Gmail for Android now has Oauth support for Yahoo and Microsoft accounts
Tom Maxwell / 9to5Google :
Context & Ripple Effects
This lands a few months after Gmail for Android gained a unified inbox and conversation view for non-Gmail accounts, the move that turned Google's app from a Gmail-only client into a general-purpose email manager. The missing piece was authentication: until now, adding a Yahoo or Microsoft account meant handing the app a password rather than delegating access.
OAuth closes that gap, and the coverage arc shows it working both directions: within months Yahoo ships multiple mailbox support for Gmail and Google Apps accounts inside Yahoo Mail, and Microsoft later deepens the interop through Cortana gaining Gmail and Google Calendar access. Each provider is treating rivals' inboxes as addressable surface rather than locked territory.
First-order effects
- Android users can now add Yahoo and Microsoft accounts to the Gmail app via OAuth token delegation instead of storing their credentials, making Gmail the single client for all three major providers.
Second-order effects
- Yahoo answers in kind by letting Yahoo Mail manage Gmail and Google Apps mailboxes, turning mailbox portability into a two-way feature race between the providers.
Third-order effects
- If reciprocity holds, the default mobile email app stops being tied to whoever issued your address, and competition shifts to which cross-provider client handles search, notifications, and — eventually, per Google's AMP for Email launch — rich interactive messages best.
The trend: Consumer email is consolidating around multi-provider apps, with OAuth-based delegation replacing stored passwords as the mechanism that makes rival mailboxes interchangeable.