Skip to main content

Microsoft's new app lets you log in to your computer by using Bluetooth and your smartphone

PINs and passwords may be the most simplistic form of computer security, but they somehow also manage to be the most consistently annoying. Sufficiently secure and lengthy ones are easy to bungle, for one, and any length of password is a major impediment to light computing. But if Microsoft has anything to do with it, the PC password field may soon become a relic of the past: the Redmond, Washington company is testing a new version of its Authenticator smartphone app that automatically unlocks your Windows 10 computer via Bluetooth.

The Windows 10 mobile app, tentatively dubbed Phone Sign-In Beta, bypasses the password login of a nearby Windows 10 machine via a secure Bluetooth connection. “After a quick Bluetooth sync, use this app to unlock your Windows 10 computer at work. Just open the app and tap on the nearby computer,” says the app’s Store page. It’s a dramatic upgrade from the most recently available Authenticator, which at present can only be used to generate codes for two-factor authentication sign-ins, and is not unlike Google’s Smart Lock for Chromebook: supported Android devices paired via Bluetooth to a Chromebook automatically unlock the machine.

Recommended Videos

The app isn’t available for public consumption quite yet — Neowin reports that it can only be downloaded on Lumia phones running Insider Preview build 14267. And given the mention of “work” in the new app’s description, it’s unclear if Bluetooth authentication will initially remain exclusive to enterprise. A note on the download page indicates that future versions will add support for “Microsoft account [sic], a sign-in solution for browsers and VPN, one-time passcode generation, and MFA approval through notifications.”

Bluetooth’s probably not the perfect answer — if your smartphone’s at home or low on battery, you’re out of luck — but it’s better than some of the less practical password replacements that have been proposed in recent years. Cryptographic dongles such as Yubico require the presence of a secure USB dongle in the computer you wish to unlock, and in a paper published in the engineering journal IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, Google researchers envision a “smart ring” that unlocks computers with a tap.

Bluetooth authentication is yet another development in Microsoft’s many-pronged effort to supplant password security with better, faster alternatives. Its biometric framework on Windows 10’s Windows Hello supports fingerprint readers, iris-scanning sensors, and facial recognition cameras. Separately, the company’s a member of the Fast Identity Online (FIDO) alliance, an industry consortium that seeks to improve authentication on smart devices.

Kyle Wiggers
Kyle Wiggers is a writer, Web designer, and podcaster with an acute interest in all things tech. When not reviewing gadgets…
Use Office? Your PC could be at risk due to this Microsoft change
Computer user touching on Microsoft Word icon to open the program.

If you're using Microsoft Office on your Windows PC, then you might want to keep your eye out for potential new security issues.

Microsoft has just backtracked on a decision it made earlier in 2022, and will no longer be blocking Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macros in Office files by default across Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, and Visio.

Read more
New ways Microsoft is enticing developers to use Windows app store
Microsoft Store Ads on a Dell XPS Laptop.

The Microsoft Build 2022 conference is now underway through Thursday and the brand is revealing a host of updates to its app store in particular.

The Microsoft Store will soon feature Microsoft Store Ads, which will be powered by Microsoft Advertising. The brand said the upcoming feature will allow developers to market their apps to the proper users and highlight new experiences to users. Microsoft said it will soon begin a pilot program for developers to design ad campaigns within Microsoft Advertising. Currently, developers can sign up for the Microsoft Store Ads waitlist.

Read more
This Microsoft app could help you spice up your desktop
Two windows laptops sit on a wooden table.

If you're looking to spice up your Windows desktop in a new way, then you might want to keep an eye out for an item that may be coming from Microsoft soon. Reportedly in the works is an app that can help you create animated backgrounds with custom effects for Xbox consoles, as well as Windows PCs.

First teased as an "unknown project" by the well-known Microsoft leaker Aggiornamenti Lumia a few months ago, it looks as though the leaker has finally managed to reveal what Microsoft was working on. Aggiornamenti Lumia now believes that the project is the Xbox Dynamic Backgrounds Editor app, showcasing it partly in action.

Read more