FAQ: What Time Intervals and Passcode Lengths Does Each Authenticator App Support?

Version Affected: All

 

Overview

What time intervals and passcode lengths do SecureAuth Authenticate, Google Authenticator, and Microsoft Authenticator support for Time-Based One-Time Passcode (TOTP) two-factor authentication (2FA)?
 

Answer

This is independent of which SecureAuth Identity Platform version you are running, since these are standalone mobile applications. Each application currently supports a different combination of time interval and passcode length:

• SecureAuth Authenticate: any interval — 6 or 8 digits.
• Google Authenticator: 30 seconds only — 6 or 8 digits.
• Microsoft Authenticator: 30 seconds only — 6 digits only.

SecureAuth Authenticate can also be used as the enrollment app for a third-party application that has its own enrollment flow, by scanning that third party's QR code. Some third-party applications, however, may not provide a QR code that other mobile applications can read.

These values are set by each application's publisher and are subject to change without notice — this has happened before. SecureAuth tests these regularly and keeps this list up to date with what we find.


 

SecureAuth Knowledge Base Articles provide information based on specific use cases and may not apply to all appliances or configurations. Be advised that these instructions could cause harm to the environment if not followed correctly or if they do not apply to the current use case.

Customers are responsible for their own due diligence prior to utilizing this information and agree that SecureAuth is not liable for any issues caused by misconfiguration directly or indirectly related to SecureAuth products.