Q: ios 8 gmail problem with imap

Do you have two factor authentication? I had this same issue and spent a long time trying to work out why. It occurred after I got a got a new iPhone. I went as far as resetting all my passwords, deleting my gmail accounts from the iPhone mail app etc. It turns out my issue (and hopefully yours) was that I had two-factor authentication turned on for gmail security. You have to put in a 16 digit unique password into the iPhone mail app rather than your normal sign in password. Generate this by going into your gmail --> settings --> accounts and import --> other google account settings --> security --> (check that 2 factor authentication is enabled) --> click settings next to 2 step verification --> app specific passwords ---> manage app specific passwords --> then use the drop down menus to select app (customise name - iPhone) and device. It will give you a 16 digit password and instructions on where to put it. If you are setting up the account fresh then put the app specific 16 digit password in INSTEAD of your normal gmail password.

I hope that helps you with your problem!

https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833

Kismet_kracker, you're an Apple genius. THANK YOU so much for posting this. I was having the exact same problem and you helped me solve it.

Thanks so much... this was driving me slightly nuts and your solution worked perfectly.

kismet_kracker, excellent walk through. Where your walkthrough says "click settings next to 2 step verification", you now just simply click on the area (box) that says "2-step verification" and will have a date next to that (presumably when you activated 2-step verification).

It should also be noted that if you are moving to a new phone, it's a good time to Revoke the access to the old phone while you are in there (as long as you are no longer using the old phone)... you can never be too safe.

Had a similar issue recently when I changed the password on my Gmail account (also did a hard reset of the phone as I changed the battery). The existing setup on my iPhone using the standard iOS mail app with 'Send As' did not work anymore. The app claimed incorrect password/username for mail retrieval. Note that afaik the 'Send As' feature is not supported when you use the default iOS mail app and select 'Google' when setting up the account, hence the need to use the 'Other' option.

With the help of the description above (thanks!!), I was able to get it to work again. It required me to enable 2-step verification on my Google account. This provided the 16 character 'special' password which was the magic needed to get the iOS mail app in the 'Other' mode to work again. My 'Send As' feature was back again!