Unable to add a Google account to my iphone

I was having this issue and was able to fix it for my situation. I'm on a 6S Plus running 12.4.1. My Google account did not have Gmail enabled. After I logged into my Google account on a computer and enabled Gmail, I was able to add my Google account to the iPhone and it appeared in the list of accounts. I switched off the mail, contacts, and notes because I only wanted to add it for calendar syncing.

Since this seems to be a persistent issue and no forums give a good answer, I have been able to work with Google Support and have a solution for G Suite users. Note that you will need the G Suite admin to make changes to Mobile Device Management on iOS devices.

For some background, I have a two year-old G Suite domain that I just started using daily. I had only been using the Gmail app on iOS (iPhone and iPad), and everything worked fine. It was only after I recently tried to add my account to iOS for Calendar and Contacts for the first time that I ran into this problem. I only have one account on the domain at the moment, but that account is protected with a second-factor using a Titan Key. I don't know how much that matters, but I haven't tried on an account with no additional protection. But, I noticed in the G Suite Admin that new iOS settings have been added to the console, indicating that something has changed on iOS access to G Suite. The domain was set to Basic management of all devices, but dropping that to "Unmanaged" didn't seem to fix the problem.

For the solution that has worked for me, I reluctantly agreed with Google Support to change iOS management to Advanced in the Admin Console/Device Management/Setup/Mobile Management under the Custom bullet. Changing to Advanced requires setting up an Apple Push Certificate. Instructions were there and easy to follow for getting a certificate request from Google and then going to Apple to get the signed certificate (no cost). Unfortunately, doing this appears to log out any iOS user accounts from the Gmail app. Logging back in worked as expected, though.

I tried again to add the account to iOS and failed. I decided to delete one iOS device from the approved devices list (Google Admin/Device Management/Devices). Doing that killed Gmail access again, but this time, when I logged in, it prompted me to download the Google Device Policy app. Once I did that, the device was under domain policy control for the account I was trying to add. After accepting the ToS, it prompted me to select an account, pre-populated from the Gmail app, I assume. Then, it prompted me to download the G Suite domain policy. Once downloaded, you go into iOS Settings, and "Profile Downloaded" should appear at the top. After clicking that, I clicked "Install" and entered the iOS passcode. Confirm install and trust the provider to complete the profile installation.

Of course, I then tried to add the account again and failed. So, I changed the iOS settings in the G Suite Admin Console to "Push Google Account configuration" (G Suite Admin/Device Management/iOS Settings/Account Configurations). Going back into the Google Device Policy app on the iOS device, I manually refreshed the policy. It prompted me to authenticate the account, and boom, it put me into the iOS Settings for the Account, now finally allowing me to toggle Mail, Calendar, and Contacts as you would expect. Everything seems to be working now.

Note that I don't know how much of this is necessary or why it seems necessary now when I haven't had to deal with it before. I'm thinking that new accounts added to existing domains are having the iOS account install issue because Apple has changed it's device access policy, but G Suite accounts that were already installed on iOS have been grandfathered in without having to go through the certificate process. That said, I tried resetting the iOS device management policy back to Basic, and that removed the G Suite domain profile from the iOS settings, removed the user account, and caused a repeat of the original failure scenario.

***I HAVE THE SOLUTION!!***

Last night I was annoyed and desperate to find a solution so before going to sleep I posted on twitter hash tagged google, gmail and apple. This morning I had already a reply from google, they asked if it was their app of the mail from iOS; I left a short video there showing that it was mail from iOS system and how the google icon won’t open!

They said to use a different network, so I used my mobile phone’s hotspot and it worked for my iPad and iPhone 5S !!!!!!

***I HAVE THE SOLUTION!!***

Last night I was annoyed and desperate to find a solution so before going to sleep I posted on twitter hash tagged google, gmail and apple. This morning I had already a reply from google, they asked if it was their app of the mail from iOS; I left a short video there showing that it was mail from iOS system and how the google icon won’t open!

They said to use a different network, so I used my mobile phone’s hotspot and it worked for my iPad and iPhone 5S !!!!!!

Turn off the. VPN or delete altogether- just been on the phone with AppleCare and this worked 👍

Thanks sooooo much for posting this solution. I haven't been able to add my gmail account either to the iphone mail app through iphone settings or to the Gmail app for several weeks (it used to work) and have been desperately searching for the solution. After I read your post just now, I turned off wifi to force the phone to use cellular and it worked!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I have had the exact same problem right now... I solved by using a VPN from Spain...

My iPhone is a 6S with iOS 13.2

I just struggled with this problem this afternoon on my boss's phone. Solution that worked for me:

We set this Google account up years ago simply for the purpose of having a shared Google calendar. I was able to set it up using my boss's business email address, not a Gmail. The Google calendar has worked fine on his phone for years, and only recently stopped working. So ... I logged into his Google account on the computer, and I found that Gmail was diabled. I enabled it, which required me to create a Gmail address for him. After doing that, I was able to get Google mail/calendars/etc set up in Settings/Passwords & Accounts I don't know if maybe Google/iPhone compatibility changed recently, since it worked fine for years and only stopped working a couple months ago. Or maybe he somehow deleted his old Gmail or disconnected it from the account? Anyhow, I hope this helps someone else.

I found a work-around! All I wanted to be able to do was to show my Google Calendar and reminders on the Apple calendar. You can do this by adding a CalDev Account (pressing Other instead of the Google button on the Add Account screen) and following the instructions and Google settings shown here; https://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-use-caldav-on-iphone-to-sync-google-calendar-without-exchange/.

dalewb2 wrote:

At this point I am inclined to think Apple has blocked adding Google accounts to their devices, but if this is true, why would they not remove the colorful Google icon from the list of email accounts you can add?

Nope, they haven't. I just added it to my MBP last night. And, I'm using it on my iPhone.

When I added it to my MBP last night, I had to switch to Safari to finish verifying permissions.

This sounds like something you might want to take up with Google's support.

atiq_ca wrote:

Same situation here as Wells mentioned above. I can add the gmail account that has gmail in it but not the google account which was created with a non-gmail email. I can confirm it used to work in iOS 10 great. With iOS 12 that I am trying recently is not working well.

On June 2, the day you posted this, Google was in the midst of a major outage.

The solution that I posted won't work for a Gmail account (gmail.com), only for a G Suite account that provides email for a custom domain (<anyname>.com). Google doesn't provide a help desk for Gmail accounts. I would suggest rebooting the phone and perhaps resetting the network settings. Otherwise, I've heard that waiting a day may help.