Your online accounts are not utterly secure if you only use a strong password without using another additional two-step verification method like using one of the authentication apps. You’ll learn
- What’s two factor authentication?
- What are authentication apps?
- The best authentication apps.
- Which platforms allow the use of authenticators as 2FA method.
1. 2FA
Two-step verification is a security process that provides an additional layer of security to your online accounts,so a password won’t suffice when signing in to your accounts. This prevents bad guys from compromising or taking over your accounts,even if they get the password, they’ll be blocked by two factor authentication. You can read our complete guide on 2FA here.
Now that you’ve learned what’s 2FA,let’s proceed to what are authentication apps.
2. What Are Authentication Apps?
The question what are authentication apps is one of the most asked questions online,let’s answer it here. Authentication apps are those apps (whether on smartphones or computers) that generate verification codes for two factor authentication. Most of the generated codes by authenticators don’t exceed 15-17 seconds, after this period, they can no longer be used,a new code will be generated automatically.
Authentication apps are apps that generate codes for two-step verification.
They don’t allow screenshots, to prevent making your authentication codes vulnerable. Most of these apps don’t allow screenshots like Google Authenticator and Authy .
Codes generated by authentication apps are one time codes ,you can use them only once.
You can use a single authentication app to secure all your online accounts that allow using Authentication App as a method of 2FA. You now learned what are authentication apps I guess,let’s regale you with some examples.
3. The 3 Best And Most Popular Authentication Apps.
There are many authentication apps out there ,some are good ,some aren’t good. Below are the 3 best authenticators you should consider using for your 2FA.
1. Authy (Owned By Twilio)
Authy is an authenticator that’s created by Twilio in 2012,it’s one of the best Google Authenticator’s alternatives. It’s even better than Google Authenticator in a sense,that’s why I mentioned it first in this article. It’s available for all devices viz. Smartphones (Android ,IPhone etc) and computers.
You can download the app from Google Play Store(for Android users) or App Store (for IPhone users) ,or download the desktop version of the app. Read our guide on how to download and set up Authy on all devices if you want to use it for your 2FA.
2. Microsoft Authenticator (Owned By Microsoft)
Microsoft Authenticator is the second best authenticator after Authy. Microsoft Authenticator was created by Microsoft in 2016,it’s also another good alternative for Google Authenticator. You can use it on your smartphone or PC, you can easily download each of these versions of the app from the internet.
3. Google Authenticator (Owned By Google)
Google Authenticator is an application created by Google (that’s why it’s called Google Authenticator) in 2004,it’s also a great app for 2FA. However,it’s only available for smartphone (Android or iOS) but not available for desktop.
To use Google Authenticator, simply download and install it from Google Play Store or App Store.
You’ve learned what are authentication apps and their examples, let’s proceed to platforms that allow usage of authenticators.
4. Which Platforms Allow The Use Of Authentication Apps?
Not all platforms use authentication apps as a method for 2FA, these are those platforms that allow :
1. Google (Account) : You can use an authenticator as your 2FA method in your Google account security settings.To use an authenticator just follow these steps:
Go to My Account Page.
Tap Security in the Menu.
Navigate to Two Step verification Option and open it.
Look for use Authenticator or something similar.
Tap the option.
Tap Set up Authenticator link .
Then follow the onscreen instructions to set it up with your chose authenticator. If you’d like to use Authy , read how to set it up here.
2. Facebook : You can now use Authenticators with your Facebook account’s 2FA. Facebook allows the use of authenticators because it’s the most popular social networking site, Facebook always try to make their platform more secure ,two examples of this are :
- Facebook in this 2022 forced some users to turn on Facebook Protect which is a special security feature to make their accounts more secure. Read more about Facebook Protect here .
- Facebook now locks accounts whenever they notice a suspicious activity in the account.
To use an authenticator with your Facebook account follow these steps :
Go to Settings.
Tap Password And Security.
Tap Two Factor Authentication.
Scroll down to Use Authenticator option .
Follow the instructions on the screen to add Facebook to your authenticator.
Read our guide for Authy here .
3. Instagram :
4. Twitter : Twitter also allows users to use authenticators for their 2FA. You should secure your Twitter account so you dontyget suspended by Twitter. Read more about how to prevent being suspended by Twitter here.
To use an authenticator for your Twitter account’s 2FA :
Go to your Menu .
Tap Security And Privacy .
Tap Security.
Tao two factor authentication.
Tap Use Authenticator .
Then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process.
If you chose to use Authy authenticator,read our guide on how to use Authy as a 2fa method for your online accounts.
If anyone asks you what are authentication apps, please share this article to them.
We hope you learnt and got a satisfying answer to your question ” What are authentication apps and how do they work ? “.
Have you any further questions ? Ask in the comments section.
