Google sends an identity verification text to my cell. The code is something like G- 123456
When I go to put it in the website the G is already typed and I just have to put in the number. I saw this with another app recently. Maybe it was Venmo? Same thing. Text had the letter but the app already had the letter typed in.
If they are already putting the letter in for me then why is it there? I assume it serves some purpose for the website but what is it?
Thanks!
In: 41
Just so you don’t get it confused with a different website. Seeing the letter in front makes it clear that you’re looking at the right message
If you’re requesting a varification on your phone, the sender app is actually able to automatically read the incoming SMSs and auto populate the verification code, they do this by looking for that “G- 6 numbers” format so that they only pick up verification codes sent by themselves.
I had a problem years ago where I could not get my verifications to work for things like Teams or other apps that would send the short number codes like you’re talking about.
Turns out TMobile has a blocker specifically for short SMS messages because they can end up getting kind of spammy: https://www.numberbarn.com/blog/short-codes/
So maybe Google adds the letter so it doesn’t fall into that filter, or others like it.
It’s partly to get the user’s attention, ‘This is the text box you’re looking for.’ A screen could have a bunch of input boxes scattered around making it difficult to find only the one the user needs. User interface is art, science and craft and this is s good new trick.
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