Facebook recently announced Account Kit, a very Apple-esque sounding software kit that ditches the traditional username and password convention. Instead, it utilises SMS authentication to allow users to sign into apps with nothing but their mobile number.

They say that the Early Bird gets the worm. Well, British classifieds website, Gumtree, and its South African wing will be the first to implement Account Kit throughout its services.

In an announcement, Gumtree boasted that they were among the first to test Account Kit, to great success. As such, the company will be working with Facebook and its Account Kit, to improve and pioneer the service.

Johan Nel, Country Manager for Gumtree South Africa says that their California-based development team has been working hard with the social network because they “put great emphasis on simplifying trading on Gumtree and we believe this new technology will do just that”. Nel added that Gumtree was honoured to play a pioneering role during the process.

Users of the Gumtree app will have the option of logging in via Facebook or phone number. Clicking on the phone number option prompts an SMS with a code which gives the user access without a password.

The announcement states that Facebook expects the username/password sign-up option to remain the prime route into apps. However, the company believes that Account Kit will prove extremely popular in emerging markets.

I for one think this is a great move. Why would I ever want to trudge through all my installed apps, find my password manager, and copy and paste that over, when I can simply link my accounts to my phone number?

[Source: HTXT]

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Junior Editor at Vamers. From Superman to Ironman; Bill Rizer to Sam Fisher and everything in-between, Edward loves it all. He is a Bachelor of Arts student and English Major specialising in Language and Literature. He is an avid writer and casual social networker with a flare for all things tech related.