How to sign out/disable/ password protect Gmail without deleting account?

[ah06]

Since mobile devices are easily lost or picked up by nefarious friends and because unlock mechanisms (pin/password etc) are clumsy for something that will be done 100s of times a day (lock/unlock), I am pretty worried about the way Android just auto logs you into your Google Account's attached Gmail account and makes it available for anyone to see.

I either want
1. To be able to sign out of Gmail so that it needs my Google password again for access
2. Let it stay signed in but needs a password to access anyway (Outlook app has an option for this)
3. Disable Gmail entirely without it being re-enabled from settings without a password.

Basically, I don't want Gmail on this phone but don't want to lose Google Account priveleges (Contact syncing, Play store backups, Syncing of basically all non sensitive info etc)

Is there any way to achieve this? I searched everywhere but there doesn't seem to be. Making a new "sham" Google Account just for the phone doesn't come across as very seamless

 

[alrepur32]

I had this exact question. Did you ever find a work around? Right now I use a "sham" google account (created just for use on my phone) and then import contacts from my "real" google account, but it's a ridiculous work around. If I ever want to login to any one of my multiple gmail accounts from my phone to check email, I then have to remember to go into settings and disable or delete that particular account to avoid having it remain accessible.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[gnr_2]

I had this exact question. Did you ever find a work around? Right now I use a "sham" google account (created just for use on my phone) and then import contacts from my "real" google account, but it's a ridiculous work around. If I ever want to login to any one of my multiple gmail accounts from my phone to check email, I then have to remember to go into settings and disable or delete that particular account to avoid having it remain accessible.

Any help would be appreciated!

But how did you disable? Removing is the only option I've seen.

Sent from the Superuser account on my newly rooted Sprint Galaxy Nexus

 

[anon(301129)]

See the link. https://support.google.com/mail/answer/2991620?hl=en

 

[gnr_2]

See the link. https://support.google.com/mail/answer/2991620?hl=en

Basically it says you can't log out, you can only remove the account. I'm changing my password so guess we'll see what happens if I can't log out and then sign back in with the new info.

Sent from the Superuser account on my newly rooted Sprint Galaxy Nexus

 

[ah06]

The only way I found was to use another app to password protect selected apps.

Google really needs to provide a way to either sign out or password protect apps with private info themselves. Screen lock is not a substitute since entering PINs or password 100s of times a day is not a practical solution.

 

[Sophia K]

You can sign out from Gmail on your android cell phone as following:

If you are at the gmail inbox screen, click the Google icon or web word on the top of your screen
Click your picture icon (if you have your pic, if not it is just the head icon) on the top right conner of your screen
Click the Sign out button

You're signed out.