Title: [Plugin: Google Authenticator] Scanning barcode doesn't work
Last modified: August 20, 2016

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# [Plugin: Google Authenticator] Scanning barcode doesn't work

 *  Resolved [Rob Roy](https://wordpress.org/support/users/danetidwell/)
 * (@danetidwell)
 * [13 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-google-authenticator-scanning-barcode-doesnt-work/)
 * The barcode ‘otpauth://totp/MerwellEngine?secret=FAKESECRETKEY’ is not a valid
   authentication token barcode.
 * Try Again
 * [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-authenticator/](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-authenticator/)

Viewing 3 replies - 16 through 18 (of 18 total)

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 *  [Henrik Schack](https://wordpress.org/support/users/henrikschack/)
 * (@henrikschack)
 * [13 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-google-authenticator-scanning-barcode-doesnt-work/page/2/#post-2920758)
 * Hi Sean Donovan
    As mentioned, I’ll change the default, that will happpen the
   next time I release an update. This will probably solve this “critical bug” for
   you and SemperFideles, but new critical bugs will be created by people still 
   creating descriptions containing spaces and using an iPhone. Then I could silently
   remove any entered space characters before creating the QR code, and people would
   start complaining about that.
 * The right way to solve this issue, is to have it fixed at the root.
    Google created
   the Google Authenticator App for IOS and Android, Google created the app in way
   that it behaves differently depending on if you’re using an iPhone or an Android
   phone.
 * Best regards
    Henrik Schack
 *  [Sean Donovan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mrsdonovan/)
 * (@mrsdonovan)
 * [13 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-google-authenticator-scanning-barcode-doesnt-work/page/2/#post-2920759)
 * Thanks for the lengthy report. I agree -> I should probably google to see if 
   there is a bug reporting interface for the iPhone authenticator app.
 *  [semperfideles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/semperfideles/)
 * (@semperfideles)
 * [13 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-google-authenticator-scanning-barcode-doesnt-work/page/2/#post-2920760)
 * Henrik,
 * Appreciate the work. Not a critical bug for me. All I needed to know was to make
   sure I didn’t put a space in the Site Name and I was good to go. I really appreciate
   the app.
 * My suggestion was aimed at primarily saving you the grief of people constantly
   telling you about the problem. A couple of things you could do:
 * 1. Change the default name that is generated during the plugin install. I didn’t
   change the name because I’m lazy and am like a majority of users who leave the
   default value. You’ll then eliminate a good number of problems.
 * 2. Place instructions underneath the site name that explicitly warns the user
   that if they use a site name with a space in it that it’s not going to work on
   the iPhone.
 * These two steps ought to be fix enough to keep you getting a steady stream of
   complaints.

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The topic ‘[Plugin: Google Authenticator] Scanning barcode doesn't work’ is closed
to new replies.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/google-authenticator/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3500822)
 * [Google Authenticator](https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-authenticator/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/google-authenticator/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/google-authenticator/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/google-authenticator/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/google-authenticator/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/google-authenticator/reviews/)

 * 18 replies
 * 4 participants
 * Last reply from: [semperfideles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/semperfideles/)
 * Last activity: [13 years, 8 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/plugin-google-authenticator-scanning-barcode-doesnt-work/page/2/#post-2920760)
 * Status: resolved