Bitwarden's New Authenticator App is an Open-Source Authy Alternative

Protecting your data in today's digital age has to be a top priority. Whether you follow ways to improve your privacy or enable 2FA on all your important apps and services, you have to be proactive in these matters.

In recent times, one of the most popular ways of securing your data on apps and services has been using a TOTP, which is a time-based one-time password that is unique to you.

There are many popular services that make generating TOTPs on smartphones easy, with Authy, Google Authenticator, and Microsoft Authenticator being some of the most popular options out there.

However, those options are not open-source.

Luckily, we do have a number of impressive open-source options, such as Keepass2Android, Aegis Authenticator, and Keepassium. Though, not all of them support cloud sync.

So, there is always room for some new options. That is where Bitwarden's latest offering comes in. Let's see what it has to offer. 🙂

🔐 Bitwarden Authenticator: What to Expect?

a collage showing three screenshots of the bitwarden authenticator android app

Introduced as a standalone app for Android and iOS, Bitwarden Authenticator is separate from their password manager offering that facilitates the generation of TOTPs locally on your smartphone.

Before you ask if this will replace the integrated authenticator included in the paid plans of the password manager, know that it won't. That feature will continue working as before.

During the launch, founder, and CTO of Bitwarden, Kyle Spearrin, shared that:

Bitwarden Authenticator provides immediate value to the Bitwarden user base who has been asking for a standalone app for several years.

Well, it's good to see that the community's requests have finally been made true. When I installed it on an Android smartphone, the app looked and felt good, similar to what its competitors have to offer.

Currently, it lacks certain features like the absence of encrypted exports, no integration with Bitwarden cloud, and more.

But, you don't have to worry about those!

As it happens, the developers have already shared a roadmap that lays out how Bitwarden Authenticator will be moving forward, with many interesting features on the cards, fixing all the complaints.

Look for yourself. 👇