Authy Is Sunsetting Its Desktop Authenticator Apps on March 19, 2024

Authy, the two-factor authentication (2FA) service, says its desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux will reach end-of-life on March 19, 2024.

authy desktop
Twilio, the company that owns Authy, revealed the decision on Wednesday in a updated support article. It did not say whether Authy Desktop apps will stop working after this date or simply no longer receive updates, but the company confirmed that its mobile apps will continue to be maintained.

As one of only a few third-party desktop 2FA code generator apps on Mac, the loss of Authy Desktop is likely to disappoint users who got used to signing into 2FA-protected accounts from their computer rather than having to get out their phone, where most 2FA apps usually live.

For users in this position that own a Mac powered by Apple silicon, Authy suggests downloading the iOS version of the app to their computer. Otherwise, Authy recommends using the mobile version instead, or switching to a different authenticator app. The bad news is that anyone who wants to switch to another 2FA app entirely will have to disable 2FA on all of their stored accounts first, because Authy lacks an export feature.

At the beginning of the year, Authy said that it was shutting down its desktop app in August 2024, so it has brought forward its decision to sunset the app by several months. The company said its decision to kill its desktop versions was made to "streamline our focus and provide more value on existing product solutions for which we see increasing demand."

Popular Stories

iOS 26

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.2

Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below. Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Intel Inside iPhone Feature

Apple's Return to Intel Rumored to Extend to iPhone

Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone. In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
ive and altman

Jony Ive's OpenAI Device Barred From Using 'io' Name

Friday December 5, 2025 6:22 am PST by
A U.S. appeals court has upheld a temporary restraining order that prevents OpenAI and Jony Ive's new hardware venture from using the name "io" for products similar to those planned by AI audio startup iyO, Bloomberg Law reports. iyO sued OpenAI earlier this year after the latter announced its partnership with Ive's new firm, arguing that OpenAI's planned "io" branding was too close to its...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

10 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
Photos App Icon Liquid Glass

John Gruber Shares Scathing Commentary About Apple's Departing Software Design Chief

Thursday December 4, 2025 9:30 am PST by
In a statement shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its software design chief Alan Dye will be leaving. Apple said Dye will be succeeded by Stephen Lemay, who has been a software designer at the company since 1999. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Dye will lead a new creative studio within the company's AR/VR division Reality Labs. On his blog Daring Fireball,...
maxresdefault

iPhone Fold: Launch, Pricing, and What to Expect From Apple's Foldable

Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
Johny Srouji

Apple Chip Chief Johny Srouji Could Be Next to Go as Exodus Continues

Sunday December 7, 2025 10:41 am PST by
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports. Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Apple John Ternus 2019

Will John Ternus Really Be Apple's Next CEO?

Friday December 5, 2025 9:01 am PST by
There is uncertainty about Apple's head of hardware engineering John Ternus succeeding Tim Cook as CEO, The Information reports. Some former Apple executives apparently hope that a new "dark-horse" candidate will emerge. Ternus is considered to be the most likely candidate to succeed Cook as CEO. The report notes that he is more likely to become CEO than software head chief Craig Federighi, ...
ios 18 to ios 26 upgrade

Apple Pushes iPhone Users Still on iOS 18 to Upgrade to iOS 26

Tuesday December 2, 2025 11:09 am PST by
Apple is encouraging iPhone users who are still running iOS 18 to upgrade to iOS 26 by making the iOS 26 software upgrade option more prominent. Since iOS 26 launched in September, it has been displayed as an optional upgrade at the bottom of the Software Update interface in the Settings app. iOS 18 has been the default operating system option, and users running iOS 18 have seen iOS 18...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 Release Candidates to Developers and Public Beta Testers

Wednesday December 3, 2025 10:33 am PST by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 updates to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming two weeks after Apple seeded the third betas. The release candidates represent the final versions of iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found during this final week of testing....

Top Rated Comments

OS X Dude Avatar
24 months ago
1Password or iCloud Keychain ftw. We use 1Password at work purely for the flexibility of Shared Vaults.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ahmoda Avatar
24 months ago
I'm using iCloud keychain as a verification code generator app and it works perfectly and across all apple devices.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bsolar Avatar
24 months ago
It should be possible to export the keys from Authy without having to reset every account.

It's not exactly a straightforward process, but I did it successfully years ago. It requires accessing Desktop Authy through its debug port and exporting the raw data.

The GIST documentation ('https://gist.github.com/gboudreau/94bb0c11a6209c82418d01a59d958c93').

A YouTube video guide ('//www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ruB_uFcj4').

Note: for my migration I did not generate the QR-Codes as described, I simply manually copy-pasted the security tokens from the raw data into my new 2fa tool.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
6787872 Avatar
24 months ago

OTP on a desktop that contains your passwords is not MFA.

Of course you can. You know you haven't refuted what I said, right?
here comes the 'Ackchyually ('https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ackchyually-actually-guy')' crowd.

it's better than no 2FA at all.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
3530025 Avatar
24 months ago
I'm using Authy for quite a long time. Great thing! I did not know desktop app even existed. iOS app is all right and together with shared clipboard, it really not a big deal to open the app on my iPhone.

Also I don't think it's good security-wise to have both factors accessible from one device. Imagine virus getting into your macOS - your 2FA is useless now, because attacker got access to both factors at once.

Authy + Bitwarden. Best solution. It's free and it's cross-platform. You are not locked to single ecosystem and you can access your credentials from any major system you need. Oh and you can also selfhost Bitwarden if you are into that and want to take it step further, away from cloud.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Torley Avatar
24 months ago
I used Authy, but it was disappointing for awhile. You couldn't easily organize and archive accounts, so it ended up looking like a janky mess. Too much time was spent finagling things around.

More elegant solution — migrate to 1Password, which has a built-in authenticator ('https://support.1password.com/one-time-passwords/'). The autofill works really nicely on the whole. And it continues to have healthy multiplatform support, including macOS desktop. It's made security hygiene a lot more user-friendly.

1Password's overall flow is much more elegant than, say, LastPass and others. Especially with v8, they've really paid attention to scaling the storage of many passwords and other related secure data.

YES like @OS X Dude said, 1Password operationally makes it SUPER-SIMPLE to share, one-time or longer, even with those who don't have a 1Password account. Shared Vaults are great for families and businesses alike — just drag-and-drop and it's there!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)