San Francisco, Dec 21 (IANS): Adding an extra layer of security, Twitter has announced to let its over 300 million users install third-party apps for two-factor authentication to verify their accounts.

As an alternative to SMS, you can now use a third-party authenticator app such as Google Authenticator, Duo Mobile, Authy or similar installed on your mobile device.

"You'll now be able to use a third party app for two-factor authentication instead of SMS text messages." Twitter said on Thursday.

These third-party apps work independently and generate codes offline to help you use the two-factor authentication.

Twitter, however, said it will still relay on SMS as two-factor authentication but has now allowed third-party apps as an alternative.

The micro-blogging site has given a step-by-step direction on how to use the third-party apps.

According to The Verge, this is an important move because SMS-based two-factor authentication uses static codes.

"That means those codes could be intercepted in the event a hacker or some other malicious third-party has access to one or more alternative ways of viewing messages on a device other than having physical access to it," it added.

With third-party apps like Google Authenticator, the codes disappear in about 30 seconds, making it a more secure way to verify your identify and access your account.