I usually don’t write reviews by putting my time but this app deserves this review. I previously trusted Microsoft authenticator and loaded all my accounts but after resetting my phone, I got Fkd because I don’t pay for my icloud backup and it microsoft authenticator is not backed up. Salesforce Authenticator automatically backsup all your accounts with your phone number as a login id. even though you buy a new phone or reset your phone, if u have your phone number and passcode, your 2FA accounts are all safe.
This app is horribly intrusive and inconvenient. The only way it will remember a trusted device is if location tracking is set to “Always allow.” This is due to the way the authenticator handles registered devices: it is based on geographic location, so I see the street address of the sign-in attempt. I never permit any apps to “always track” my location and it seems outrageous that this would be necessary in order for Salesforce Authenticator to do something as simple as remember a trusted computer. I’ve never encountered another authenticator app with this behavior. Users are left with the poor choice of either permitting the app to track them at all times (as an aside, this is poor handling because the location icon is always visible in the iOS status bar, which is its own annoyance), or to manually approve the sign-in attempt every single time. Truly noxious app behavior.
Frustrating experience if pairing this with SF Chrome extension for Gmail
The Authenticator functions but might require a heavy lift to get it there and it doesn’t play well with all SF access points. If you’re logging in to SF via a browser, the Authenticator is straightforward. If you’re trying to use SF extension for Gmail it’s amateur. Sometimes you have to uninstall and reinstall the extension entirely because even after you click Approve on the app, it won’t let you in on the Extension. Have had to reinstall twice within first three weeks. If you have already authenticated your device and logged in to SF in a browser, you still have to do it again on the same device to get into the Extension. The functional but amateur fix is to authenticate on the browser experience first, then on the extension, otherwise you’ll click approve on the app again and again, but you won’t be able to get in.
The Authenticator doesn’t always automatically connect, even when I tell it to always recognize my location. I never get into Salesforce on my phone, only on my computer that stays in my office, so it will always be the same location. It’s just inconvenient, especially when I’m trying to get into SalesForce for a customer and I have to stop and get into my phone to say it’s still me at the same location. I’m also not sure why I even have to have it. As far as I know, no one with my company puts any sensitive info into SalesForce. We just put name, phone number, and address info. Which anyone can find on the internet very easily, so we’re not saving anyone from having their identity stolen with this Authenticator. Maybe there is a good reason for some people/businesses to have this, but it’s pointless and inconvenient for me personally.
Slow and annoying for a system used daily from same location and devices
I hate authenticating to enter Salesforce. I do not always have my phone on me when I need to enter Salesforce and even when I do the app is slow. It doesn’t pop up immediately when I try to login every time and it never remembers my device even though it asks me every single time with another annoying pop up if the location is trusted. I don’t understand why this extra step is so necessary and if it is why it has to be so inconvenient. If I could just say that this location was always trusted as the app implies it might be easier but that is not the case and seeing it as a false option is even more annoying. Having to authenticate every single time I log into something I use every single day from the same location and the same devices is kind of ridiculous.
I’ve had to use this app for a few years now and can say Salesforce’s implementation of MFA is difficult to deal with, especially on SFCC. This app could probably add a lot more ease to the MFA implementation but it’s so frustrating to use. In particular I’d say the ability for the app to remember my location is very weak. For those of you who don’t know, there is an option to always approve from your current location. It should never prompt you to approve the login if that is checked. However, the functionality is flawed. For one thing, “always” seems to mean “24 hours at most” because the only thing it ALWAYS does is forget my location. I can be working from home every day and I have to click the “always remember my location” button every single day. Next, if my location address changes by one digit (because of the imprecise nature of location targeting), I have to click it again. It should have some tolerance built in, such that locations within a hundred feet are considered the same address.
This crap do not work. I was sent this malarkey for my job and this was nothing. I am supposed to put my personal information in here? That’s not an option. There is nothing in here to say the device I am using is work related or home related. Then, why is this app using geo-location if you are not asking for the type of device and other specific questions? Then to make matters worse, this is supposed to be connected to some software called “Salesforce” yet there is no way to connect these two entities together AND you can still log into SalesForce through your PC and/or Mobile device without an issue. So what is this supposed to be used for again? This is a waste of my time and never will I use this or recommend this to any company to use.
This app is great. No problems at first. However the Apple Watch seems to not support the app anymore. I use to be able to approve from my watch. Now it says there is an issue. Which I don’t mind opening my phone to press approve, I just loved the speed and efficiency of the watch feature. Please fix
The most useful feature of this app is nothing more than wishful thinking. I sit in the exact same spot in my house every day, I have location services set to “always allow,” and I’ve enabled “always trust at this location” at least 50 times. Sometimes it works, usually it doesn’t. This is the most infuriating thing, especially when MFA is now required for all Salesforce users. Salesforce has always gone out of their way to get in the way of productivity (randomly forcing me into Lightning and making me click out of a pop up before I can revert, among other things) and this is the most frustrating example yet.
Salesforce is slowly making this app required to use their services. MFA is required to be enabled, with this app being the default. They state that other Authenticator apps or methods can be used, but they force biometric logins (Lightning Login) behind this app, which requires allows on location data. OATH doesn’t require location data, so why? So you can disable MFA for a location. The backup seems nice, but that seems to invalidate the secret key that the one time password is generated from since you can transfer it with a text message. SMS is insecure for MFA, but fine for transferring the data for this app.
Since implementing the Authenticator app over a year ago for my org’s users, I have received nonstop complaints ranging from the app running unacceptably slow to trusted locations not working despite having the app always track the users location and the trusted location appearing on the list of trusted locations within the app. There was also a time where the app simply didn’t work and everyone was locked out of the system. This is a terrible product that Salesforce should have tested more carefully before essentially making it required for all users.
As everyone else states, the “remember this location” does not work. Additionally, I HATE that when you get the push notification, you have to actually unlock the phone, open the app, and THEN approve. Every other Authenticator app I’ve used allows you to do this all from the push notification on Home Screen. You should be able to push, and the approve option shows. Wastes time having to launch the entire app for the approval button
All in all, this app works great! Only issue is that the location it identifies changes, even when I’m logging in from the exact same spot. And the trusted location seems to only save one at a time. So if this could get tweaked so I could always log in from my trusted locations, that’d be great. This is a small thing though, and I really do appreciate the simplicity and security of this app!
The only way to not have to unlock my phone and reapprove access every single time I log into Salesforce is to allow always-on location tracking. Why can I not mark a trusted device or have my location verified say, once a day when I’m using the app? No other authenticator of the many I use requires ‘always on’ location tracking and it makes this one insufferable. Nothing screams ‘productive employee’ like their being forced to go on a cell phone every hour or two to reauthenticate. -.-
As far as Authenticator apps go, this is the best I’ve used. It never fails to quickly prompt the 2fa and I’ve never had it go down. Other apps I’ve had to use in the past are slow and irritating when trying to sign in
I would give this app zero stars if I could. Unless you “always allow” this app to know your location it won’t remember your location even if you select always remember this location. I don’t mind to have app know my location while using it but there is zero reason it always needs that information. Remember while using still can locate me down to the exact address so there is no reason it can’t remember it when saved. You literally have to Authenticate every time you open Salesforce.
The “always approve from this location” feature doesn’t work
I always log in to sales force from the same location at the same docking station on every day, and every day I check off the box that has the option “always approve from this location” yet, EVERY DAY,2-3 times a day, I have to re authenticate my account when it times out and it NEVER AUTO APPROVES. It is very frustrating, if the feature doesn’t work, don’t offer it in the app, it would be beneficial to fix this aspect or just leave it out entirely.
I’m not sure what happened here, however I now have to authenticate DAILY instead of every once in a while. If your app no longer uses automate these requests - remove this option from your app. I do not appreciate having to keep your app on my personal cell to authenticate daily for work. I used to be able to relegate it to the vestiges of mostly unused apps and/or remove and only interact when required. Now? Daily? Really? Super frustrating.
No matter how many times I tell it to trust a location it still prompts me about 70% of the time. And the delay between when I try to sign in and when I find out if I need to approve is upwards of 10 seconds in many instances. The single most arduous part of my workflow that doesn’t have a true purpose is this authentication app. Unsurprisingly, I’ve volunteered multiple times to provide feedback by email but I have never received correspondence from SF. God, I can’t wait until this requirement disappears.
I object to having to use my personal phone to authenticate my employers business software. This app caused my other Authenticator app to be deleted and I lost access to my bank, crypto and my car, as well as messing up my notifications and messages such that I had to call AT&T to get my iphone 14 working again. I am still unable to get into my salesfarce account, been unable to work my customers just when we are getting a new product to sell, after a day and half of trying
It sure if your MFA issues were addresssed. But I’ve had zero issues with the app. Works great. Fast and seamless. UI is friendly enough. A little drab. Basic but it’s work. However it wouldn’t hurt to add some personalization options. JS. Still it doesn’t take away from the 5 star. Good job guys
The only thing I wish it would change is the ability to save my auto-approvals based on location without having to leave location on constantly in settings, but I get it. Easy app!
This makes me feel all the more secure in my work in that I'm given unique entries if I need to sign in from different devices. Having an estimated address is also a plus in monitoring where someone may be attempting to sign in from.
I resent that to sign into my WORK Salesforce account I have to have this app on my PERSONAL phone. Why can’t Salesforce authenticate you via text or email sent to your device? Ridiculous. Plus codes to the app won’t be sent to you unless you have location services on even when the app isn’t in use. Horrible violation of privacy! It at least generates in-app codes, but I still resent having Salesforce force the use of this app in the first place. There must be another way Salesforce!
Brought to you by the company that took 15 years to roll out a UI update. Despite being the biggest Software company on earth, Salesforce continues to prove that even the making the most basic and usable of products evades them. Despite having all of the settings correct, the geofencing for remember location doesn’t work. I expected nothing and I’m still disappointed.
I keep having to turn on the “always approve requests from this location”. I’ve allowed the app to use my location even in the background, and sometimes it doesn’t work, but I’ve probably had to re-approve that at least 4 times this week already, sometimes multiple times a day.
I was on a plane and it must’ve been a connectivity issue but the six digits to authenticate me getting in wouldn’t work and I couldn’t work on a three hour plane ride. Other than that this is a very simple and useful way of going about and keeping things secure.
This is a huge productivity waster and battery drainer. Why do I have to approve this thing multiple times a day every time I log into the same instance from the same place. Why does salesforce want to know your location in the background all the time? Customers and end-users do not care about why you need this they just recognize the terrible user experience and productivity drains they get. No one wants salesforce and no one wants this app. Businesses have no other choice.
Going on 4+ years now of this app not remembering any “trusted locations” for longer than a day, sometimes less than that. The is the only MFA app I have that exhibits this issue. What’s worse is now I don’t even always have the option to select “remember this location”, as the approval pop-up disappears before letting me change the toggle button. One star for consistently being a daily frustration for this many years in a row.
Doesn’t work as intended, and I question to point of the app
The “save this location” feature rarely works. 9 out of 10 times I have to open up the app to authenticate the login, even though I’m almost always logging in from one of two locations. I’m also not even sure why the app is required anyway. It’s feels way overkill for security. I could understand extra security measures for financial institutes or something, but this is just an unnecessary pain.
I tried a number of other authenticators before I landed on this app. It was simple, clean, and did exactly what I was looking for. I especially appreciate the location option. I will continue to use and continue to recommend it to others.
This app is unnecessarily intrusive. I should be able to trust a device and log in easily. In order to do this with this new MFA requirement I have to always have an app open in my phone, draining my battery, sharing my location with Salesforce at all times. Just way to much inconvenience and data sharing. Salesforce needs to relax these requirements. My company’s Salesforce data does not require this level of security. SMS 2FA is fine for our needs.
Our company just transitioned to using this app for security purposes. I’m a big fan of dual authentication. So, this was a nobrainer in my mind. No complaints. Super easy to login with. User interface is clean. Highly recommend for other companies to use.
The app Works fine. However the toggle for “ always automatically log in” needs to be pressed every single time. After doing this 10+ times a day it’s enough to warrant 3 stars, unfortunately. Im not a developer but the sensitivity of the geofence based on your location needs to be widened to where if I move 3 feet in my room I shouldn’t have to re log in.
Salesforce has zero skills in apps and forcing users to download an entirely separate app to authenticate login EVERY SINGLE DAY is absurd. It’s just a prop to make companies feel more valuable and self righteous. Also, the app rarely works as it’s supposed to! The least it could do is remember locations that you use every single day, like home or an office. But can it do that? Nope. It says it can, but actually cannot. How this company can afford a stadium title is insanity. Trash on trash.
App pops notifications maybe 50% of the time. App has no way to search for accounts, so consultants connected to 50+ orgs have to scroll for an age to locate the correct account. This wouldn’t be an issue if the notifications popped every time. I could be wrong but I think this is pointing to an issue in the platform event architecture that can just drop platform events.
Although my settings are set to allow Salesforce to always know my location, for some reason I must always approve each request to log in on the same computer I always use, in a the same location I work every day. The “always approve login requests from this location” button should be relabeled to say sometimes for a more accurate reflection of performance.
At first I was very skeptical about using this tool. I had no reason to be. It works really well. Reliable every time no matter what state I am in. It updates very easily also. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
If you have to use MFA, this Authenticator used to be as good as it gets. I could click “remember my location” and I wouldn’t have to authenticate more than once a day. I could authenticate on my Apple Watch. Now I am never prompted to “remember my location” when logging in to SFB2C. I have to use my phone for every login. And the Watch app no longer works. I get the notification and click “Approve,” and my watch tells me I have to authenticate on my phone.
When it comes to another verification app, I was not looking forward to Salesforce. But I have to admit that their solution makes it easy and simple for even the most novice users. Kudos!
Can barely remember my location. Random times it will for various short and long stretches. Other times it constantly makes me manually approve my login. Sometimes it doesn’t refresh on the app so you wait forever for the login request to appear. Sometimes the request never appears or gives me the automated approval banner - not inspiring confidence in your security if I can’t verify that I’m the one approving the login.
I just randomly tried this app and turned out to be very good for my use case. Lightweight and simple, and also has backup features. Only question is, will it remain free forever for personal use?
Doesn’t remember the “always approve from this location” option
App is ok, although I would prefer to be able to use an Authenticator app based on the google Authenticator app, so LastPass Authenticator would work and I would only need 1 Authenticator app. Also, it is annoying that the app does not seem to remember the “always approve from this location” option. Why is it there if it only works 20% of the time?
Gets the job done but frustrating as it asks me several times a day if I want to add my home as a “trusted location.” Yes! Please! For the love of god, add it as a trusted location. Also, minor, but when I login, often before I even get the alert on my phone, the login screen starts shaking to tell me to check my phone. Workin’ on it friend. I’m workin’ on it.
Sales force is often a frustratingly complex software as a service site, but the Authenticator works quickly and effectively to add security to our logins to the system. Thanks! Good job!
If 2FA is the point it’s ok… if efficiency and ease… not so much
I work remotely from the same location, same laptop , same browser everyday. I set this app to allow logins from these “same” things automatically and it never works. I’ve updated the settings on my phone to the suggested settings but it doesn’t help. I’m all for security but also for tech that works… this does not.
I haven’t even used this app yet, i’m just now installing it as i’ve been pushing the requirement back as long as I can - but as of yesterday I am now forced to use this app on me personal phone so that I can log into Salesforce at work… on my work computer. This is a gross infringement of privacy, especially considering the constant location tracking, and it is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
The app works great for authenticating, but making it easy to authenticate, not so much. I use the app everyday for work and select “remember my location” (or whatever the phrase is) everyday and it doesn’t.
Salesforce Authenticator adds an extra layer of security for your online accounts with multi-factor authentication (also known as two-factor authentication). With Salesforce Authenticator, you use your mobile device to verify your identity when logging in to your account or performing critical actions. The app sends you a push notification, and you approve or deny the activity with just a tap. For even more convenience, Salesforce Authenticator can use your mobile device’s location services to automatically approve account activity that you trust. The app also provides one-time verification codes for use while you’re offline or have low connectivity. Use Salesforce Authenticator to secure all your online accounts that support time-based one-time passwords (TOTP). Any service that allows multi-factor authentication using an “Authenticator app” is compatible with Salesforce Authenticator. Location Data & Privacy If you enable location-based automation in Salesforce Authenticator, rest assured that Salesforce never tracks your location or shares it with anyone. Location data is stored securely on your mobile device, never in the cloud. You can delete all location data from your device or turn off location services at any time. Learn more about how the app uses location data in Salesforce Help. Battery Usage Rather than getting precise location updates, Salesforce Authenticator only receives updates when you enter or leave the approximate area, or “geofence,” of a location that you trust. By minimizing the frequency of location updates, Salesforce Authenticator conserves your mobile device’s battery life. To reduce battery usage even more, you can turn off location services and stop automating your activity.
