Some mobile phone apps + others will be blocked October 1st

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avij
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Some mobile phone apps + others will be blocked October 1st

Post by avij »

As announced a year ago, EBT will require using a secure method (HTTPS) for logging in from October 1st onwards. Secure logins have been possible for some six years now, and that secure login requirement will now be enforced.

If you are using a normal web browser for entering your notes, you are not affected by this because you are already automatically using a secure method for logging in. However, there are some third party applications such as mobile phone apps that use EBT's API (application programming interface) that will need to be updated for this. Please see the above link for the current status of third party applications.

Because the majority of those app users are unable to figure out if their app uses secure or unsecure logins, I made a change to the login process that delays the logins if the login is done using an unsecure method. Currently that delay is around 19 seconds. If your login seems slow, please contact your app developer requesting an update.

On October 1st, the following may happen when you try to log in:
  • Using an updated app with a valid email+password: You will be logged in instantly.
  • Using an updated app but with an invalid password: You will get an error message about invalid email address or password instantly.
  • Using an old app with a valid email+password: There will be a 20 second delay and you will get an error message about invalid email address or password.
  • Using and old app but with an invalid password: There will be a 20 second delay and you will get an error message about invalid email address or password.
Unfortunately the EBT API does not allow relaying a more precise reason for the login failure. There is no field for the error message, and if we added such a field now, the apps would need to be updated anyway to be able to show the error message. Therefore the apps that have not been updated to use secure logins will complain that the email address or password was incorrect, even if the email+password were OK.

The apps can be handy for entering notes while on the road, so I'm hoping that those could be updated. For some applications it would suffice to add a single "s" to the website address, but some other applications will need more extensive changes. Please ask your app developer about this. EuroBillTracker can't control or update third party applications.

Please note that you can also use the mobile version of the EBT website m.eurobilltracker.com (or its shorter URLs m.eurobt.eu and m.ebt.li) for entering notes. The mobile version of the EBT website lacks quite a few features that are present in mobile apps, but it does allow you to enter your notes when needed.

Thank you for your understanding.
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