VOGONS

All emails unusuable by a single person with a single device

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First post, by rmay635703

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First time I encountered this

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/dum … y-codes.406919/

Now I'm forced to correct and get modern devices after being able to do without for over a decade, I'm finding that buying an android phone requires me to setup an email which is ok, I need one because of the stupid government putting things online that don't belong there
but the bloody thing requires a recovery email providing no other mechanism.

This would be ok but sadly now days the email recovery doom loop is guaranteed, millions of people every year have to throw out their email(s) because it seems that separate emails on separate vendors all always go into email recovery at the same time. I've had this multiple times that the service sends a code to my cell then immediately wants a code sent to the recovery email which also immediately ends up in recovery which is non recoverable because human support no longer exists.

Some people get around this by having a pc logged in periodically along with a cell (ergo multiple devices) but sadly that too no longer is a guaranteed of being able to get unlocked.

I have no desire to have an obsolete thing like email but am forced to have it even though it appears email is no longer usuable unless I buy multiple devices with separate accounts on different services to constantly grab security codes back and forth even though I rarely need email. My relatives don't have email so I can't rely on putting a recovery email with a different person.

Even alternatives like proton mail are in this ideotic place that you need a cell for pseudo 2fa but can still get locked out on this recovery nonsense.

Are there any email alternatives that simply don't require this? None of the isps provide email with their service anymore and all the free alternatives for me at least seem to get locked out in this loop and are thus unusable garbage.

I'm at a loss what to do as I really don't want to own a bunch of modern internet ready kit just because something stupid like email has been enschmidtified beyond being usuable on a single device anymore.

Reply 1 of 5, by leileilol

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Sometimes there's luck when a site will believe a desktop web browser on an Aarch64 Linux is a mobile phone, but that's probably realized by now.

FUCK "AI". It is a tool of fascism. We do not need it. We do not use it.

Reply 2 of 5, by ratfink

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Yeah can be frustrating, I hate it when they make everything tied to my phone because I think a phone is for calls and everything else on there is really an abomination. But sometimes you have to move with the times. There were authenticator apps for a while but I haven't had to use them lately, are they still a thing?

What about gmail, outlook, icloud - don't they provide enough options for mutual security triangulation?

Reply 3 of 5, by rmay635703

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My problem is that email tied to a phone, a single phone can also go into recovery resulting in the same problem unless I have access to another device.

(This problem initially occurred on a cell phone)

I also am loath that a thing I never use has to be accessed often, otherwise it also goes into recovery

Apparently I'm supposed to have a recovery email if I get locked out of the phone itself but that again means multiple devices that stay certified as modern email can't just be logged into without assumably the device that is inop

Last edited by rmay635703 on 2026-11-05, 13:14. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 4 of 5, by SScorpio

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This is the entire point of those recovery keys everything gives you went you setup 2FA.

You know the things they tell you these are important, don't lose them and everything just ignores them? Print them out, toss them into a password manager, etc. Those are onetime use codes that will work as 2FA to get you in to an account. Once in get things fixed and then generate new recovery codes.

Reply 5 of 5, by rmay635703

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SScorpio wrote on 24 minutes ago:

This is the entire point of those recovery keys everything gives you went you setup 2FA.

You know the things they tell you these are important, don't lose them and everything just ignores them? Print them out, toss them into a password manager, etc. Those are onetime use codes that will work as 2FA to get you in to an account. Once in get things fixed and then generate new recovery codes.

The third party email I had forever did not have that option

This android was mostly setup in store before I left, so will see what happens when I finish setup or if it's possible to generate new recovery if past that point. My experience is that my emails as of the last year seem to want almost constant access to codes sent to a recovery email and won't accept the other options available.

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