Now available: Passkeys go mobile!

Last year Bitwarden launched passkey management on Bitwarden Password Manager browser extensions, to provide a strong, secure, and passwordless method for logging into websites and apps. Now passkeys have come to the Bitwarden iOS app and Android app beta, completing the vision of facilitating passkey use wherever you log in.

To get started using passkeys in the mobile apps, simply download the latest version of Bitwarden from the Apple App Store for iOS, or join the beta in the Google Play Store for Android.

Once you set Bitwarden as your device’s passkey provider, it will activate and handle passkey usage anytime an application or website creates or uses a passkey. If you create a passkey in mobile it will be available in the Bitwarden browser extension, and vice versa.

Visit passkeyindex.io to see a list of platforms, apps, and websites supporting passkey login

Strong security
Passkeys are stronger and more secure than passwords, cannot be guessed, and are resistant to phishing. Since they aren’t a credential you can remember or type in, you need a passkey provider to manage the passkey and initiate authentication processes.

Synced across devices
Bitwarden Password Manager creates and stores passkeys, passwords, and other sensitive information in a zero-knowledge, end-to-end encrypted vault that is synced to your devices logged into Bitwarden. This brings convenience to the inherent strong security of passkeys, and with passkey management now in the Bitwarden iOS mobile app and in beta for Android, you can use your saved passkeys anywhere you need to log into apps or websites.

Cross-platform
With Bitwarden, your passkeys are not confined to a single OS or browser or locked into a single environment. For example, if you use Google Chrome browser on a Windows laptop but use Safari on your Apple iPhone, you’d be able to use the passkeys created in Bitwarden across both those devices with no worries about compatibility.

Passkeys are a new standard of security developed by the FIDO alliance and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The FIDO Alliance is an open industry association with members and backers from across the tech sector, including Bitwarden, to advance the use of these new open standards.

Bitwarden has integrated passkey technology into several aspects of Bitwarden Password Manager, all are available to all users for free:

• Using a passkey for 2FA ↗

• Logging into Bitwarden with a passkey (in beta) ↗

• Passkey management for browser extensions and mobile apps

• Passwordless.dev for developers to integrate passkey authentication into their apps ↗

Bitwarden also is working with other passkey providers to help bring about an open standard allowing for the transfer of passkeys between authenticators.

Apple iOS
Passkeys are available today on iOS in the Apple App store in the official Bitwarden app. Ensure you have the most up-to-date version downloaded.

Google Android
For Android, where passkeys are still in beta, you will need to go into the Google Play Store on your device, navigate to the Bitwarden app, and tap Join in the Join the beta section. Once the Bitwarden application is updated to the beta version, go to Settings > Auto-fill and tap Passkey management to access the Android settings to configure Bitwarden as your passkey provider. Note that your device will need to have Android 14 installed to support creating and using passkeys.

Instructions for joining the beta program and providing feedback are listed on this community thread.

In the initial Android beta release, passkeys for Chromium-based web browsers are supported, with support for apps coming soon in a future beta build. Additional browser configuration may be required.

A heartfelt thank you to those users who have participated in the beta and provided feedback. If you are new to passkeys and want to learn how they work and how they’re utilized in Bitwarden, visit the Passkeys and Passwordless page on the Bitwarden website or read the blogs: How do passkeys work? and What are passkeys? Two webcasts with the Bitwarden team, Bitwarden and Passkeys and Passkeys & You, answer common user questions.

Interested in learning more about securing yourself with Bitwarden? Get started with a free personal account or a 7-day business trial and protect your digital life today!

Editor's note, May 7, 2024: Updated to reflect that passkeys are out of beta for iOS, provide additional information, instructions, and graphics to support the release.