Authenticator apps offer a more secure way for you to log into your sites and web services with two-factor authentication. But before downloading authenticator apps, we have to choose whether it backs up the account info in case you no longer have the phone you set everything up to or not. There are a lot of authenticator apps which you can use as each one provides some advantages and some disadvantages. You should use multi Factor authentication for your online accounts and authenticator apps provide better security than SMS codes. In this article we are going to tell you the Authenticator App iPhone, so read this article carefully to get the complete information.

About Two Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication means simply using more than just a password to get into your online account or app or you can say adding another factor in addition to your passwords. According to experts, authentication factors are divided into three groups -something you know which is a password, for example, something you have which is a physical object, and something you are like a fingerprint or your biometric trait. So try one of the Authenticator apps included here to bolster the password you already know with the token or smartphone or a smartwatch that you have. 

Best Kind of two-factor authentication

You can implement MFA simply by having your banking site send you a text message with the code and then you can enter into the site to use it or to access it. But it is not the best way to do two-factor authentication as a vulnerability in SMS messaging recently came out that can reroute text messages. So here an Authenticator app can help you. If you download an Authenticator app on your smartphone, it generates codes that never betravel through your mobile network and remain secure with the potential of exposure and compromise that entails so everything will safe. You can set up authentication on your site security settings page and in the two-factor or multi-factor authentication section as nearly every financial site offers this option to you. You can find out which site offers a multi-factor authentication option and which site offers two-factor authentication and how can you have it and how can you set it up by reading this article. Most sites provide the simple SMS code option but here the authenticator app helps you by setting up two-factor authentication which usually includes scanning a QR code on the site with your phone’s authentication app so that you can scan the code to more than one phone if you want a backup and you should also save account recovery codes provided by the site and store them somewhere safe such as in Password Manager to help you later. 

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How does the Authenticator app work? 

Many people usually ask how these apps work. So whenever you log in to these sites from an unknown device, you will need to open the Authenticator app, unlock it and find the site’s entry. Generally, authenticator apps generate a time-based OTP of 6 digits that refresh every 30 seconds. Whenever you put or paste this OTP into the safe site which you are using then that time limit represents that it is a malefactor who manages or controls to get your one-time passcode and it won’t work for them after 30 seconds. These codes are generated by doing some calculation on a long code provided by the QR scan and currently, it is using a standard HMAC based One Time Password algorithm which is sanctioned by the Internet Engineering Task Force. These apps do not have any access to your account so it is completely safe and after the initial code transfer, they also do not communicate with the site as they simply and dumbly generate the codes so you do not even need phone service for them to work. The protocol used by these products is usually based on the same standard so for example, you can use Microsoft Authenticator to get into your Google account or vice versa. However, Microsoft Authenticator provides convenient login options for its services like office, outlook, and one drive. 

Now coming to the topic read about these authenticator apps which you can use on your iPhone for two-factor or multi-factor authentication.

Authenticator apps for iPhone

#1. Twilio Authy

Twilio Authy is one of the best authenticator apps. But Unlike other apps on the list, this app requires your phone number when you first set it up. But most people rather want their phones to be an anonymous piece of hardware than something tied to personally identifiable data and also some people have leveled a charge that this opens up the app up to sim card swap fraud. The help center of this app offers a workaround for this but people rather prefer that it work like the rest of the apps without the phone number requirement. However, Apple Watch users will appreciate that there is an Authy app version for their timepiece of choice and one of the biggest advantages of this app is that it is encrypted cloud backup. But according to the support pages of Authy, it is somewhat concerning that you can add your account to a new phone using a pin code sent via call or SMS. You will also get an option to enter a private password or passphrase which is used by this app to encrypt or save login info for your account to the cloud and the password is only up to you so don’t forget it as this app won’t be able to recover the account if you forget the password. But it also has the advantage that no authorities can force Authy to unlock your account. 

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#2. Microsoft Authenticator

Microsoft Authenticator now includes secure password generation and it allows you to login into Microsoft accounts with a button press. This app also lets schools and workplaces that use it register users’ devices and account recovery is an important feature of this app which you should not forget to turn on. This enables you to recover Microsoft accounts and provide more verifications when you get a new phone and you install the Microsoft Authenticator app in it and it will recover your old account. One drawback which Apple phones face here is that you cannot transfer your saved two-factor authentication accounts to an Android device if you have backed up to iCloud since the iPhone version of the app requires using iCloud. The app offers another layer of security and with the help of this app, you can require unlocking your phone with a pin or biometric verification to see the codes. In this app, you will find password management capabilities in a separate tab along the bottom and you can simply sync with the Microsoft account you associated with the authenticator. After that, you will see the logins you have saved and synced from the Edge browser. Additionally, you can simply use this app as a password filler or saver utility on your phone. 

#3. Google Authenticator

Google Authenticator app is basic and offers no extra frills. It does not add any special or extra options for its service and nor it offers backup or password generation and management. It will be better to have you set up two-factor authentication by using built-in Android features rather than using an Authenticator app and if you use an Android device for two-factor authentication with a Google account, it is more convenient since it involves tapping on the phone rather than entering a 6 digit code. Google Authenticator also has the drawback of online backup for your account codes but you can send Or import them from an old to a new phone. One minor drawback of the Google Authenticator app is that it does not provide an apple watch app. 

#4. Duo Mobile

Duo mobile is equipped with corporate apps especially now it is a part of Cisco’s portfolio and it provides enterprise features like multi-user deployment options to use and provisioning and one-click push authentication and one-time passcodes. Additionally, it offers a nice security touch that you cannot screenshot the duo interface on Android but you can do this on an iOS device. Also, you can back up to mobile using Google drive for Android and using iCloud keychain on your iPhone. 

#5. Last Pass Authenticator

Last pass Authenticator is separate from the Last pass Password Manager app though it offers some collaboration with popular app password functions. Installing LastPass Authenticator is very easy and if you already have a LastPass account with multi-factor authentication enabled, then you can easily authorize Last pass by tapping a push notification. Additionally, once the app is set up with your LastPass account, it will be easy for you to create a backup of your Authenticator accounts in your Lastpass vault as this takes some pain out of moving to a new phone. 

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CONCLUSION –

In last, I hope this article is sufficient enough to clarify the information about Best Authenticator App iPhone, thanks for reading this article.