Cronometer 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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Cronometer is the nutrition tracker where you log meals, weight and biometrics, and its Pro version is used by coaches and dietitians to follow clients. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is optional for both. The only method Cronometer's help describes is an authenticator app: there's no text-message option on its 2FA pages (Cronometer).
The detail that matters most comes at the end of setup. Cronometer shows a single recovery code, and its help is blunt about it: "Without a code, we cannot recover your account" (Cronometer). This guide uses Authenticator App - Novaz on iPhone, but any authenticator app works the same way.
How we checked this guide: the Cronometer steps come from Cronometer's own help center, linked below, which we read on October 21, 2026. The help pages refuse plain automated requests, so we read their text through the help center's public article feed on support.cronometer.com and compared it with archived copies on web.archive.org from September 2025, which match. We haven't tested the steps on a Cronometer account, so a label may differ slightly. The Novaz steps are checked against the app, version 1.0.5.
Turn on 2FA on the website
Cronometer's web article, last edited in June 2026, describes these steps (Cronometer):
- Sign in at cronometer.com and go to More > Your Account. The setting sits in the Login section, next to your email address and password (Cronometer).
- Turn on Enable Two-Factor Authentication, then type your password again when asked.
- Cronometer shows a QR code. In Novaz, tap +, then Scan QR code, and point the iPhone's camera at the screen.
- If scanning doesn't work, Cronometer also shows a code you can type in. In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, put "Cronometer" in Service, and type the code as the Setup key. See What is a 2FA setup key?
- Type the 6-digit code from Novaz into Cronometer and click Next.
- Save the recovery code Cronometer shows (more below).
If you have a Pro account, the same switch is under More, in the Login / Company Info section (Cronometer).
Turn on 2FA in the mobile app
The mobile article is older (May 2024), and its labels differ a little from the web page (Cronometer):
- Open the More tab at the bottom right, then tap Account and Two-Factor Authentication (Cronometer).
- Turn on Enable Two-Factor Authentication and enter your password.
- Cronometer offers Link App Now, which its help says links to Google Authenticator. To use Novaz instead, copy the code shown on that screen.
- In Novaz, tap +, then Enter key manually, and paste the code as the Setup key. Then tap Next in Cronometer.
- Enter the 6-digit code from Novaz, tap Next, and save your recovery code.
Since the phone you'd scan with is the one showing the code, the copied code is usually the easier route. If you prefer a QR code, set it up on the website from a computer, or see scanning a QR code on the same iPhone.
Save the recovery code, and add a phone number
Cronometer gives you one recovery code, not a list. Its help says you'll need it to get back in if you lose your phone or delete your authenticator app. Store it in a password manager or on paper, away from your iPhone. Unless you use iCloud backup or a backup file, Novaz keeps its keys only on your iPhone, so this code is your way back in. See 2FA backup codes.
Cronometer also asks you to add a phone number to your account. It isn't a second sign-in method. Support agents use it to call you and check who you are if a recovery runs into trouble (Cronometer).
When Cronometer asks for a code
Once 2FA is on, Cronometer asks for the 6-digit code from your app every time you sign in. Its help doesn't mention a way to trust a device and skip the prompt.
If Cronometer rejects your code
Cronometer's help has no advice for codes that don't work. The usual cause is a phone clock that has drifted: on your iPhone, go to Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. Novaz warns you when the clock is 15 seconds or more off. More causes are in Authenticator code not working?
Changing phones
Cronometer's help doesn't describe moving 2FA to a new phone. If you use iCloud backup or a backup file in Novaz, restore your accounts on the new iPhone and the codes keep working. Without one, while you still have the old phone, the safest plan is to set Cronometer up again on the new one, if your account screen lets you turn 2FA off and on again (the help doesn't say). See How to transfer your authenticator app to a new iPhone.
If you lose your authenticator
Email support@cronometer.com and include the recovery code you saved during setup. That's the one recovery route Cronometer documents, and the phone number on your account lets agents confirm it's you. The help doesn't say how long recovery takes, and it doesn't offer a path for people who have lost the recovery code too (Cronometer). More in Lost the phone with your authenticator app?
Cronometer's help pages don't explain how to turn 2FA off.
