Good cross platform authenticator app?

Energize

Energize

Energize

Caporegime
Joined
12 Mar 2004
Posts
29,913
Location
England
Up until now I was using authy on my Android phone and Windows machines, however they seem to have discontinued support for the windows client, and there seems to be some concern around it not being open source.

Can anyone recommend an alternative app that works on both android and windows that doesn't use some proprietary system?
 

Sin_Chase

Sin_Chase

Sin_Chase

Soldato
Joined
13 Jan 2004
Posts
20,960
Google Authenticator is terrible IMO. You can't backup or export your 2FA which means if you lose/migrate from your primary device you are going to be using backup codes/other means of resetting 2FA on lots of accounts.
 

mattyfez

mattyfez

mattyfez

Soldato
Joined
12 Apr 2007
Posts
11,845
Sin_Chase said:
Google Authenticator is terrible IMO. You can't backup or export your 2FA which means if you lose/migrate from your primary device you are going to be using backup codes/other means of resetting 2FA on lots of accounts.
Click to expand...

I didn't have a problem when I changed my phone from a pixel4 to a pixel7 the other week... follwed this: https://support.google.com/android/answer/13761358?hl=en-GB#zippy=,with-a-wi-fi-connection and it all just worked seemlessly, google authenticator was on my new device with all my accounts on it.
 
Last edited:

Sin_Chase

Sin_Chase

Sin_Chase

Soldato
Joined
13 Jan 2004
Posts
20,960

Zefan

Zefan

Zefan

Man of Honour
Joined
15 Jan 2006
Posts
32,404
Location
Tosche Station
I tried the MS one years ago and didn't like it vs the Google one, so continued using Google for my personal stuff. Recently I've given it another go (partly due to work stuff) and it's seemingly really good. I don't know if it's because it's got better or I'm using it differently, all I know is it's good.
 

mi9tchy

mi9tchy

mi9tchy

Associate
Joined
16 Mar 2005
Posts
1,015
Location
london
Sin_Chase said:
Google Authenticator is terrible IMO. You can't backup or export your 2FA which means if you lose/migrate from your primary device you are going to be using backup codes/other means of resetting 2FA on lots of accounts.
Click to expand...
think this has changed now allows you to move them to new devices
 

mattyfez

mattyfez

mattyfez

Soldato
Joined
12 Apr 2007
Posts
11,845
I've wondered about this...
Google auth is basicaly locked to my phone so i'd basically be knackered if I was on holiday or something and dropped my phone in the sea.

I mean I have back-up codes etc, but that would require me to connect to my home computer, which for security reasons, I don't/cant do when traveling.
 

Tetras

Tetras

Tetras

Man of Honour
Joined
22 Jun 2006
Posts
11,656
mi9tchy said:
I would recommend something other than google authenticator but i believe its no longer the same issue it used to be as you can save and transfer them now?
Click to expand...
On my phone it says that they're backed up to the cloud, but there are reports it doesn't work properly, so I don't know.
 

Orcvader

Orcvader

Orcvader

Soldato
Joined
11 Oct 2009
Posts
16,591
Location
Greater London
Old time Authy user here too, I moved to 2FAS. It doesn't have a proper Windows app but it does have browser add-ons. Still requires you to have your phone nearby to authenticate (via PIN or biometric) but it will fetch and autofill the code for you. It's also open source and you can freely import/export codes to another authenticator if you ever feel like it in future.

I do use Bitwarden for passwords and could have used it for 2FA as well, but I didn't like the idea of having both on the same service.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom