Yes, Apple has long offered an easy way to store usernames and passwords as part of iCloud Keychain and even enabled sync between devices for easy logins. However, Apple could soon dedicate an entire application across platforms to password management.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark GurmanApple will show off a new app called Passwords at WWDC 2024. The app will be part of and available on “iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS 15.” Like iCloud Keychain, the dedicated app can “generate passwords and keep track of them.”
Reportedly, on iOS or iPadOS it will leave Settings and go into a dedicated app, while on Mac it will leave Safari Settings and turn into a dedicated app. As you might suspect, iCloud Keychain will still be the backbone of this experience.
The application will be a one-stop shop for password management on Apple devices and is divided into categories. It supports standard logins and passwords, saved Wi-Fi networks, and passcodes that use Touch ID or Face ID. By releasing a dedicated password management app, Apple will compete more directly with third-party services like LastPass, Aura and 1Password.
Like this, Apple’s Passwords solution will likely support password importing, potentially encouraging people to opt for the password built into the heart of the platforms.
The latest report also notes that passwords will work on Vision Pro – we note that the $3,500 Spatial Computer already supports iCloud Keychain for autofill – and on Windows computers. It’s unclear whether that will be a formal application or a web experience for the latter. Anyway, the application offers the option to auto-fill logins and passwords on these devices.
As someone who uses iCloud Keychain, I already appreciate that it works across platforms, and that a dedicated application might make it easier to manage them. And if I’m looking for a password, it’ll be a little easier to open an app and authenticate than to dive into the settings. It will be fun to see if any new features are rolled out, possibly an ability to automatically update logins or passwords after a certain amount of time. That’s all speculative, though.
Apple will likely unveil the Passwords app among a wealth of other news during its opening keynote for WWDC 2024. Much of the focus will likely be on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) announcements across all of its platforms. Apple: iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS and visionOS.
We’ll know for sure on June 10, 2024, and you can check out the other rumors ahead of the World Wide Developers Conference here.