Google verification status and Google Drive backups
Hi,
Locus Map (aka "Locus World") is now appearing in my Google account as a security risk as it is 'unverified' and has full access to my Google drive, however the access currently continues to work OK. I guess at some point in the future something will happen causing this continued access to fail at which point my backups to gdrive will fail. I assume this is a consequence of the loss of verification status on September 1st which has led to your removal of new google drive access as described in your recent blog post.
Two questions:-
1/ Will you be taking steps to get the app re-verified ASAP, with different gdrive access scope? I fear it it continues unverified it might be vulnerable to further future google restrictions which might break the app in unexpected ways.
2/ Is the removal of the option to backup to gdrive intended to be permanent ? If so that seems drastic and possibly unnecessary. I don't believe full gdrive access is needed to simply do backups.
I can see that LM currently has access "See, edit, create and delete all of your Google Drive files" - Oauth2 scope "drive" which has "Restricted" status and is very difficult and costly to get verified after google's policy changes.
However most apps which cannot now get this access have changed to use "See, create and delete its own configuration data in your Google Drive. See, edit, create and delete only the specific Google Drive files that you use with this app" - Oauth2 scope "drive.file" which is neither "Restricted" nor even "Sensitive", and should be straightforward to get verified.
As backup only needs access to its own gdrive folders/files and nothing else then why remove it altogether ?
(There was also a question about full access some years ago at: https://help.locusmap.eu/topic/locus-map-pro-and-google-drive#comment-72820. I can't see why backups/restores should be removed just because that global access is now prevented.)
Of course there is a workaround by using some other app to do the gdrive sync - like tasker, x-plore, autosync etc - which also faced the same issue but didn't remove gdrive support altogether - but it would be a lot less effort/cost all round if LM retained backup to gdrive.
Btw - I don't intend to switch to One Drive or Dropbox as that would mean fragmenting my backups, or else moving totally to one of them which would involve cost in money and effort.
The same question
Hi Alan,
we are sorry for the inconvenience but as of September 1, 2025, we have been forced to disconnect Locus Map and all of our other apps from Google Drive because we have been denied full access to the service. We are working on a solution, but it does not look like it will be over soon. However, you can access your backup/export/import via the system file manager:
Unfortunately, it is not currently possible to set up GDrive for backup or other features, so please use Dropbox or OneDrive instead.
Hi Alan,
we are sorry for the inconvenience but as of September 1, 2025, we have been forced to disconnect Locus Map and all of our other apps from Google Drive because we have been denied full access to the service. We are working on a solution, but it does not look like it will be over soon. However, you can access your backup/export/import via the system file manager:
Unfortunately, it is not currently possible to set up GDrive for backup or other features, so please use Dropbox or OneDrive instead.
Hi
Yes I already know that, but I find it difficult to understand why gdrive backups were removed as they do not need full access, and am concerned about the app being unverified. I'd appreciate it if a more detailed explanation could be given on the specific points/reasons, given that other apps have managed this situation OK without completely removing gdrive access.
It would also help if some idea of timescales could be given so we can decide whether to make the effort to reconfigure now or make the guess existing access will continue long enough for you to hopefully fix it.
Hi
Yes I already know that, but I find it difficult to understand why gdrive backups were removed as they do not need full access, and am concerned about the app being unverified. I'd appreciate it if a more detailed explanation could be given on the specific points/reasons, given that other apps have managed this situation OK without completely removing gdrive access.
It would also help if some idea of timescales could be given so we can decide whether to make the effort to reconfigure now or make the guess existing access will continue long enough for you to hopefully fix it.
Backup needs full access because the app needs to maintain the defined number of saved backup files on the Drive. This is not possible without full access. The same applies to the export/import of multiple files, which is also impossible without full access. More info about Google's reasons: https://workspace.google.com/blog/product-announcements/enhancing-security-controls-for-google-drive-third-party-apps.
Verification for full access is a very complicated process executed by a third party and has to be repeated every year. At the moment, we are assessing our options, but most probably we will completely abandon the option to continue using GDrive and stay only with Dropbox and OneDrive.
Backup needs full access because the app needs to maintain the defined number of saved backup files on the Drive. This is not possible without full access. The same applies to the export/import of multiple files, which is also impossible without full access. More info about Google's reasons: https://workspace.google.com/blog/product-announcements/enhancing-security-controls-for-google-drive-third-party-apps.
Verification for full access is a very complicated process executed by a third party and has to be repeated every year. At the moment, we are assessing our options, but most probably we will completely abandon the option to continue using GDrive and stay only with Dropbox and OneDrive.
Ok thanks for the reply. I still don't get it, so maybe the forum is a better place to debate it. Meanwhile I'll probably setup tasker or x-plore to sync the local backups to gdrive, on the expectation gdrive will not be re-instated.
Ok thanks for the reply. I still don't get it, so maybe the forum is a better place to debate it. Meanwhile I'll probably setup tasker or x-plore to sync the local backups to gdrive, on the expectation gdrive will not be re-instated.
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