As previously reported, Google has a QR Code page for phone-based authentication. It was found in the wild, and has picked up a lot of attention on the social networks and in the tech press, but don’t get too attached to it, because it’s not here to stay.
Google’s Dirk Balfanz wrote in a Google+ post last night:
Looks like people have found the page for an experiment we’ve been running for phone-based authentication.
Folks – it’s just that – an experiment – and will likely go away at some point. We always work on improving authentication, and try out different things every now and then. We’re working on something that I believe is even better, and when that’s ready for a public trial we’ll let you know.
I’ll label that experimental page appropriately when I get a chance so people don’t start depending on an unsupported feature…
So there you have it. They’re working on something “even better”. We’ll just have to stay tuned to find out what that is.
Of course, Google already has its two-step verification.