Most of us value our security, even if we might be a bit too lazy to make every single account as safe as it can/should be, and that’s the problem. It’s hard to get all your accounts set up with stuff like two-factor authentication/2FA between all the different methods and the fact that you can’t even set it up for all your accounts from every platform. Google just eliminated at least one barrier with a change today, though, as the company is now allowing you to enroll security keys from Android using Chrome, as well as macOS devices running Safari.
The tweak was announced earlier today on the G Suite blog, and I can confirm that it is live as I write. If you navigate to the security settings section of your Google account, the right systems are in place to perform the setup process from start to finish. Anecdotally, I ran into some trouble trying to get it to work on a Samsung device, but my Pixel 4 XL was able to add a Titan USB key to the account via NFC with no problem at all.
As part of the announcement, Google also revealed support for registering keys via Safari on macOS, so if you refuse to use Chrome on your Mac (and given the battery life you get if you do, I don’t blame you), then you now have another option to set up security on your Google account. Also, note that Android devices will need to be running Android 7.0 Nougat or later and Chrome v70 or later. And, of course, they’ll need to support whatever mechanism you’re using to register the key (NFC, Bluetooth, or USB OTG, you get the idea).
But far more importantly (for our Android-centric audience), you can now add a hardware 2FA security key to your Google account right in Chrome using nothing more than your Android phone. Any excuses you may have had not to pick one up and secure what’s probably your most valuable digital account are waning. Go pick up a Titan key set or a Yubikey and have at it, you can do it all straight from your phone now.
