Google Authenticator not working on iPhones after iOS 14.2 update for many, but there's a workaround

In our increasingly connected lives, it is more important than ever to secure our online accounts from malicious and unscrupulous characters on the web.

One of the best ways to secure your account is 2-factor authentication and one of the best implementations of that is Google’s Authenticator app.

The Google Authenticator is a software-based authenticator by Google that implements two-step verification services using the Time-based One-time Password Algorithm and HMAC-based One-time Password algorithm, for authenticating users of software applications.

Needless to say, using the Google Authenticator app turns up your Google account’s privacy to eleven, making it almost impenetrable.

It is, therefore, very frustrating and frankly alarming, when you’re unable to get access to your Google Authenticator app as this means that you’re effectively locked out of your own account.

Unfortunately, this is the predicament that is befalling users of this app on iPhones running on iOS 14.2. Users report that the Authenticator is broken and force closes immediately in iOS 14.2.

I am having an issue where when I open the authenticator app it would automatically close. I have tried completely closing it and coming back but it does the same thing. I have also tried rebooting my phone and still did not fix this. How do I fix it?
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Authenticator not updated for iOS 14, so it crashes immediately upon opening. I am unable to access many accounts, because I am unable to get my 2FA code(s). Really want Google to push what I know to be a quick hotfix update to the app so that it will open on iOS 14.
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I use google authenticator for my accounts of sevral websites. Since i update my iphone for ios 14.2 , it can’t open and i can’t login my accounts. Can your guys update the app in appstore? It haven’t been update for two years.
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Understandably, this is a very upsetting issue as getting locked out of your own accounts is really not a pleasant situation to be in.

Luckily, there might be a way around this. According to some affected users, offloading the app from settings and reinstalling seems to work well.

To do this, follow these steps.

– Go to Settings
– Select General
– Select iPhone Storage
– In the list of apps, look for and select Google Authenticator
– Click on Offload app (Don’t delete as then you will lose your 2FA keys and you definitely don’t want to do that.)
– Reinstall Google Authenticator and open the app.

Hopefully, this works for all affected users and they’re able to access their accounts. You might also want to check out our coverage on Apple iOS 14 update bugs and issues that have been reported, acknowledged, and fixed.

NOTE: We have these and many more Apple stories in our dedicated Apple section.

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