How to connect your Email Account to Hypadrive.ai

IMPORTANT NOTE 1: Hypadrive.ai currently only allows users to connect Google Accounts to use for sending emails per campaigns designed on Hypadrive.ai (we are currently working on functionality that will enable users to connect a variety of other email accounts for use on Hypadrive.ai). This guide currently only covers how you go about connecting your Google Email Account to Hypadrive.ai so Hypadrive.ai can send and receive emails on your behalf per the campaigns you create using the Hypadrive.ai platform.

IMPORTANT NOTE 2: Hypadrive.ai currently only allows users to connect a valid Google Mail (Gmail) Workspace Account/Business Domain Address (e.g. frankwarner@frankwarner.com). You are not able to connect personal email addresses to use for sending of outreach campaigns (e.g. frankwarner@gmail.com) because Hypadrive.ai is a business communication platform used by professionals looking to connect with other professionals; who all have business email addresses (or should do).

To send and receive emails using Hypadrive.ai you need to connect an email account (one that you own). Hypadrive.ai will then use your connected email account to prepare and send emails from your campaign as well as listen to your inbox for any responses you receive. To connect an email account you essentially need to authorise and give Hypadrive.ai permission to perform these functions on your behalf using your connected email account. This step by step guide will show you how to connect your email account to Hypadrive.ai.

How connecting email accounts works?

A company is providing you an email account - this could be Google, Yahoo, Microsoft or a range of other 3rd parties. You have a relationship with them as your email account provider. They have a responsibility to protect you and make sure your account is secure in order to make sure you have a good experience as a user of their service. You want to use a platform like Hypadrive.ai which requires you to connect your email account. In other words you want to grant permission to Hypadrive.ai to use your email account to execute tasks you define, on your behalf. To do so, you need to let your email account provider know that Hypadrive.ai is a platform you trust and that you are authorising Hypadrive.ai to perform email related functions on your behalf. Hypadrive.ai needs some way of accessing your email account so it can use it on your behalf for the purposes you define. Essentially to access your email account you need to provide Hypadrive.ai with your account access credentials (username and password). Hypadrive.ai will then be able to access your account (without these it will not be able to).

Methods of Connecting your Google Email Account:

Google allows you to connect your account to 3rd party applications like Hypadrive.ai in one of two ways.

1. Use OAuth. OAuth is the 'Sign In with Google' or 'Connect Google Account' buttons you will often see on the application you want to connect your account to. OAuth allows you to easily sign into your Google Account and grant the 3rd party application (Hypadrive.ai in this case) access to your Google Account to perform functions you authorise them to perform on your behalf. In order for the 3rd party to offer users the 'Sign In With Google' or 'Connect Google Account' buttons on their applications, 3rd party platforms like Hypadrive.ai need to apply to Google explaining why they need users to be able to connect their Google Accounts; so that they can be verified by Google and thereby feature the sign in/connect account buttons. Once Google verifies the 3rd party application/provider, that company can then feature those buttons on their platform and their users can take advantage of those functionalities.
2. Use App Passwords. App Passwords are a function provided to you by Google via your Google Account. This is essentially an alternative way to OAuth of providing you the ability to connect your Google Account to a 3rd Party Application like Hypadrive.ai. Using this method, you essentially create a specific password or access key from within your Google Account and then you give that specific access password to the 3rd party application alongside your username/email address. The 3rd party application then uses the specific App Password to access your Google Account and perform the authorised functions on your behalf. App Passwords are designed to be a more secure method than a method Google previously offered, but has since phased out, known as Less Secure Apps (LSA's) which did a similar thing but gave the 3rd party application access to your entire Google Account, not just the segment necessary to perform the required functions on your behalf.

What is the difference?

Both OAuth and App Password methods are valid methods of connecting your Google Account to a 3rd Party Application like Hypadrive.ai. Google has quite extensive verification review processes so for a 3rd party application to get verified by Google to use OAuth functionality, is quite time consuming. Google also doesn't always provide 3rd party applications with approval depending on the specific functionalities the 3rd party application offers to its users. App Passwords however are a simple and easy way for you to give a 3rd party tool like Hypadrive.ai the ability to access and use your Google Account on your behalf when the OAuth method is not offered. When you create an App Password, you are giving the 3rd party application access to a specific part of your Google Account, email in this case, rather than giving the 3rd party application access to your entire Google Account (which would pose a greater security risk to your account).

Connecting your Google Email account to Hypadrive.ai

Hypadrive.ai currently recommends using the 'App Password' method to connect your Google email account to our platform. Below is a step by step process to guide you on how to create an App Password and then connect your email account to Hypadrive.ai.

There are 2 parts to the connection process:

• Part 1: Creating an App Password for Gmail.
  NOTE: if you do not have 2-Step Verification turned on, you will need to first turn it on (see instructions below).‍
• Part 2: Connecting your email / authorising Hypadrive.ai using your newly created App Password.

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Part 1: How To Create an App Password for Gmail

Step 1:

The first thing you need to do is login to your Gmail Account.

IMPORTANT NOTE: To create an App Password, you need to first enable 2SV (Two Step Verification) on your Google Account. This is an additional security measure implemented by Google to provide you (their user) with extra account protections. Without 2SV turned on you will not see the option to create an App Password. Turning on 2SV is covered in the steps below.

Step 2: Go to Settings (Gear Icon)

Once you have logged in to your Gmail account go to the Settings section of your account.

TIP: Find the Gear Icon which is typically located on the top right hand corner of the page. Select 'See All Settings'.

Step 3: Enable 2SV (2-Step Verification)

On the Settings page the first thing you will need to do in order to unlock the App Password functionality is setup 2SV (Two Step Verification). To turn on 2SV go to the 'Accounts' tab in your settings page.

On the 'Accounts' tab you will see an option to 'Change account settings'. Click on the 'Change Account Settings' link. NOTE: Clicking the 'Change Account Settings' link will take you to your overall Google Account (it will open a new tab and take you away from Gmail).

On your Google Account page (the new tab that was just opened), go to the 'How you sign in to Google' section of the page. In this section you will see an option for '2-Step Verification'. It should tell you in that row whether 2-Step Verification is turned off or on.

NOTE: If you have already got 2SV turned on, you can skip this step and move straight to the next step below.

If 2-Step Verification is tuned 'off' then you will need to turn it on. To turn on 2-Step Verification click on the row; this will take you to the 2-Step Verification setup page.

Click the 'Get Started' button.

NOTE: you may be asked to sign in to your account again using your usual account sign in credentials.

You will be asked what second step method you want to use to confirm your login attempts. Typically this is your mobile phone where you most likely also currently login and use your Google Account. It may automatically display your mobile device and ask you to confirm whether sending login verification codes/notifications to your mobile device is suitable. Choose your device (your mobile is suggested) or other backup method.

You will be asked how you want to receive codes; we suggest you select the 'via text message' option.

Then click 'Send'.

You will receive a notification via text message with a unique confirmation code to verify your number/mobile device. Enter the code in the space provided which will finalise the verification process.

Once you have entered your code and your number has been verified, you will see the option to 'Turn on' 2-Step Verification. Click 'Turn On'.

You should now have 2-Step Verification successfully turned on for your Google Account.

Step 4: Create/Generate an App Password for Hypadrive.ai

On the 2-Step Verification page, at the bottom of the page you will see an option for 'App Password'. Click into this option.

NOTE: if you do not see this option on the 2-Step Verification page, then you can use the search bar to type in 'App Password' and select the 'App Password' option that comes up in the search results which will take you to the 'App Password' section of your Google Account.

You will be asked to enter the name of the Application you want to create an App Password for. Write 'Hypadrive.ai', then click 'Create'.

When you click the 'Create' button the App Password will be generated for you. This is a unique code which you will use to give Hypadrive.ai authority to access and use your Gmail account on your behalf per your instructions.

VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Copy the code because it only gets displayed 1 time. When you use the code, remove the blank spaces between the letters and numbers - they are only there to make the code more readable to users.

You will now have successfully generated your App Password for Hypadrive.ai.

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PART 2: Connecting your Google Account to Hypadrive.ai using App Password

Step 5: Connect your Google Account on Hypadrive.ai using App Password

Copy the App Password you just created and go to your Hypadrive.ai account.

Login and go to the sender section of the program you are looking to create so that you can 'Connect New Email Account'.

Click on the 'Connect New Email Account' button.

You will then see a pop up where you will need to enter your Google email address and the App Password, then click Connect.

If the connection is successful, you will see your email account in the 'Select an already connected email account' box. Your email has been successfully connected to Hypadrive.ai. You can now select the email and you are good to go.

You can now use your connected email account for communication via Hypadrive.ai.

To your success!