Tanqr

Setting Up Tanqr on Android

Tanqr is a 2FA app that does what Google Authenticator does and then some. The main difference is it supports cloud sync out of the box, which actually matters when your phone dies or you switch devices. You can get it from F-Droid for free with no tracking, or from the Play Store if you prefer that route. The APK is also available directly from their website if you want sideloading. I've used the F-Droid version exclusively since the Play Store build pulls in Google Mobile Services, which defeats most of the point of running an authenticator app. The install is straightforward. Open the app and you'll be prompted to scan a QR code from whatever service you're protecting. Tap the plus button, camera launches, point it at the code, save. That is literally the entire process for most accounts. Most guides skip over the fact that you can also manually enter a secret key if the QR code doesn't work. A lot of enterprise systems only provide a base32 string instead of a QR.

The sync feature and why it actually works

Tanqr offers several sync backends: Syncthing, Nextcloud, WebDAV, and an encrypted Tanqr Cloud option. The encrypted cloud is the one people actually use because it just works. Codes are encrypted client-side before they hit the server. I synced between a Pixel 6 and a Samsung Galaxy S22 in about three minutes using the built-in export/import, then set up daily encrypted sync with Nextcloud for peace of mind. Having codes available across two devices meant I wasn't locked out of anything when one phone was dead. Here is a thing nobody tells you about syncing: the timing algorithm is device-dependent. If your two phones have slightly different system clocks, you might see a code expire on one device but still show as valid on the other. I ran into this on a work laptop where NTP was misconfigured. The workaround was enabling the manual time offset setting in Tanqr's advanced options and adjusting it by plus or minus a few seconds until both devices showed matching codes at the same time. It saved me from having to reset two-factor on six separate accounts.

Troubleshooting edge cases

Sometimes services generate HOTP codes instead of TOTP. This is rare but it happens with older corporate VPNs and some banking apps. Tanqr handles HOTP by incrementing the counter each time you use a code. Set it up by choosing the HOTP option during registration and entering the initial counter value, which the service usually provides alongside the secret key. If you lose track of the counter, the codes will permanently drift out of sync and you'll need a backup code or IT support. Another thing to watch out for: some services bind theTOTP secret to your IP address or device fingerprint. No amount of syncing will help if the backend rejects codes from new devices. I hit this with one of my university's legacy systems. The workaround was exporting the codes, wiping the old device entry on the web interface, and re-scanning from the new phone. It took twenty minutes and required a support ticket, so just know that syncing is not a magic bullet for every system out there.

Pitfalls and what Tanqr won't do

The biggest limitation is that Tanqr is Android only. If you are running iOS, you are stuck with something else or using Tanqr purely as a management backend and exporting codes to your iPhone periodically. The app also does not support passkeys or hardware key emulation. It is strictly a TOTP and HOTP manager. There is also a quirk with bulk imports. If you export from Google Authenticator and try to import into Tanqr, the URIs sometimes include label formats that Tanqr parses incorrectly. I ended up with duplicate entries for half my accounts because the app treated accounts with identical secrets but different labels as separate entities. The fix was to do a manual review pass after import and merge duplicates. It takes about ten minutes for a typical setup with forty to fifty accounts. Overall it is a solid choice for anyone who wants cross-device 2FA management without paying for a password manager that includes authenticator support. The encrypted sync is reliable, the app is lightweight, and it does not need an internet connection to generate codes. It is not perfect, but for the price it is hard to beat on Android.