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Ask HN: Why did smartphones become a single point of failure?

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Re: Ask HN: Why did smartphones become a single point of failure?

#31

Post by kome »

rr808 wrote: post #27
kome wrote: post #3

Indeed it's incredibly stupid development. Fuck smartphones, really. I don't own one and I feel happy overall, but life is complicated because nowadays some sort of stupid app is required (most of the time, for no good reason) and dealing with those requirements always cost so much thinking. I don't want a micro-computer in my pocket, I stay at the computer all day anyway, a better one. Why can't I do with a real com…

Me too in my ideal world I wouldn't have a phone, but now I need for transport, food, financial services, nearly everything.

I don't know where you live, but in Europe you can still live without a smartphone. But I live in a city with good public transport (no need of ubers); banks still works without smartphone (but you need a burner phone for SMS, unfortunately), etc.

Re: Ask HN: Why did smartphones become a single point of failure?

#32

Post by Dr_ReD »

kome wrote: post #3

Indeed it's incredibly stupid development. Fuck smartphones, really. I don't own one and I feel happy overall, but life is complicated because nowadays some sort of stupid app is required (most of the time, for no good reason) and dealing with those requirements always cost so much thinking. I don't want a micro-computer in my pocket, I stay at the computer all day anyway, a better one. Why can't I do with a real com…

Amen to that.

Plus, half of the 2fa apps from the various services (most of which just want their very own app) work only on recent phones and most won't even install without google-services.

And if you lose your phone, you're toast!

So, it's not enough to have one smartphone always at hand...

You must have a backup phone too!

... and both must be fairly new... and they must both bear the all-dreaded google-battery-eating-spyware...

Re: Ask HN: Why did smartphones become a single point of failure?

#33

Post by dagw »

kome wrote: post #31
rr808 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me too in my ideal world I wouldn't have a phone, but now I need for transport, food, financial services, nearly everything.

I don't know where you live, but in Europe you can still live without a smartphone. But I live in a city with good public transport (no need of ubers); banks still works without smartphone (but you need a burner phone for SMS, unfortunately), etc.

"Europe" is big and diverse. So while there exists places in "Europe" where that is true, in many other parts of "Europe" it is getting harder and harder.

Re: Ask HN: Why did smartphones become a single point of failure?

#34

Post by subhro »

arenaninja wrote: post #25
alsobrsp wrote: post #8

All my OTPs are in Bitwarden and FreeOTP. The only thing I currently need my phone for is Google's new device login and even that goes to my tablet too.

Can you use Bitwarden for TOTP? I already use it for my passwords but for TOTP I have multiple apps and I hate it

You can.

Re: Ask HN: Why did smartphones become a single point of failure?

#35

Post by masklinn »

arenaninja wrote: post #25
alsobrsp wrote: post #8

All my OTPs are in Bitwarden and FreeOTP. The only thing I currently need my phone for is Google's new device login and even that goes to my tablet too.

Can you use Bitwarden for TOTP? I already use it for my passwords but for TOTP I have multiple apps and I hate it

Yes. There’s an “Authenticator Key (TOTP)” field. Been there for several years.

It also supports SteamGuard TOTP.

Re: Ask HN: Why did smartphones become a single point of failure?

#36

Post by adamjb »

dsr_ wrote: post #23

Go through the whole list and figure out which of these services really requires your phone, and which you have set up on your phone because that seemed the easiest path. Tell your workplace you're about to switch from carrying a phone to a landline: what is their fallback option? (It's about 50/50 whether they have one, but they definitely should.)

My workplace's solution was to simply turn off 2FA for my account

Re: Ask HN: Why did smartphones become a single point of failure?

#37

Post by nicoburns »

arenaninja wrote: post #25
alsobrsp wrote: post #8

All my OTPs are in Bitwarden and FreeOTP. The only thing I currently need my phone for is Google's new device login and even that goes to my tablet too.

Can you use Bitwarden for TOTP? I already use it for my passwords but for TOTP I have multiple apps and I hate it

Yes. You have to pay for the premium version for TOTP, but it's only $10/YEAR.

Re: Ask HN: Why did smartphones become a single point of failure?

#38

Post by throwaway787544 »

I use Google Voice, and the number that I use for PINs I can login to with just a password. That way I can always access text messages even if my phone is gone. You need it when traveling and your shit gets jacked.

I haven't tried it but an Android emulator should allow you to use apps without a smartphone.

Re: Ask HN: Why did smartphones become a single point of failure?

#39

Post by Dr_ReD »

kome wrote: post #31
rr808 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me too in my ideal world I wouldn't have a phone, but now I need for transport, food, financial services, nearly everything.

I don't know where you live, but in Europe you can still live without a smartphone. But I live in a city with good public transport (no need of ubers); banks still works without smartphone (but you need a burner phone for SMS, unfortunately), etc.

Oh, I don't know about the rest of Europe, but here in Italy you either have to deal with it, or restrict yourself oh, so very much. (to the very few services that still work without a phone). Here most everything, even state portals such as, medicare, tax, national motorists services, pensions services, etc. are nigh impossible to access without a phone.

And it's so sad.

Re: Ask HN: Why did smartphones become a single point of failure?

#40

Post by fallenhitokiri »

arenaninja wrote: post #25
alsobrsp wrote: post #8

All my OTPs are in Bitwarden and FreeOTP. The only thing I currently need my phone for is Google's new device login and even that goes to my tablet too.

Can you use Bitwarden for TOTP? I already use it for my passwords but for TOTP I have multiple apps and I hate it

Yes you can[1]. If you want to store TOTPs together with your username and password is something you have to figure out for yourself.

Browser integration works nice, but not as smooth as Apples Keychain autofill. If you go hosted you will need a premium subscription. If you are okay self hosting vaultwarden[2] supports TOTP as well.

[1] https://bitwarden.com/help/authenticator-keys/ [2] https://github.com/dani-garcia/vaultwarden

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