How to turn off two factor authentication?

cora281 wrote:

This seems very well thought out and very secure...since I now need my 10-year old’s permission to use my own device.

If that's the case, you need to reconfigure which devices are trusted. See the section in the article linked to below on trusted devices.

Two-factor authentication for Apple ID - Apple Support

Also, stop sharing an Apple ID. It will lead to all sorts of issues.

There is my phone and her phone, so I’m not sure what other options you are suggesting. I am not able use my phone at work (or anywhere else) since I cannot get an authorization code from her phone unless we are together.

As far as not sharing an AppleID, there is no way I am letting her have her own at 10 years old.

cora281 wrote:

As far as not sharing an AppleID, there is no way I am letting her have her own at 10 years old.

Why not? Family sharing allows you to place controls on a child's Apple ID. It's much more secure and controlled than sharing an Apple ID with an adult.

You should rarely need to enter a 2FA code on your phone. When are you being required to use it?

I have to agree with the others like the two factor authentication. This is really annoying, cumbersome, plain overkill. I do not like this; I did not ask for this; I have never had any problem with security and I would like this removed ASAP! In the future, I would hope that Apple polls its users for what they want and need their devices. This arbitrary deciding by Apple of what I need and want is annoying and presumptive.

Apple, you can be so creative at times... This is why I got you in the first place, but this is not creative. It’s restrictive. What if I don’t have another device with me? What if I live alone and there is nobody else that I can get authentication on from their devices? This is just horribly mis-done. Someone did not think this through.

Kraellin wrote:

Apple, you can be so creative at times... This is why I got you in the first place, but this is not creative. It’s restrictive. What if I don’t have another device with me? What if I live alone and there is nobody else that I can get authentication on from their devices? This is just horribly mis-done. Someone did not think this through.

Apple is not reading here for suggestions or feedback. You can let them know your thoughts here:

Product Feedback - Apple

I’ve only had a cell phone as my one and only telephone since 2008. I’m well on the downward side to 60 myself. And I live alone.

I do have other Apple devices as trusted devices under my AppleID. And I have my Google Voice number listed under my AppleID as a backup telephone number.

Kraellin wrote:

I have to agree with the others like the two factor authentication. This is really annoying, cumbersome, plain overkill. I do not like this; I did not ask for this; I have never had any problem with security and I would like this removed ASAP! In the future, I would hope that Apple polls its users for what they want and need their devices. This arbitrary deciding by Apple of what I need and want is annoying and presumptive.

Apple, you can be so creative at times... This is why I got you in the first place, but this is not creative. It’s restrictive. What if I don’t have another device with me? What if I live alone and there is nobody else that I can get authentication on from their devices? This is just horribly mis-done. Someone did not think this through.

You do realize Apple’s decision to require 2FA is just as much about protecting themselves from liability given the increasing amount of personal and financial information people are associating with their AppleID and Apple’s expanding list of online services. That is probably in fact the primary reason it is required for those using Apple Pay, or getting an Apple Card, and home kit and other services now requiring it.

This is garbage it can’t be changed

also garbage can’t remove a credit card cause it says I have a subscription but I don’t

brutal service

apple doesn’t care about you. Just your money. We are suckers

Whilst I do agree with most of this, I should point out that Apple make NO attempt while promoting their devices that 2FA must be enabled to use many of the features advertised.

By its very nature and design an Apple device is a door stop without an Apple account.

And as for Apple protecting themselves that’s fine as long as it’s made clear prior to purchase and the over complicated set up and use pages are better explained to the new or novice Apple users.

Since I'm probably the person who revived this whole thread months ago, I might as well weigh in. I was able to cancel the two factor and have avoided it on my new iMac. I have decided not to because of the impact on my workflow which was severely disrupted for the brief period I mistakenly activated it. I have activated two factor on all of my important sites that offer it and I use Lastpass for all my passwords. So I feel well protected at this point. With my new computer I spent some time on the phone with Apple Support this past weekend. Apple is well aware of all of these complaints and according to the tech I worked with, it is probably the largest issue they deal with on a day to day basis. They can't help you get rid of it. I understand where Apple is coming from but I like most am not happy being forced to make the decision. Anyway just so everyone knows, Apple is very aware and they aren't changing their decision anytime in the near future. With the new Macs now on the market, they are probably going to force the issue whether you like it or not. So just a heads up for everyone going forward.

jturton wrote:

but I like most am not happy being forced to make the decision.

I'm not sure where you get the data that "most" are not happy with having their data protected. I'd love to see it, though.

2FA is virtually transparent. I have to, at most, interact with it about twice a month.

That's fine but I found in the brief time I had it, that it had a huge impact on my production environment. Time is money and product and they were affected negatively. Just an FYI, the tech I dealt with has also not implemented it on his personal machines. Your experience is not mine and won't impact my decision to avoid it. I'm perfectly happy with my security as it exists right now. I just thought people should know that Apple is very aware and that it is probably the number 1 complaint that the tech folks deal with on a day to day basis. Otherwise I would have continued to ignore where the thread has gone since my original query.

I've used the product feedback utility to suggest that Apple implement 1Password's One-Time Password tools for two factor authentication. I'm sure LastPass etc. all have similar tools. It is secure and works very well, it just needs to be implemented as one of the 2FA options.

https://support.1password.com/one-time-passwords/

Feel free to do the same and maybe we'll see a decent solution going forward.

https://www.apple.com/feedback/

But, why lie that you can turn off 2FA if they won't allow it? I had avoided it up to now----it's TOTALLY irritating!!!

Had had no problems with my data up to now. As a matter of fact, I keep NO data on iCloud.

I get it; Apple has all my data and to cover themselves, they require 2FA. More ways our great technology makes life more complex.

Speaking of iCloud, iTunes, etc... is there any human being that understands how it works? Why do my work contacts appear on my teenage son's phone? Why do I get notified constantly that my iCloud storage is full, when I have never once, not once, actively stored even one thing on iCloud. Why does my iPhone auto-connect with my son's airpods, when I have never once listened to my phone on his airpods? Why are my files on OneDrive? I didn't ask for it and I don't want it. Why do I need iCloud and OneDrive?