Summary
- Google Password Manager for Android may soon automatically upgrade your passwords to passkeys on compatible websites.
- Google Password Manager already supports the feature on desktop.
- Google is also working on importing/exporting passkeys for easy migration.
Passkeys are the future, and all our favorite password managers already support them. Despite the convenience that it brings, passkey adoption has not picked up at the pace it should. One reason is the extra time one needs to migrate from a password to a passwordless login. On Chrome, Google Password Manager makes this easier by automatically converting your password to a passkey on compatible websites.
Given how useful this feature is, it’s surprising that Google Password Manager on Android lacks this functionality. Fortunately, that’s likely to change soon.
Related
I went passwordless: Here’s how my passkey journey has been so far
Is the world ready for passkeys, or should you wait a little longer?
While digging through the code of the latest Google Play services beta (v25.19.31), the Android Authority team discovered signs of Google Password Manager for Android soon picking up a feature that will automatically upgrade your passwords to passkey on login. They even managed to activate the feature.
The “Automatically create a passkey to sign in faster” option might sound simple. But it will save you the hassle of manually switching away from password login to a passkey on each of your favorite sites. The feature will only work on websites and services that support passkey login, a list that is growing with every passing month.
Once upgraded, you can log into that app or service via biometric verification, be it on your phone or any other device. Alternatively, you can also log in by entering your device PIN or tapping a prompt on one of your other devices. If you still prefer using passwords to log in, Google will provide an option to turn off the feature.
There’s no telling when Google will release this handy passkey upgrade for Google Password Manager on Android. It typically takes a few months for the company to roll out such changes to the public after they are initially detailed.
Passkeys are the future, but that future is still some time away
Google is also working on another passkey-related enhancement for its password manager that will let you import/export them. This will make it easier to migrate to another password manager or transfer your existing passkeys from one account to another.
Considering that Google Chrome only added passkey sync across devices in September last year, a widespread adoption of passkeys will take time.
