iOS 16 has plenty of exciting features to look forward to, from a customizable lock screen to an improved notification system, the ability to unsend messages, and more — but you may have missed a very important one at WWDC in June Feature announcement. With the public release of iOS 16, expected in mid-September after the release of the upcoming iPhone 14, Apple will introduce technology to make passwords obsolete.
The idea is simple. Instead of using your password to log in to an app or website, you’ll be asked for a password. It’s essentially a digital key stored on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, authenticates with Face ID or Touch ID depending on which device you’re using, and syncs the digital key between your Apple devices using iCloud Keychain .
It’s as much about convenience as it is about technology,” Kurt Knight, Apple‘s senior director of platform product marketing, explained in an August 2022 interview: “Face ID and Touch ID verification give you the convenience and biometrics we can do with the iPhone. .You don’t have to buy additional equipment or even learn new habits”.
That doesn’t sound like much of a difference from using a password manager with Face ID authentication enabled, but that’s where it gets interesting. The digital keys created are only stored on your device and cannot be read by anyone, not even Apple itself.
When it comes to data breaches, hacking and phishing attacks aimed at accessing user accounts, this goes a long way because there is no “password” to steal. If all goes according to plan, it could be the end of an increasingly complex list of passwords you need to remember every day.
But while the tech will be available on devices running iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura, don’t expect all your passcodes to disappear right away. As with the company’s “Sign in with Apple” feature that speeds up the sign-up and sign-in process for supported apps, developers can add functionality to their apps and websites.
It may be available through first-party services like App Store verification, but it will take longer to roll out to apps like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram. How long remains to be seen.
There are also some questions about how logging into an app or website works on an Android or Windows device. “The cross-platform experience is very simple,” Knight told Tom’s Guide. “So, let’s say you have an iPhone, but you want to go to a Windows machine to log in. You’re going to be able to get a QR code, scan it with your iPhone, and use Face ID or Touch ID on your phone.”
It’s worth noting that Google and Microsoft have also been working on competing password-free technologies in recent years, but Apple appears to be the first to step out of the gate.
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