Chrome 108 for Android, Mac, Windows enables passkey support

Chrome 108 for Android, Mac, Windows enables passkey support

Google started rolling out passkey support in October, and availability has now entered Chrome’s stable channel with version 108. 

You can use passkeys to sign into sites and apps that support them. Signing in with a passkey will require you to authenticate yourself in the same way that you unlock a device.

With Chrome 108, Google is “enabling passkeys on Windows 11, macOS, and Android.” Passkeys are synced through Google Password Manager (or any other supported credentials manager) on Android. Once saved, it will appear in the autofill sheet during sign-ins. 

Passkey creation

Chrome for Android simply asks if you want to “Use saved password or passkey” with the latter requiring screen lock authentication (face or fingerprint). 

Passkey sign-in

On desktop, you “choose to use a passkey from your nearby mobile device” with both Android and iOS supported. Google explains that a “passkey doesn’t leave your mobile device when signing in” and pairing via QR code.

Only a securely generated code is exchanged with the site so, unlike a password, there’s nothing that could be leaked.

Chrome Settings > Autofill will offer a new Passkeys menu/list to manage on Mac and Windows. 

Looking ahead, the Chrome team is working on passkey support for iOS and Chromebooks. The company notes how it “will take time for this technology to be widely adopted across sites and we are working on enabling passkeys on iOS and Chrome OS.”

Passwords will continue to be part of our lives as we make this transition, so we’ll remain dedicated to making conventional sign-ins safer and easier through Google Password Manager.

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