While the one-time passwords (OTPs) and security codes sent to your phone number can help you gain secure access to web-based accounts, those texts don’t half clog up your inbox.
That’s why Google is doing something about it – at least in India – with its stock Messages app for Android. The latest version of the app enables users to filter those OTPs into categories, to ensure the personal and professional conversations that matter are easily discoverable.
If users desire, Google Messages will now enable users to automatically delete those OTPs after 24-hours in the inbox. The clue’s in the name, they’re only useful once and expire quite quickly, so why bother keeping them around?
In a post on the Google India blog, the company wrote: “To continue to keep your inbox free of clutter, we’re also providing the option to automatically delete your one-time passwords (OTPs) 24-hours after they’re received, so you don’t have to spend time deleting them manually. To enable it, just tap continue when you see the suggestion prompt to confirm your selection.”
Other filters include personal, transitions and offers. Messages from saved numbers will automatically go into the Personal section, while messages from your bank will go into the Transactions section, for example.
Right now the feature is only rolling out in India, but it would seemingly be welcome among a much wider set of Android users, not to mention iPhone users on iMessage.
Speaking as one of those, my inbox is absolutely littered with one-time passwords, verification codes, security passcodes and everything in between. If you’re someone who doesn’t always keep track of your passwords, you can be dealing with these daily, so it’d be great if Apple just followed Google’s lead here.
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Right now only Android 8 (and up) users in India are the only ones who can make use of this, but it seems like a simple, yet solid idea.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
