Google is making the use of Passkeys more convenient for users using different operating systems: Google Password Manager now synchronizes Passkeys on iPhones and iPads for the first time – access is possible through the Chrome browser. As Google announced Thursday, passkey transmission happens in both directions. A new passkey created in Chrome on iOS and iPadOS should automatically expire on all other devices – and vice versa.
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Google’s Passkey support has excluded iOS so far
Although Google’s password management has long supported passkeys on iOS and iPadOS, it’s been a separate solution until now — which was confusing for many users: Passkeys created or saved in Android, Windows, or macOS are ultimately Do not expire on the user’s iPhone and iPad. Passkeys created in Chrome on iOS or iPadOS were previously saved by Google’s Password Management in Apple’s Passwords app and synced only through that.
However, for cross-platform synchronization, users have to take action themselves and follow various requirements and settings. As Google explains in a blog postPasskey Sync only works from iOS and iPadOS version 17; In older versions of the operating system, Chrome continues to store the passkey in Apple’s password management or iCloud Keychain.
Enable Passkey Sync in iPhone Settings
To activate the function, Chrome must also be added as a source in “Settings > General > Autofill & passwords”. It’s also important to set another PIN for recovery as soon as you create the first passkey in Google’s password management on iOS – which has six digits by default. Google emphasizes that passkeys are protected by end-to-end encryption. So enabling access on a new device requires a PIN on iOS – on Android this works more easily using fingerprint or facial recognition.
Apple also makes its in-house platform management available in other operating systems like Windows and browsers like Firefox and Chrome, but support for Android is completely missing.
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