If proprietary app is better and more robust I am willing to try it and assess it myself.
Aegis authenticator. Beats all proprietary apps I’ve tried so far
I’m leaving links here in case anyone needs them
It supports importing data from various 2FA apps and even allows you to generate Steamguard codes.
Steamguard? Since when? That’s awesome!
I honestly don’t know. I set it up with steamguard-cli few months ago and it’s working like a charm.
Nothing to worry about when doing that? I’d love to have Valve support 3rd party 2FA apps officially, but oh well
It’s been there for quite a few years, I think
But Steam itself doesn’t officially support doing that?
Yes, it doesn’t. Or at least they didn’t when I started using Aegis for it, I had to import the key from the steam app, because they didn’t show any QR codes or such. Not sure if it has changed since then, though.
Yep, it works perfectly
Bitwarden has it too, but eggs in one basket etc.
Also, for bitwarden it’s either a paid feature or you have to self host it
One of those apps that just does its job, does it well and I never have to worry about it
Thank you!
I’d been a happy user of andOTP for many years, unaware until now that it had been abandoned and that I therefore needed ro replace it. I looked through the recommendations posted here and came to the conclusion that Aegis indeed was the best recommendation.
Migrating from andOTP to Aegis by exporting an encrypted backup file from andOTP to the local filesystem and importing it in Aegis worked flawlessly.
One thing that I really liked in andOTP that Aegis doesn’t have was the PGP export, it was just very nice to get encrypted backup files that I could decrypt directly using standard software that I already have and know how to use, entirely independent from any particular app. Aegis instead provides the decrypt.py script to decode and decrypt its own encrypted backup file format and while I’ve tested and verified that this works fine, simply using standard PGP was nicer.
But that’s a minor detail. All in all, Aegis seems to do everything I need, and does it well.
This is the best option. Love the app. But always remember to keep a backup of your tokens.
There is also ente.io authenticator app. It is available on fdroid. I think it supoorts cloud synchronisation as well.
Aegis
aegis
Aegis is a great Foss totp app
Aegis on mobile and keepassxc on desktop.
What’s the difference between keepassxc and the regular keepass?
KeepassXC is multiplatform. (Also: KeepassDX is quite nice as an an Android app for Keepass databases.)
I wouldn’t put my 2FA in password storage. Just in case
BitWarden.
I don’t think that it’s safe to leave both authentication factors in a single app.
It depends on your risk profile, but yes, it’s less secure. For some people the convenience is worth the risk, for others maybe not. If you opt to store 2fa keys in Bitwarden you’d definitely want to enable 2fa for your Bitwarden account though, which brings us back to the same issue again.
If you opt to store 2fa keys in Bitwarden you’d definitely want to enable 2fa for your Bitwarden account though, which brings us back to the same issue again.
With the risk of getting locked out if all your devices get logged out of Bitwarden! 🙈
To clarify, you’d want to enable 2fa for Bitwarden and store the token for that in a different authenticator app - that way you can still log in to Bitwarden without already needing to be logged in
This. It’s not two factor if both factors are stored together lol
Two factors is like a second step, the 2FA is normally this token (TOTP) that is generated every X minutes, so if someone steals your password, they still need another number that they will not get unless they hacked your device, and if they hacked your device, they probably have access to many of your data or access to that secret token to log in. Doesn’t mean they should be separated, but you could, still the safest way to keep all secure isn’t splitting passwords and tokens but using a hardware key. That’s my view.
I’d suggest the following
The really important step is to make sure to export and backup your 2FA codes in a safe place.
You don’t want to be left in the mud because you lost or wiped your phone that contains the only method to get into your important accounts.
I see how 2FAS cross-device sync works, but there is no mention for Aegis on their site how they do it? For me, not having good sync across my Android devices and Linux desktop is a showstopper.
Authenticator Pro
I’ve used it for years for numerous phones. it’s the best. Link for the lazy
https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/me.jmh.authenticatorpro
Yes! I moved from aegis to it and it is much better imo.
What makes it better?
Better way to select groups. Nicer looks, more customization.
Thank you for the information. I am using Aegis and will not move away from it – I have no reason to. I am completely content with the features it provides. However, I want to look at Authenticator Pro to see how it works, what features it brings and in general, how good the application is. If I like what I see, I will be able to provide an alternative to Aegis when I suggest a TOTP application for someone. I hope Authenticator Pro is great, so I can recommend it with confidence.
That’s how I started too. I used Aegis for almost two years. Then I found out about Authenticator Pro and decided to give it a try. The nice thing is that it can import an Aegis export file, so it’s easy to get started. Give it a try and see if you like it.
WearOS support!
I love that you can back it up with a file… thatway i can put it somewhere safe and can recover my logins after my phone breaks
This! I don’t even have to pick up my phone… I just check the code on my smartwatch. Awesome!
Bitwarden and it’s fully cross-platform. I like that it auto copies the 2FA pin to clipboard after filling in login - cuts out extra clicks and copy movements.
Vaultwarden is also a great and simple to self-host backend written in Go that runs in Docker.
Isn’t it written in Rust?
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That’s literally what the comment I reacted to is about. Are there two vaultwardens? Did you misread?
And very easy to set up and run without docker! For, you know, us folks with a BSD server 🙂
“Authenticator key (TOTP) storage is available to all accounts. TOTP code generation requires premium or membership to a paid organization (families, teams, or enterprise).”
It’s $10/y and a steal for that excellent software. I pay it and self host it just to support them.
KeepassXC is free…
This!
Keepassxc is cross-platform, free and open-source. It has also options for iOS and Android.
Yeah, but actually the “KeePassXC” is already a GUI only for PC, but there are many clients: https://github.com/lgg/awesome-keepass
Bitwarden is all of those things. Unless you use their web vault, then it’s $10/year. Which keepassxc does not have.
I’m aware. So is Bitwarden if you don’t use their web vault, which KeepassXC does not have. Keepass can use a cloud drive to sync multiple devices whereas Bitwarden requires a self hosted instance to sync. Personally I would rather trust my own hosted instance over that of a cloud provider. But that all depends on your threat model and who you’re willing to trust. Having used both I personally prefer self hosted Bitwarden.
I suppose you didn’t try or know that KeePass also has web clients, https://github.com/lgg/awesome-keepass#web-clients
Never tried them, I still think it’s safer to self-host the vault file on my own hosting cloud with some extra paranoid encryption just to be sure it’s safe even if my self-cloud hosting is hacked. But I am just scared to lose this one day and I not be able to log into my services anymore. 🤣
I know people Bitwarden and seems cool, but I don’t see the need for it.
I know they exist. I think you’re missing what I’m saying.
Bitwarden is fully free and self hostable. That is how I use it. Bitwarden needs a self hosted webserver. KeePass can use only a cloud provider or self hosted cloud storage and also set up a web vault.
With Bitwarden, if you don’t want that hassle you can use their webvault they host. You cannot do that with keepass. That is what costs the $10/year.
Point is, both are good software that do things a bit differently. I liked KeePass, but I found Bitwarden to do what I wanted better, which was easily sync my passwords across devices without the hassle of self hosting something like Nextcloud. A quick docker container and I’m good.
Maybe some people are fine with keepass and something like Dropbox for sync. And maybe others don’t want to use a public cloud server but also don’t know how or want to host their own instance of a a password manager or cloud server. So they can use something like Bitwarden’s webvault instead, which is free except for TOTP.
Well, I still don’t see the difference, you can run Nextcloud with docker too, with many more tools than just sync folders, even with encrypted data it is still sync to others devices. About Android, I don’t even remember to charge the battery (that’s why I don’t use it for 2FA, many times it is off and battery empty), and I don’t use it unless I need to drive (for GPS + Music, and de-googled), if I need any password on my Android I use KDEConnect to copy-paste logins, so I keep my secret vaults away from smartphone. I don’t think smartphones are that safe to use and store all my passwords.
EDIT: Ok, I can understand people that don’t know how to set up their own services could find that Bitwarden easier. $10/year is very cheap.
Kinda makes two factor authentication useless as they are both stored in the same place.
I think it is more about passwords being accessible after hacks etc. What you are referring to, is if Bitwarden were to be hacked, both are accessible. Online Bitwarden has securely hashed all the data, so that is pretty useless if anyone gets it. On my devices I use biometric login, and on desktop a Yubiky as 2FA into Bitwarden. I also have it set to request login every time the browser is restarted, just in case someone were to steal the session data from the browser.
But your point is very valid if a user were to have a weak password for their Bitwarden, or not to have a good 2FA for their Bitwarden login. You want to keep that basket of eggs as safe as you can.
The whole point of 2FA is for them to be completely separate.
But if the access to the combination of the two requires a separate 2FA (my Yubikey), then it is virtually separated. It is not just one password and you inside Bitwarden. One could argue otherwise, that having a 2FA app on the same phone as your password manager, is also not separate, if the same PIN/biometric gives access to that phone with the two apps on.
Do you use your Yubikey for 2FA or do you use it instead of a password?
If it’s the former then I guess it’s fine.
Yes, just for 2FA into Bitwarden’s login as it’s 2FA after password.
For me FreeOTP+ on fdroid is all I need. Its simple and just works.
Aegis
FreeOTP+ from fdroid is what I’m using.
Me as well!
I personally use KeePassXC (KeePassDX on android), it can have TOTP code generation for 2FA for any service. And since it’s a password manager, it’s secured by a master password.
Aegis is my favorite.
aegis is great, but 2fas has Google Drive sync and a browser extension.
lack of sync is a dealbreaker for me.
