Ask HN: UX of Password Login vs. Magic Link Login?

3 points by kgraves 5y ago ↗ HN

Developing an authentication system for my app and curious of which of these methods do you prefer and why in terms of UX.

More helpful if you have experience of using both.

2 comments

[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 14.2 ms ] thread

phillipseamore 5y ago ↗

I don't like having to move between applications or tabs when using magic links, it also means I need to cleanup my inbox (deleting the email). I end up with 2 tabs for the site I want to log into if I don't close the original tab.

Regarding security, I don't see it being any better than if a user is using a password manager or different passwords for services. If someone takes control of the email they have access to all services that login via "magic" links, just like if they'd compromise the users password manager.

nocubicles 5y ago ↗

I am developing currently one hobby project and about to implement auth using magic link. I have never used magic links before but want to try it with this project. My project is kind of marketplace where user is supposed to place an ad and come back maybe next next few days or a week and close the ad. Then he might not come back in months or years.

So I think for this kind of project where the user needs to authenticate himself one off and then maybe come back months later to log in again magic link suites well.