Sign in on a TV or a terminal

01What the device shows you

A television, a set-top box or a terminal window has no comfortable way to take an email address and a password. So it asks us for a short code, prints it on its own screen, and waits. You do the signing in somewhere easier, and the device is let in afterwards.

The code is eight characters in two groups of four, like KRPD-7T4M. Next to it the device shows the address to open, which is cybercorp.ai/device. Some devices print that address with the code already attached, and a terminal running on your own computer may open the page for you.

Code

Eight characters, in two groups of four

Characters

Capital letters and digits only

Never appears

The digit zero, the digit one, the letter O, the letter I

Lasts

Ten minutes from the moment the device asks for it

Uses

One. Approving or refusing finishes it

Approved at

cybercorp.ai/device, in a browser where you are signed in

02How the three parts fit together

Three parties are involved, and it helps to know which one is doing what. The device asks us for a code. You read that code off the screen and approve it from a browser. We then hand the device its way in, and it finishes signing in on its own.

That last part is why the device seems to know the moment you press the button. It is not being told; it is asking, quietly, every five seconds, until it gets an answer.

03Approve it from your phone or computer

1. 1

   Open the approval page

   In a browser on your phone or computer, go to cybercorp.ai/device. If the device printed a link with the code in it, that link takes you to the same page with the box already filled in.

2. 2

   Sign in if the page asks you to

   You have to be signed in to approve anything. If you are not, the page says so and offers a link straight back to this page, so you land here again with the code still in the box.

3. 3

   Type the code

   Capitals or lower case both work, and the dash is optional. The box tidies the code as you type. Nothing is sent until all eight characters are there.

4. 4

   Read what is asking

   As soon as the code is complete, a panel appears naming the device, the address the request came from, and the account it would reach. This is the part worth slowing down for.

5. 5

   Choose Authorize the device

   The page confirms authorization. The device then finishes signing in by polling for the result. You can close the approval tab once authorization is confirmed.

The device line shows the user-agent supplied by the requesting app; it can be a technical string, not the name you gave your television. The address is where the request reached us from. Check that both match the device and network you are setting up.

04If you did not start this

The trick works because the screen looks reassuring: it is our page, on our address, and you are properly signed in. Everything is genuine except the one thing that matters, which is whose device is on the other end. Nobody at Cyber Corp will ever send you a code or ask you to read one out.

When a code arrives unasked, the safest thing is to do nothing at all: close the page, and the code dies on its own within ten minutes. If you want to close it now, type the code and choose I did not start this — refuse, underneath the button. The device is told it was turned down and gets nothing. Refusing records no link between that device and your account.

05When the code will not work

Most failures here are one of five things, and none of them do any harm. The page names the first four the moment you try. The fifth one shows itself on the device, which keeps waiting even though you have already approved it.

An activation link lasts twenty-four hours and works once. If yours has gone stale, go to the sign-in page and try to sign in with the same details: a Resend email link appears beside the Username / Email label. Open the new link, then pair the device again.

06Signing a device out later

If the device is still in front of you, the simplest answer is to sign out on the device itself. That ends its session and no other, and nothing else on your account is disturbed.

Settings → My Account does not currently list paired devices or offer individual remote sign-out. If you no longer have the device, change or reset your password to revoke all its refresh sessions, then sign in again on the devices you keep.

To change your password, open Settings → My Account and choose Change on the Password row. Changing or resetting it revokes every refresh session. A device may retain valid access for up to 15 minutes, then must sign in again.