we teach them how to set up and use two-factor authentication on your iPhone and Mac without needing any third-party apps, and everything is synced by iCloud.
Two-factor authentication
You can find it with this name or with others, like two-factor verification, but it still means the same thing. This is to add a new layer of security to your account, which will not only use your username and password, but also a code that only you can receive and must enter to access your account. . This security code can reach you through different systems, the most common being the SMS (with the danger that this entails, we will see now) or through a verification application, the best known being Google Authenticator. This second system is more secure than SMSBecause nowadays getting a duplicate SIM card is much easier than you think, so better use an authenticator app.
This application is linked to your account and it offers you six-digit random numbers which will be the code you will need to enter after logging in with your username and password. As I said, this number changes, and only you have access to it, so the security that is added to your account is quite high and it is very difficult for anyone to access it without your consent.
Best of all, if you’re an iPhone, iPad, and Mac user, since iOS 16 (and iPadOS 16) and macOS 13, iCloud Keychain includes an authenticator app that’s seamlessly integrated into the system. East as if you have an application like Google Authenticator already preinstalled on the system With the huge advantage that everything is also synced through iCloud, so once you have everything set up on one device, all the devices you have linked to your iCloud account will have it set up too. It can also be used on any new device you own without having to set it up again once you add your iCloud account.
Setting
The configuration process varies depending on the application or website we want to access. What we need to look for are the service’s security options, and within them the two-factor verification/authentication option (or whatever similar name may appear) should appear. Once inside we must choose the verification code option, or the verification application, or the Google Authenticator option appears directly in many of us. We choose it (even if we are not going to use this application) and continue the procedure that appears on the screen which includes the selection of the account that we want to associate with this verification system.
In the case of using the browser in macOS, we may be offered to scan a QR code to obtain the verification code, do not worry because there is a very simple system to do it and is to right click on the QR codeand the option we are looking for will appear without having to use a camera.
In the video I show you how to do it on iPhone (using the Twitter app) and on macOS (using the Google website). These are just two examples as different websites and apps may have different procedures there is no one way to do this but more or less the procedure is the same and once you have done it you you will already be familiar with the procedure and you will be able to set up other websites without problems.
The key fob takes care of everything
Once set up, everything is stored in iCloud Keychain, which means it will sync across all your devices linked to your Google account and it’s pretty much automatic. only requiring your identification by fingerprint or Face ID. Much more comfortable than using a third-party app and with the huge advantage of syncing via iCloud, adding that extra layer of security is almost mandatory.
