I have been using 2FA or Two-factor Authentication across all of my accounts to make them more secure and protected, using 2FA, you will be asked to provide a time-based one-time code apart from your regular password. So in case anyone guessed your password or somehow came to know your password, your account will be secure as after entering your password, he needs to provide an extra code to which he might not be having access. The most common ways of generating 2FA codes are either through SMS or messaging, in that case, an SMS will be sent to your registered mobile number or another way is using any authenticator app which will generate a time-based code for you, usually for 30 seconds, and that code keeps on changing as per the time. There are many Authenticator apps in the market, some of them are free and some are paid, but the most popular Authenticator apps are Google Authenticator and Authy from TWILIO Group.
Google Authenticator is there in the market for a very long time it is lightweight and of course, has Google’s Trust, but it was having a major drawback and it was that it used to store your codes locally in the phone, which means if by chance you lose your phone or your phone gets damaged, then you will be locked out of your all accounts. And due to this reason, my choice of 2FA app is Authy, which comes with Cloud Sync.
Now after so much waiting, Google has finally introduced cloud sync in its Authenticator app which means now your codes will be synced to your Google account, and if by chance you lose your phone then you still have access to those codes as now they are saved into your Google Account.
To get this feature, just update your Authenticator app and if you are signed into the Authenticator app using your Google Account, then your codes will be synced to your account and you are all set to go, and when you install and signed in to Google Authenticator app in the new device then your codes will be restored.
There are some more features which I would like to see on the Google Authenticator app, and one of them is support for PC or Mac. If you think Google Authenticator still lacks features or you need to try any other app, then there are tons of free 2FA apps, and the most famous is the Authy app.
Which 2FA you are using or what one feature you would like to see next on the Google Authenticator app, comment down below.
