I am clear on how Google Authenticator works when logging on to a website and I am clear on that. However, these days everyone is using apps for everything. The Twitter app, the Facebook app, the Instagram app etc thus not bothering much for the web interface.
So my question is this: does Google Authenticator protect these apps too? I am about to start using Google Authenticator but I don't understand how it will keep me safe when I am using the Twitter app or the Facebook app. Could somebody please explain, in simple terms because I'm not technical at all, how Google Authenticator protects my social media account when I'm using the app?
For example, if someone somehow finds my Twitter password and installs the Twitter app on their smartphone wouldn't they get instantaneous access to my Twitter account? So how exactly does Google Authenticator on my device stop the hacker from accessing my account when they are not going to access it over the web in the first place? (Say they'll use a "burner" phone).
I would really, really appreciate any answer on this because I've spent the entire day trying to find it on the Internet and there is absolutely nothing available (or I'm just too dumb and couldn't figure it out when I read it).
Thank you very much.