Reminder: Passkeys are not just from Apple

Illustration by Maria Chimishkyan

The company did it in the most Apple way possible when it introduced passkeys. It made an icon and printed a very on Apple brand looking "Passkeys" next to it. It is possible to assume that passkeys are an exclusive feature of Apple's iCloud Keychain if you have only watched part of the presentation. It is not.

Major players will use the termpasskey. You should set a passkey for your banking app. The wordpasskey should be treated like the wordpassword. Passkeys work by letting you log in to an app or website with just your usernames and your pre-authenticated device, instead of a password and text message code that could get phished or otherwise compromised

Ricky Mondello, Apple's software engineering manager, started a thread on social media yesterday to promote the new technology and clarify what it means. Alex Simons, Microsoft's VP of identity, confirmed that Microsoft will be adopting the name. All involved parties seem to be committed to spreading awareness and thus far no one is trying to claim it as their own.

We will definitely be using the "passkey" term in our products and services. Will take some time to build awareness/understanding, but we're all committed to making the needed investments.

— Alex Simons (@Alex_A_Simons) August 4, 2022

Is this where I want to enter the name of my first pet if I use "Passkey"? If you had to teach the common person what FIDO was, it would have taken more than five minutes.

In order for the technology to succeed, it needs that marketing push, and what better way to get the word out than for Apple to take the reins. It would have been branded Apple PassKeys if Apple was really trying to trick people into thinking that passKeys are only for Apple.

PassKeys can be used if you are on the developer betas for either macOS or iPad. The developer tools will be open by the end of the year. Passkeys are currently supported on the web using Windows Hello, and will be supported in the near future.