Duo Mobile 4+

I thought it would end up being another cumbersome addition to accessing our work network but, it is actually very seamless once it is set up. I actually like it way better than many I have to use because it not a situation where I have to receive a text and then type it in on the computer. Simply login the way you normally do and your Duo app will just ask if you want to give permission and it literally gives you two boxes like in those letters kids would write to someone they like asking if they wanted to go steady and at the bottom would be two boxes and they would say check yes or no! It pops up automatically so no need to open the app first. It is actually that easy, way more easy than working up the courage to write a love letter asking someone to be you boyfriend or girlfriend much less giving it too them and going’s crazy waiting for it to be returned with the right box checked!

I don’t write reviews, but I felt compelled to do so here. I work in IT and since we adopted DUO, it has proven to be effective and easy to use for the vast majority of users. The one’s that have problems are generally the ones that don’t know how to operate their devices, or they take issue with our policies because they have poor personal information security. These are exactly the people that force companies to adopt stricter security in the first place.

I cannot speak to the complaints of folks who choose to use it for accounts that are not connected to a work or school environment, but if you get a new phone or lose or damage your phone, of course it locks you out of everything. That’s what it’s designed to do.

The Duo Watch app used to be a massive time saver when logging into my work network: A pushed prompt would pop up almost immediately when I wanted to log in, I tapped Accept, and I’m in. One tap on my wrist for the entire 2FA process is as efficient as it can get.

You can also get codes from it manually for things that don’t use push approvals, and that’s it—like a good Apple Watch app it does only a couple of things, and it does them quickly and efficiently

Or rather DID, past-tense. As of watchOS 10, when I tap “Accept”, nearly all the time it launches the app and does not accept anything. There isn’t even a way to get it to ask again at that point, and the Watch app intercepts the notification on the phone, so now I have to get my phone out and manually open the Duo app to get a prompt and complete authentication. Instead of making things faster, it’s even slower, because without the prompt on the phone there’s extra steps just to get to the app.

I’m guessing that the interface tweaks in watchOS 10 somehow messed up the accuracy of button tap detection, but every other app works fine, the button is huge, and no matter where I try to aim it doesn’t seem to help. More to the point, this should have been worked out before release.

It’s time-wasting enough that I’m likely to uninstall the app so I can at least save time on my phone by having a notification there.