Based on my current experience of working with both:

Pros:

• Allows to have a “cleaner” database, as most of the time, you have to verify the phone number right away instead of letting the user use your app before they verify their email address.
• Verification is perceived as less intrusive and bothering than email verification (especially with the integration of One Time Code which allows to paste the code right away natively)
• Login process is less tedious and safer (you make sure the user has access to the phone number, like a validator)

Cons:

• Some people are reluctant to give their phone number
• Sometimes server and operator issues make the code disappear
• Email (or any other mean) is mandatory to be able to retrieve account if the user’s phone number changed

I have been in some discussions with a designer for the iOS and Android app we’re building. He is insisting on using phone numbers for account creation. I have done my fair share of authentication mostly based around email/password. I recall once having various signup methods, like Facebook, Google and email/password and remember running into issues with users accidentally creating multiple accounts. So before I commit to phone number account creation I was hoping to get some feedback here with some of you who have experience with this.

What are the pros and cons with phone number account creation vs standard email/password account creation? Also even though phone number signup seems to simplify the user experience, what happens if the user changes his/her phone number? How do they update this and access their account? Would they need to have an email persisted to recover their account?

Are there any good articles that can help me understand this better?