Glossary¶

Every technical word used on this site, in plain English, in alphabetical order. Use the search box at the top of any page to jump to a term.

Account¶

One website, app or service that you get codes for, as it appears in Private Authenticator: a name, a description, some tags, and the hidden setup key.

Aegis¶

A free authenticator app for Android. It can export its accounts as a file, which Private Authenticator can import. See Importing from Other Apps.

Archive¶

Hiding an account without deleting it. Archived accounts reappear when the Archived pill is on, and can be brought back at any time. See Archiving Instead of Deleting.

Authenticator app¶

Any app that makes two-step verification codes, such as Private Authenticator, Google Authenticator or Aegis.

Backup¶

A set of encrypted pictures holding all your accounts, unlocked by a recovery key. See Why Back Up?.

Backup codes (a website's)¶

A short list of one-time codes a website gives you when you turn on two-step verification, for signing in if you lose your phone. Nothing to do with Private Authenticator's backups; keep them anyway.

Base32¶

The way setup keys are usually written: capital letters A to Z and the digits 2 to 7, sometimes with spaces. Capitals don't matter to the app.

Close After¶

The setting that says how long the code screen stays open. See The Settings Page.

Code screen¶

The screen that shows an account's current code after Face ID or Touch ID. See Signing In with a Code.

Device Sync¶

The way the iPhone sends accounts to the Private Authenticator app on a paired Apple Watch, over their own connection. See Apple Watch.

Export¶

Showing your accounts as QR codes in Google Authenticator's format for another app to scan. See Exporting to Another App.

Face ID, Touch ID¶

Apple's face and fingerprint recognition. Private Authenticator asks one of them before showing any code.

Google Authenticator¶

Google's authenticator app. Private Authenticator can import its accounts and export in its format.

HOTP¶

A counter-based code that changes each time you ask for one rather than with the clock. Rare, and not supported.

iCloud Keychain¶

Apple's system for keeping passwords and keys in step across your devices, encrypted so that only your own devices can read it. Private Authenticator can store your accounts in it if you choose. See Syncing Between Your iPhones.

Idle Timeout¶

The setting that closes whatever is open and covers the app after it has sat untouched. See Face ID at Launch and the Idle Timeout.

Import¶

Bringing accounts into Private Authenticator from another app, a file or a backup. See Importing from Google Authenticator.

Keychain¶

The protected storage built into every iPhone, where the app keeps your setup keys. Encrypted, and unreadable while the phone is locked.

Launch lock¶

The setting Require Face ID / Touch ID at Launch, which puts a lock screen in front of the app whenever it opens. See Face ID at Launch and the Idle Timeout.

otpauth link¶

A special kind of link (starting otpauth://) that carries an account's setup key. Tapping one can open Private Authenticator with the account filled in, once iOS has been told to send such links to it.

Pebbles¶

The three circles under a code that empty as the code's time runs out.

Privacy cover¶

The picture of the app's logo that replaces its contents the moment you switch away, so nothing shows in the App Switcher.

QR code¶

The square black-and-white barcode a camera can read. Websites show one to hand an authenticator app its setup key.

Recent¶

The app's first tab: your accounts with the one you used most recently at the top. See The Recent Tab and Search.

Recovery key¶

The 30-character key that unlocks a backup. Shown once, never stored, never recoverable. See Your Recovery Key.

Replace Duplicates¶

One of the three import choices: an imported account updates the existing account with the same name and description. See The Three Import Choices.

Setup key¶

The secret a website gives you, inside a QR code or as text, that lets an authenticator app make the right codes for it. The app never shows it once saved.

SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512¶

Standard ways of scrambling data, used in the arithmetic that turns a setup key and the time into a code. SHA-1 is what nearly every website uses.

shared_secret¶

Steam's name for a Steam Guard setup key as it appears in a Steam Desktop Authenticator file. It's written in Base64, and capitals matter.

Steam Desktop Authenticator¶

A community-made program for computers that can act as a Steam Guard authenticator, and that keeps the shared_secret for each account in a file.

Steam Guard¶

Steam's two-step verification. Its codes are five characters rather than six digits. See Adding a Steam Account.

Tag¶

A label you attach to accounts to group them. See Tags.

TOTP¶

Time-based one-time password: the kind of code almost every website uses, worked out from the setup key and the current time. See Supported Code Types.

Two-step verification¶

Signing in with something you know (a password) and something you have (your phone, making a code). Also called two-factor authentication, 2FA or MFA.

Universal Clipboard¶

Apple's feature that lets you copy on one device and paste on another nearby one signed into the same Apple ID. A copied recovery key can travel this way for two minutes; a copied code never does.

Continue to the Release Notes.