Authenticator For Linux

There are numerous good apps for managing and storing two-factor codes. However, most of them are cloud-based web apps.

What if you are looking for something that can do the same job, that it's free and open-source, and is a desktop app? Then you surely have to check out Authenticator.

What's most impressive about Authenticator is not the fact that it's free, or open-source, or that it doesn't rely on cloud-based systems to generating two-factor codes, but the fact that it has a plethora of useful features.

However, before we talk about its features, it's important to understand how Authenticator actually works. When you enable two-factor authentication on most online services, you're provided with a token or a QR code. You can add or scan these tokens and QR codes in order to generate the codes.

Hence, Authenticator allows you to use either a screenshot, or your computer/laptop's camera in order to scan the QR code. The can also be protected via a passphrase, and it even has an auto lock feature.

It comes with support for a wide range of encryption algorithms such as SHA-1, SHA-256, and SHA-512, as well as for various time-based, counter-based, and steam computing methods.

Backup and restore options are also provided to and from FreeOTP, Aegis, andOTP, Bitwarden, and Google Authenticator.

Authenticator is a modern and functional app, and this is quite apparent from the first second your start the app. It provides an essential list of tokens and websites that support two-factor authentication (courtesy of twofactorauth), and it's remarkably easy to use.

The default settings should work for most day-to-day websites and, if they don't, you can always add custom providers.

In today's world, apart from the overall privacy discussion, cloud-based apps are usually better and more convenient than most of their desktop counterparts. This doesn't mean that Authenticator is better than its online "rivals," but it's definitely one of those rare cases when a desktop app can be just as useful.