Back4app 2FA: how to set up an authenticator app
By the Novaz team · Updated October 29, 2026
Novaz steps checked against version 1.0.5
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Back4app is a backend-as-a-service platform. Your Back4app account holds your apps and their data, plus the account keys that Back4app's command-line tool signs in with (Back4app). That makes it worth protecting with more than a password. Back4app calls its two-factor option multi-factor authentication (MFA), and it's optional. The one method its documentation describes is a code from an authenticator app (Back4app).
Back4app's tutorial names Google Authenticator, but the field on its sign-in form is labeled Google Authenticator / Authy Code, so any app that makes standard time-based codes will do. This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone. Other authenticator apps work the same way.
How we checked this guide: the Back4app steps come from Back4app's own documentation and help center, including the screenshots in them, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. We haven't tested them on a Back4app account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Before you start: there's no documented way back in
Back4app's MFA tutorial, last updated January 17, 2025, stops at a successful sign-in. It doesn't mention backup or recovery codes, a way to turn MFA off, or what to do if you lose your phone (Back4app). We found nothing about account MFA in Back4app's help center either.
So before you turn it on, make sure the phone with your authenticator app is one you'll keep, and know how to reach Back4app support (below). Unless you've turned on Novaz's iCloud backup or exported a backup file, that phone is your only source of codes.
Turn on 2FA with an authenticator app
The steps below follow Back4app's tutorial (Back4app):
- Sign in to your Back4app account on a computer.
- In the top-right corner, hold the pointer over Hello,
to open the menu. - Click Multi-Factor Authentication. A screenshot in Back4app's password help article shows this label (Back4app). The older screenshot in the MFA tutorial shows Multi-Factor Authorization instead, so look for either.
- Back4app shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the camera at the screen. If you're doing this on the same iPhone, take a screenshot, tap +, then Choose a photo. See scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
- Novaz shows a six-digit code for Back4app. Type it into the field on the Back4app page.
- Click Confirm Multi-Factor Authorization. If the code is right, Back4app takes you to a success page.
The tutorial only covers scanning. It doesn't say whether Back4app also shows a text key you can type in, so plan on using the QR code.
Signing in after you turn it on
Back4app suggests testing right away: open the Hello menu, click Logout, and sign in again. The login window now has a third field, labeled Google Authenticator / Authy Code, under your email address and password. If you leave it empty, the tutorial's screenshot shows the message MFA required! (Back4app). Enter the current code from Novaz along with your password.
Back4app doesn't say whether it remembers trusted browsers or asks for the code at every sign-in.
If Back4app rejects your code
Back4app's documentation has no troubleshooting for codes. Its tutorial only says to contact the Support Team if you hit an error while setting up MFA (Back4app).
Before you do, check your iPhone's clock, since time-based codes depend on it. Open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz also warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. Also make sure you type a code before it changes. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Changing phones or losing your authenticator
Back4app doesn't document either case. A Novaz iCloud backup or backup file lets you restore Back4app on a new iPhone; without one, a new phone means adding it again from a fresh QR code. The tutorial doesn't say whether you can open the Multi-Factor Authentication page again to do that once MFA is on. Do it while you still have the old phone, in case Back4app asks for a current code. See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If the phone is already gone, Back4app's support page is the only route we found. It offers a chat with Back4app staff, where you leave your email address for a reply, and a support ticket (Back4app). Write from the email address on your account and explain that you've lost access to your MFA app. Back4app doesn't say what proof it asks for or how long a reset takes. Its Slack community and Stack Overflow, listed on the same page, are for coding questions, so don't post account details there. More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
