Password managers roll out passkeys for Android, biometrics for Windows

Password manager app Dashlane is set to introduce third-party passkey support for Android 14 users.

Passkeys are a type of authentication credential which work as an alternative to passwords, using an individual’s unique personal characteristics or tokens and cryptographic signatures to grant or deny access.

Though users of Android 9 to Android 13 only had the option of using Google Password Manager to manage their passkeys, Android 14 users now have the option of using third party providers such as Dashlane.

Users interested in trying out the new feature will need to activate Dashlane as an Identity Provider in their device’s settings by going to “Settings,” then “Password and Identity,” and then picking Dashlane from the list of “Passwords, passkeys, and data services.”

This will activate Dashlane as a passkey provider.

The latest feature shouldn’t come as much of a surprise; Google hinted at the arrival of support for third party password managers as far back as October 2022 when it first announced passkey support.

Numerous password management firms have pushed out passkey support in recent months. 1Password introduced support for passkeys in June. Bitwarden, another large password manager provider competitive with 1Password and LastPass, said it intends to release passcodes at an unspecified point during 2023, and they are currently available in beta testing.

In another move in support of passwordless identity, the aforementioned Google Password Manager is now set to support biometric authentication for PCs.

The popular tool, which enables the user to generate unique passwords and then autofill them during the login process, already had biometric capabilities enabled for Android and iO users.

Google’s Password Manager will be able to support multiple different types of biometric lock on Windows machines, such as fingerprints or a face scan, depending on what type of equipment your computer has attached.

The company didn’t specify when exactly it expects the update to be implemented.

Google isn’t the only big tech firm to throw its support behind passwordless sign-in.

Well over a year ago, in May 2022, Apple and Microsoft joined Google in announcing they will work together to accelerate acceptance of passwordless sign-in standards set by the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for their devices and platforms.

The consumer demand for passwordless technology also appears to be present.

A May 2023 report put together by the FIDO Alliance found that fifty-eight percent of U.S. consumers are interested in passwordless technology, while 47 percent say they are somewhat familiar with passkeys.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  Dashlane  |  Google  |  passkeys  |  password manager  |  passwordless