Google Authenticator, the company’s code-based authentication app, has received its first update in three years, updating the app’s interface for larger screens with more modern aspect ratios and delivering one of the platform’s most-needed features (via Android Police). The Android version was last updated on August 22nd, 2017, while the iOS one was updated around a year ago to adjust it for iPhone X screens.
Up to this point, Google Authenticator was one of many apps that provided the extra layer of code-based authentication in any two-step verification process that supported it — you’d be better off here than with an SMS code. It wasn’t good for looks, though, having debuted just at the cusp of the move away from 16:9 smartphone screens. And if you wanted to move your app’s credentials off to another phone, you had to go through a sometimes messy process through your Google account backend to do that.
Now, for the first time, Authenticator users will be able to easily transfer their account from one device to another without needing to manually transfer each code or disable and reenable two-factor authentication (2FA) on each account. The update introduces this feature through an import / export tool that lets you choose which accounts to include and transfer using a single QR code scan. It’s a feature that competitor Authy has provided for quite some time, so it’s refreshing to see it come to Authenticator, even if it’s years late
The update is slowly rolling out, so you can try your luck at the Play Store or grab it from APK Mirror.
