2

My Google Account password is hundreds of characters long. It's intractable to type. That's normally OK, because I use a password manager, but I recently did a factory reset on a 2012 Nexus 7. Tap & Go from my Nexus 4 phone copies all accounts, but asks for my Google password and I can't figure out a sane way to get my password to the device. Here's what I've tried:

  1. I actually tried typing it in, once. It took about 15 minutes and I got something wrong.
  2. I tried creating an App Password. The Nexus 7 said it was incorrect. I tried this several times, and I'm sure I didn't get the app password wrong, so I can only figure that app passwords can't be used to sign into new devices (?).

I really don't want to change my Google password to something insecure just to get past this step. It shouldn't be necessary. At this point in setup it's too early to install a password manager, and even if I skip sign in now, I can't really install a password manager without access to the Play Store, right?

Is there a way to get my password into this prompt without arduously typing hundreds of complex characters onto a tiny default keyboard? Perhaps a way I can get the password from the Nexus 4 using NFC or any other protocol, or trick the 7 into treating a device plugged into the USB port as a keyboard?

Improve this question
0

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

#2 that you tried is if you have 2-step authentication on. The App Passwords are for applications (like some windows apps, for example, that authenticate to google) do not work with 2-step verification. These passwords are meant to be used with those apps. App Passwords will only work if you have 2-step authentication enabled on your Google account.

I would suggest that you change your password to something that you can actually remember, and type in less than 15 minutes, then enable 2-step authentication.

2-step requires you to use an app like Google Authenticator (or SMS)

2-step

This app will provide an access token that is only valid for your account, and for like 60 seconds. It is similar to SecurID.

Notice that Google Authenticator will provide me tokens for use with multiple google accounts, and other services as well, and the tokens are different for all of them. The Pie is a countdown, and once it reaches 0, that token is no longer valid and a new token will be displayed.

Improve this answer
4
  • Gotta hide your tokens, we know your password(s) and tokens totally don't expire
    – saloalv
    Jan 2, 2015 at 10:10
  • if you are talking about OAuth tokens, and they do actually expire. They just last longer than these codes. When using OAuth, a "refresh" token is also supplied. This allows the requesting application to request a new auth token, when the previous one has expired.
    – Ryan Conrad
    Jan 4, 2015 at 17:39
  • great bit of information, thanks! Was actually referring to you blurring 2fa codes
    – saloalv
    Jan 4, 2015 at 20:10
  • 2fa code also expire. If you enter a code and wait for the code to change (60 seconds) and try to use it, it will tell you the code is invalid.
    – Ryan Conrad
    Jan 4, 2015 at 20:53

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .