Passkey support is continuing to expand. Apple has introduced third-party passkey support in iOS 17, which was released September 18, 2023.
This change to iOS is the final piece of the puzzle that allows third-party providers to fully embrace passkeys. Until recently, passkeys have been managed only by platform vendors such as Apple and Google. Dashlane first introduced passkey support in the Dashlane browser extension back in September 2022. Continuing to lead the industry, Dashlane offers passkey support in iOS 17 and Android 14, making passkey usage seamless.
Passkeys are a simpler and more secure way to log in. Learn how they work and how Dashlane streamlines access.
How do passkeys solve password problems?
Passkeys are based on FIDO standards and are the future of online authentication, aiming to rid the world of passwords and their problems. Password managers like Dashlane have been at the forefront of helping to solve these problems. However, without a fundamental technological shift away from passwords, password managers can only do so much to protect users from the weaknesses of password authentication.
Passkeys solve password problems in three key ways:
- Nothing to remember: Passkeys can only be used with a password manager, and there is nothing the user has to think about in terms of creating and using passkeys.
- Phishing-resistant: While password managers help to a degree, social engineering can still lead to users being phished, or tricked into entering their credentials into a fake website that steals those credentials. Passkeys are built on FIDO standards that are designed with phishing resistance built-in.
- Not a shared secret: A password is a shared secret: The user and the website server need to know the password or enough information about the password to allow the authentication to take place. Passkeys don't need to share any secret information with the website server to enable authentication. All the server needs is a public key, which is of no value to any attacker if they breach the website server.
Here’s a demonstration of what the experience is like for a Dashlane user on iOS 17 when using passkeys:
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I already use Touch ID/Face ID with my apps. What does this change?
Most mobile apps don't require the user to use a password to sign in. Typically, you use Touch ID, Face ID, or other types of device biometry when you open your apps. However, when you first download an app, you most likely need a password or magic link to sign into the mobile app, and certainly a password to create an account.
This is where passkeys make things a lot easier. When an app fully embraces passkeys as their primary authentication method, you won't ever need to enter a password. While the full passwordless experience of passkeys is something we can expect in the future, companies such as Google are already using passkeys alongside the password today, adding a much more convenient way to sign into any platform.
I’m a developer. What do I need to know?
If you’re an app developer looking to reduce account creation and sign-in friction in your app, and if you also want to help your users defend against account takeovers, you should look at these guides to improve your app’s experience:
Developers can also use this passkeys.dev resource, which is officially supported by the FIDO Alliance, to learn more about passkeys and how to integrate them into their service. FIDO recently published UX guidelines for passkeys—we recommend you take a look at those.
Why should I use Dashlane instead of Apple or Android to manage my passkeys?
Dashlane and third-party password managers in general provide cross-platform support. This means that Dashlane ensures your data is available to you wherever you are on whatever device you're on, no matter if it's macOS, iOS, Android, Windows, or Linux. While passkeys provided by platform vendors such as Apple and Google do allow for cross-platform authentication, the user experience is far from intuitive.
Also, we at Dashlane believe you should be in control of your data and not be locked into a specific product. Dashlane and other password managers are working together to bring data portability to passkeys. This means if you decide to change your password manager, you'll be able to take your passkeys with you. This is currently not possible with native platforms such as iOS, Android, and Windows, though we hope to see this in the future.
Learn more about our passkey support and download the Dashlane password manager app in the Apple store to get started.
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