Google has begun testing a new two-factor login system for its online accounts that uses only an email address and an authentication app on your Android device.
The details of the test were revealed by Reddit user Rohit Paul, who's produced slides showing the entire process. In its current form, it's a little unwieldy.
To log in to your Google account in a web browser, you enter your email address as normal. A screen then displays a number and prompts you to use your phone to sign in by pulling down the notification bar and tapping the sign-in notification. The app will ask if you're trying to sign in from a computer and then ask you to select the number that you saw on your browser screen from a choice of three buttons.
Google isn't the first major cloud service provider to move towards a password-free login system. Earlier this year, Yahoo announced that it would be rolling out its Account Key, which send a push notification to the Yahoo app on a user's phone in order to approve a browser login.
The Android Police blog has distributed a copy of the test invitation email, where Google goes into more detail about how the system copes with contingencies.
The email makes it clear that, even if you don't have your phone, "you can still use your password. When you go to sign in, just click the link 'Use your password instead' at the bottom of the page" and says that "if Google ever notices something suspicious about how you're signing in, we might ask you to enter your password."
