What you need to know
- Google is working on bringing a password-sharing feature to Android users, similar to its development of the same feature for Chrome.
- This would work through its Password Manager and would let users “securely” share their credentials with family or those saved into a group.
- After testing started for Chrome in November, it was clear that users would need to change their credentials if they no longer wished to “share” passwords.
It appears as though Google is working on bringing password sharing to Android devices like Chrome on desktop.
As spotted by TheSpAndroid, the latest Google Play Services version (24.09.12) showed signs of a “password sharing” feature for Google’s Password Manager (via Android Authority). The post explains that when this arrives, users will notice a “Share” button. Tapping it will produce a brief message stating, “You can securely share a copy of your password with someone in your family group.”
Additionally, it looks like this new Share button will appear within Google’s Password Manager when managing those you’ve saved before.
Digging further showed the manager’s upcoming sharing function will only work for passwords and not any saved passkeys.
What remains to be seen is the experience of the user receiving access to a password, as Android Authority notes. As of now, the deep dive can’t produce much more, considering the feature is still in development. It’s also not clear when Google plans to roll out password sharing in Password Manager on Android.
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Google Chrome picked up password sharing through a Canary build test back in November. Most of the UI the company started testing for Chrome last year has remained in this early preview of it for Android. Chrome’s test showed that sharing a password would deliver the associated website link, username, password, and any notes the owner had written.
The test also showed the recipient of the shared password must be using Google’s Password Manager, as well. However, it was evident that users must change their password for a website through the manager if they’d like to stop “sharing.”
For mobile, Google rolled out an update for Pixel users that made it easier to find their saved credentials. Users were finally given a convenient shortcut icon for their Password Manager. Previously, users needed to dive into their system settings to rediscover their list of saved credentials.
