Battle.net Authenticator iPhone app now available in Europe
by Lesley Smith 
Jun 2nd 2009 at 9:30AM
These things sometimes take a while, but Blizzard has finally made the Battle.net authenticator app available in the European iTunes stores (you can download it here). As with the NA version, the app is a freebie and designed to add an extra layer of security to your account thanks to a random number generator.
We've already posted a hands-on look at the app and I had a quick play with it while writing this post. It seems really easy to use once you sync the app to your Battle.net account and there's something very special about seeing the Blizzard logo pop up on my iPhone. The app should also work on the iPod Touch and is available now, so if you've already merged your WoW account then this might well be the app for you. I certainly carry my iPhone around with me more than my keys so this little app is a very welcome addition.
Filed under: Blizzard, News items, Account Security, Europe
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
nonentity Jun 2nd 2009 9:38AM
I hope they release that for other types of mobile phones or whatever soon. I really want that thing (my first Authenticator died on my, on a Sunday... -.-) but I definitely won't buy a crappy iPhone/iPod just for that...
richard.ashton Jun 2nd 2009 11:13AM
Seeing as no other online app store for phones is that big (looking at googles attempt and nokias attempt) i would say that it will be a while until (and if) blizzard make an authenticator for those platforms. also the architecture for iphone/ipod touch apps is probably easy to make.
also tell me how the iphone/ipod touch is crap when the app store has sold over 1billion apps. i would call that a major resounding success and would say its far from crap.
Lasher Jun 2nd 2009 1:03PM
I hope they'll release the authenticator for mobile phones too. Don't have an I-Pod and I don't think I'll have one any time soon.
@richard.ashton - what does the app store have to do with anything ? AFAIK, there is plenty of stuff sold for mobile phones individually by the companies that made the applications.
Retropally Jun 2nd 2009 9:39AM
Very very cool :D
Us Europeans are getting quite a bit of lovin recently
Mailia Jun 2nd 2009 9:39AM
I'm a bit unsure if to get this, because I'm really scared that I will lose/break/someone steals my phone and lose my gaming experience.
Giventofly Jun 2nd 2009 9:51AM
maybe the US ppl can clarify this
If someone already has an autenticator and then gets this, can you use either one afterwards to login you account?
Todd Jun 2nd 2009 10:02AM
No you can't which is why I deleted the prog from my iphone right after I downloaded it.
When you go to the security section on the battle.net deal it says you can use either iphone or authenticator but not both. I was hoping that it would let me use either.
Anglash Jun 2nd 2009 9:55AM
At long fricking last.
Corvus Jun 2nd 2009 9:59AM
Not in all Europe- I've just checked polish iTunes store- no joy...
Dan Jun 2nd 2009 10:01AM
Is a internet connection required each time the autenticator is used? Or only when it is first synced.
niko Jun 2nd 2009 10:12AM
you do not need an active internet connection in order for the code to work. Once syncing the app to the authentication server is completed, you're good to go.
Bbcversus Jun 2nd 2009 10:03AM
I had this like a month ago from ITunes Store US and a few days ago activated it on my Battle.net account and it worked. I think it doesnt matter where you get it from, you can use it with your EU or US account. I used it mine with my EU account.
nonentity Jun 2nd 2009 11:29AM
Yeah, that may be true, but I still hope they'll come sooner or later. Alternatively - I hope my current authenticator won't bite the dust anytime soon. ^^
@crap: quantity != quality
Twilight probably sold more copies than... whatever... A Song of Ice and Fire, for example. I dare you to say that that means it's better.
I dislike Apple in general, pretty much all of their products are grossly overpriced for no real reason other than "because".
They are not better or worse than the alternatives, just different.
My use of "crap" may have been a bit harsh, or rather misplaced in this context, but I don't like Apple and its products and I don't like that this very useful application is only available if you got one of them.
(damn I really wish you could edit comments here)
nonentity Jun 2nd 2009 11:30AM
...
I really do
...
-.-
tw Jun 2nd 2009 11:59AM
So someone could reverse engineer the code on the iphone
Anglash Jun 2nd 2009 12:33PM
Hack the authenticator, good one. How you going to give it a Serial Key, or Sync with B.Net ?
Matchu Jun 2nd 2009 12:35PM
They'd still have to know the code you used to connect your Authenticator to your account.
Kolenka Jun 2nd 2009 4:33PM
iPhone/Touch apps are wrapped up in DRM, so no go there. You'd have to crack the DRM before you could reverse engineer the code. You'd also have the problem of the actual RNG being obfuscated quite a bit, making it tricky (although never impossible) to reverse engineer it once you did have the assembler.
Anglash/Matchu: I don't think this is discussion about reverse engineering the code to hack accounts. They would still need two pieces of information: Serial number & Account password.
The more obvious benefit of reverse engineering the code is so you can do things like: Widget for Vista/OS X that shows the current OTP for a given serial number, writing a Java app for the RAZR or other Java-enabled phones, and so on. As long as you don't have a keylogger on your machine when you setup the widget, it would still be secure. But then again, that is still a risk.