opened another front in its war on passwords. The company launched the Identity atform at its I/O developer conference, a tool to sync store online passwords across Chrome Android.
The promise is that when you save a password into a site like Netflix or The New York es, will be able to log in automatically when you download that app to your phone. It’s an extension of previous “Smart ck” efforts that enable you to securely sign in to various devices services without entering a password.
The impact on you: The good news is this capability is built into ay Services 7.5, which is rolling out now. This app powers many key As backend services for nearly all Android devices. This means you won’t have to wait for Android M, which won’t even be available until the third quarter of this year ( potentially much later for your device).
wants to be your password manager
This is only the newest battle in ’s open war on passwords. For example, Chromebooks use a smart lock feature that lets you sign in with your Android phone. has long offered alternatives to a N for unlocking your Android device, such as facial recognition swiping a pattern. Developers can also enable a “Sign in with ” button in their apps, which securely connects with your account.
en it comes to password management, the difference between ’s Smart ck tools like stss, Dashlane, other third-party solutions is developers will need to enable this capability with their apps. This will take some time, so don’t ditch your password manager just yet. And of course, it only works on Android in Chrome.
There are several major players already on board, according to , such as The New York es, Netflix, Eventbrite, Orbitz, Instacart. But the rest of the developer community is only now getting access to this tool. So while the new identity platform looks like a great feature step forward for security, don’t uninstall your password manager just yet.