suite accounts will only allow access to apps using OAuth. Password-based access will no longer be supported". Now, you're probably left wondering if your Joomla website will still be able to send mail through your G Suite account because there is no interface in Joomla's Global Configuration for OAuth.

You're not alone. The wording of the email G Suite sent has left many people confused, particularly due to the fact that it says it will "only allow access to apps using OAuth" and that "Password-based access will no longer be supported". What they do not mention in the email is that an App Password uses a sub-protocol of OAuth. So even though an Application Specific Password is a password, and they say "password-based access will no longer be supported", sending mail from your Joomla website via G Suite with an App Password will work.

Read more: Google G Suite, OAuth, & Less Secure Apps