Replace Google Authenticator with Ente Auth

A lot of people care about their privacy. And there is nothing really wrong with Google Authenticator. But most people do not trust Google, Microsoft, Apple and others anymore.

So a great alternative is Ente Auth. Works the same way. Ente Auth is an open source 2FA authenticator, with end-to-end encrypted backups. You may check it out here: https://ente.io/auth/

We show how to make the switch on your Android device.

1. Create an Account with Ente

Go to https://ente.io/ and sign up. They have a free plan for storing your photos (also much more private than Google), which we will use for Ente Auth.

2. Install Ente Auth on your Android device

You may fetch it from the Google Play Store – we recommend to use F-Droid (https://f-droid.org/en/) or the Aurora Store (https://gitlab.com/AuroraOSS/AuroraStore).

3. Export Codes from Google Authenticator

To export the codes in Google Authenticator you open the app and click on the hamburger menu in the upper left corner. Choose Transfer Codes. On the following page choose Export Codes, check all the boxes  and a QR-Code is shown after hitting Next.

The problem now is, this code can not be scanned with Ente Auth while it is shown, so we have to take a screen shot of it (Press the Power and Volume down buttons at the same time). Send this screenshot via the share option to yourself to another device. I use Telegram or Email. You may even print the QR-Code screenshot.

4. Open Ente Auth and import the codes

After logging in with the credentials you created earlier,  you open the setting with the hamburger menu in the upper left hand corner. Go to Import Codes -> Google Authenticator. Since you can not scan the QR-Code at the same time having to code shown in Google Authenticator, we use the screenshot or printout we created earlier.

Your 2FA codes are transferred.

After that your codes are usable in Ente Auth. Keep Google Authenticator for a few days, just in case. That’s it. Another step away from Google.