One step closer to ditching those pesky passwords.

1Password’s previously announced passkey feature is rolling out to users starting today. Passkey is the proposed solution to end passwords for good that’s finally starting to gain some momentum. The technology uses your device’s biometric sensors – whether that’s fingerprint or facial recognition – to authenticate you. It’s not too dissimilar to using biometrics to unlock your phone.

Announced via a press release, 1Password says that starting today, you’ll be able to add passkey logins via the password manager. For example, when you create a passkey for your Google account, 1Password will detect that and add it to your 1Password account. Then, when you need to log in to your Google account next, 1Password will automatically log you in. So, as long as your fingers aren’t wet or your face isn’t obscured, you won’t need a password.

The company says that support will start with beta extensions for Safari on macOS, as well as Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Brave on macOS, Windows and Linux. You'll also be able to view, edit, move, share and delete passkeys on 1Password for Mac, iOS, Windows, Android and Linux.

With the wide adoption of biometrics on phones, tablets, and laptops, this seems like a logical next step. If you were using a password manager like 1Password, you were likely already using biometrics to autofill logins on websites and apps. It sounds like passkeys will remove the step of having to autofill a username and a password, in addition to having to press the login button entirely.

Because 1Password is platform agnostic, it will work for those who regularly switch operating systems or entire ecosystems. Unlike Apple or Google’s current implementations, 1Password works and syncs across ecosystems. And just like any other item in 1Password, you’ll be able to share your passkeys with friends and family, and even set time limits on how long they’ll have access.

Source:
courtesy of ENGADGET

by Peter Cao

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