Google Authenticator 7.0 rolls out Material You redesign, search, & more

In a rollout that has spanned over three months for some reason, Google Authenticator 7.0 is now widely available on Android with a Material You redesign and other new features. 

Some Android users got version 7.0 in August. At the start of November, Google started rolling out the update again. As of today, Google Authenticator 7.0 is fully available via the Play Store. 

In terms of new functionality, you get the ability to search through your accounts instead of having to scroll. (That capability arrived in Google Authenticator for iOS last year.) The new search bar integrates the hamburger button, cloud sync status, and account switcher.

Meanwhile, the app gets various Material 3 elements, like Dynamic Color theming on the homepage for the rotating codes and countdown indicator. Authenticator’s navigation drawer has curved corners, though the four menu items — Transfer codes, How it works, Settings, and Help & feedback — randomly have a pretty big font size. The FAB (floating action button) is now a rounded square, but still uses the old multi-color ‘plus’ sign.

Google Authenticator has added automatic theme switching and removed the manual light/dark mode picker from the nav drawer.

The “Scan a QR code” UI has been updated and adds flash. An app shortcut lets you quickly longer-press for the camera scanner, which is now powered by Google Play services.

There’s a new “Privacy screen” that can be enabled in Settings to require a “screen lock, PIN, or biometric” to access your 2-factor authentication (2FA) codes. You can set the “Require unlock after app is invisible” increment to: Immediately, After 10 seconds, After 1 minute, or After 10 minutes. In Settings, we’re no longer seeing the “Time correction for codes” feature.

Update: You now copy codes to the clipboard by tapping instead of long-pressing. Swipe right to edit the account name and left to delete, while reordering is done by dragging.

Google rarely updates Authenticator. The last release came in April/May of 2023 with the four-color asterisk icon and Google Account cloud syncing.