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Comment by ecesena | Hacker News Reader

Thank you. FWIW, my need comes primarily from non-technical/inexperienced users. I can't tell my parents/many friends to remember to "sign into all these apps" as soon as they get a new phone, or they loose access to banks & co. Regardless I appreciate that at least you made a conscious decision.

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I’ve seen this happen. A family member set up google auth. Then later got a new phone. I know I’ve transferred google auth across phones in the past - although possibly over iTunes? The new iPhone setup process works differently I guess. My family member did the new transfer feature, then wiped the old phone. Then later discovered that they don’t have access to some important accounts, because google Authenticator was completely empty. Luckily they did actually have a physically printed backup copy.

> I know I’ve transferred google auth across phones in the past - although possibly over iTunes? The new iPhone setup process works differently I guess.

There were a few brief years where an encrypted iTunes backup was a perfect, universally-restorable image of an iOS device. You could back up an iPhone, pop out the SIM card, destroy the original phone, then pop the SIM into a new one, restore the backup, and it would be nearly-impossible to determine that the device was different from a daily UX standpoint. Even MS Exchange email sync would still work.

Then around the time that iCloud K/V store showed up (which may be coincidental), this stopped working. Every app would start up and ask you to log in. Email needs reauthentication. Encrypted iTunes backups aren't terribly useful anymore.

> FWIW, my need comes primarily from non-technical/inexperienced users. I

Number one reason why most of my friends and family dont want to buy a new iPhone. They hate the pain and the anxiety of upgrading. And Apple hasn't done anything to make it easier.

It’s extremely easy these days.. you just put the phones near each other when prompted and follow the instructions.

OTP Auth supports iCloud sync in the paid version.

The free version does too. The paid version only adds cosmetics, last time I checked.

I might be mixing that up with Strongbox. Either way, solid app and worth paying for.

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