Issues with Multiple Accounts / Third-Party Cookies

[Mirko]

Looking at the logs from initial usage, perhaps as many as half of the users cannot use my add-on because of a few apparently well known issues.

If users are logged in with multiple Google accounts in the same browser they may get either an "Authorization is required to perform that action" (issue 69270374) or a PERMISSION_DENIED error (issue 150247026).

If users disable third-party cookies then the Picker doesn't work, it prompts them log in again as mentioned here. (A recent issue in the tracker was rejected.) And there are plans "to phase out support for third-party cookies in Chrome" in the future.

Frankly I'm not sure what I could do about these issues?

[Alan Wells]

As far as a code "work around" is concerned, there is nothing that you can do.

Various code "work arounds" have been attempted, but if the code doesn't have authorization to do something,

then it doesn't have authorization to display information to the user.

All you can do is constantly explain to people to not log into multiple accounts.

The best thing to do is provide a conspicuous message to people about the problem.

You should show a message to the user when they first install or use your app.

So, warn them at the beginning about the problem.

To get the problem fixed, more people need to complain.

There are serious issues with Apps Script that are unresolved. 

It's obvious that Google is either unwilling or incapable of fixing these issues in a timely matter. 

If Google stated that they were willing to fix the issues, but then they didn't do it,

then we could assume that they are incapable of fixing the issues.

If they are incapable of fixing the issues, then what does that imply about the level of competency?

At the very least, these serious issues hinder the potential for success.

It's clear that Google is prioritizing other things.

How far down on the priority list is Apps Script?  I don't know, but it seems to be quite low.

If Google is unwilling to fix these serous issues,

then it implies that Google has a lack of respect and caring for the developers and their users.

Regardless of what the overall priority of Apps Script is to Google, these issues are critical.

It's hurting the image of Apps Script and making it look bad.

[Romain Vialard]

As far as I know, Google Workspace add-ons do not suffer from this issue with multiple accounts.

And Google announced their availability in Docs, Sheets & Slides.

https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2020/10/google-workspace-add-ons-now-generally.html

So, unless you created an add-on for Google Form, you can try to migrate your add-on from the HTMLService to the CardsService to get rid of this issue.

[Kim Nilsson]

Also, users keeping their accounts in separate profiles is a win, win, win.
They should just do that.

AJ's suggestion of nudging your users to follow such a proper practice is a good idea.

[Mirko Nasato]

Thanks for the suggestions! I didn't know you can now use a Workspace Add-on for Docs, Sheets, and Slides as well. I'll see if that works in my case.

I agree that keeping separate Chrome profiles is nice, that's what I personally do. But really it shouldn't be up to me as an add-on developer to tell users how to configure their browser. Showing a dialog at the start saying please make sure you're logged in with a single account, enable third-party cookies, and say a little prayer otherwise this add-on won't work is not a great user experience. Plus some people work in organisations where browser policies are set by system administrators and individual users cannot even change them.

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