Google Chrome for Android, Windows 11, and macOS has been updated to include passkey support. The search giant had begun rolling out passkey support in October and has now been available on Google Chrome’s stable channel version number 108. Passkeys allow users to sign into sites and apps through an authentication process similar to unlocking a device. The system has been designed as a more secure alternative to traditional passwords and two-factor authentication methods, which the company claims protect users from malicious reuse, server leaks or breaches, and phishing attacks.
Passkeys have been designed by the search giant to work on different operating systems and browser ecosystems differently, with ones created on iOS or in Safari on macOS utilising the iCloud Keychain for storage, while Chrome on Android utilises Google Password Manager. Meanwhile, Chrome on macOS and Windows currently utilises local device storage for storing passkeys, confirmed Google’s blog post.
Passkeys generated in Chrome on Android will be available across devices as long as sync is enabled through Google Password Manager on all devices.
However, passkeys created on Chrome for Windows will not be made available across devices as it currently utilises Windows Hello for storage. Users will also have to scan a QR code with another device that already has a passkey in order to enable passkey creation on the local Windows device when signing into a website for the first time.
Meanwhile, passkeys generated on macOS will also be not made available across devices as they’re also stored locally. QR code scan is also mandatory on first-time sign-in on Chrome for macOS to enable passkey registration.
Passkeys created on iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 will be synced across the user’s Apple devices and can be used by other browsers and apps. Passkeys will be stored on these devices on the iCloud Keychain. However, Chrome on iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 does not support passkey autofill, confirmed the blog post.