Android O feature: SMS Authentication should be dead easy with new API

Just two more days to go before Google I/O 2017 conference kicks off. And if various reports are to be believed, we might see the next version of Android, now popularly known as Android O, get officially introduced during the conference. With its launch, the tech world will get busy discussing all the new features it would bring along which we tend to know a bit, thanks to the developer preview which had been released by Google a couple of months ago. But, whether be it the pre-launch stage or post launch, there would be a few neat features, which despite being very very helpful, might be overlooked. One such is the hassle free SMS authentication feature introduced by Android O.

A dedicated API has been developed that can be used by applications to recover verification codes sent through SMS, thus removing the need for apps to keep requesting for SMS permission. Also, you will be saved from the inconvenience of entering the codes sent to you by apps for authentication.

Read: Google to soon roll out Android O beta program as Android Nougat beta ends

With this feature, the Android system will be alerted by the apps of an expected SMS verification code following which the system will start searching for any incoming SMS for a particular 11 character long token. And when the Android system receives the SMS with the token, it is sent directly to the application instead of the usual norm of directing it to the Inbox.

This is done by a PendingIntent of the type createAppSpecificSmsToken. The PendingIntent prompts the Android system to start looking for the SMS with a 11 character long token. Only after the Intent has been sent to the requesting app, subsequent SMS messages are routed back into the user’s inbox.

Read: Best Android O features

via XDA Developer

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Nuzhat N

Nuzhat is a day-dreamer with imaginations running sky-high. Her love for tech is a recent one which she is still unwrapping and trying to decipher. Once a news-savvy journalist, she is now a tech-savvy author. Email: [email protected]