I had a little scare last week where I thought my phone was stolen and I realized that, without my phone, I'm completely locked out of my gmail account.

When I tried to log in with my password on another device I couldn't, because they needed phone verification (with a specific phone). Even when I was able to get into the account from a device I'd used before, I can't get in to change the password without my phone.

So, if my phone is stolen, whoever stole it has the ability to read and send e-mail from my account, and I don't. The only thing stopping them from taking total control is my password. At the same time, phone verification does nothing to stop them and is the only reason I can't regain control and lock them out. I couldn't find anything on gmail support for what to do if your phone is stolen and you can't access gmail, like they've never even considered the possibility. Oh, and I never opted in to this "security measure".

Goes without saying, I'm migrating to literally any other e-mail provider by next week...