Apple Wants To Replace Passwords With Face Id Touch Id For New Sign Ups

As part of its efforts to eliminate the need for passwords, Apple has finally embraced FIDO Alliance’s WebAuthn protocol to develop what it calls “Passkeys in iCloud Keychain”. The Cupertino giant highlighted its new authentication technology in a WWDC developer session and it helps users sign in to supported apps and websites using Face ID or Touch ID. You don’t need to enter a password to sign up or sign in with this technology.

Passkeys are WebAuthn credentials to help users seamlessly log in to apps using Face ID or Touch ID on iPhones, Macs, and iPads. They are end-to-end encrypted and stored in iCloud Keychain. According to Apple, Passkeys uses public/ private key pairs and hence doesn’t require servers for storing authentication secrets. Here’s how Apple’s Passkeys in iCloud Keychain compares to existing authentication methods: Image Courtesy: Apple