Today I’m going to share with you an App that is going to help you to manage all your Two Factor Authentication (2FA) based accounts, which we usually manage using Google Authenticator.
What is Two-Factor authentication ?
Two factor authentication is an extra layer of security for our online accounts, which is used after typing our password, we need to also type an extra Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP), which keeps on changing after every 30 Seconds so no one is able guess it. The TOTP can be generated using Apps such as Google Authenticator. Some websites provides TOTP to be sent to mobile phone via SMS.
Downsides of using Google Authenticator
Google Authenticator is an Android app, where we scan the QR code to add an account, after which every time we login a Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) is generated which we enter in the specified field.
I have been using Google Authenticator for the past 2-3 years just a few months after google introduced 2-Step Verification and launched Google Authenticator App on Android.
So far I haven’t had any trouble or you might even say I was lucky because Google Authenticator has a Major Downside and that is it can only be used on a single mobile phone.
So if you lose your mobile phone you lose all your accounts and are locked out, each and every service gives you various ways to recover your Account but it is time consuming and sometimes you might not even recover your account (Google’s account recovery is automated so chances to recover an account is also low).
Even if you Install Google Authenticator on multiple mobile phones then the Old Token (QR code) is made invalid. so there is no use installing the App on multiple mobile phones.
Another problem is that whenever you login you always need your mobile phone with you, so that can you view the TOTP and type it in the specified field.
The solution to all of this is Authy.
Authy is an app like Google Authenticator but it can be installed on Multiple Devices and Allows the Devices to Backup & Sync, so if you add a new account using a Mobile Phone then those account codes can also be accessed on other devices such on Desktop Computers because Authy can be installed on Android and various other devices using as Google Chrome Extension.
Authy Features
- Authy can be used on multiple devices such Mobile and Desktop PC’s, whereas Google Authenticator can only be used on Android based Mobile Phones and Tablets.
- No need to for always using mobile phone while entering Two-Factor Authentication code.
- Once an account and its QR code is added it Syncs to all your devices.
- Even if the device is lost you can recover your data by installing the Authy App to another device.
So if some of you are still using Google Authenticator I will recommend that you immediately install Authy to manage all your Google Authenticator accounts.