Any way to use iCloud Keychain for logging into third-party apps or browsers?

[petekjohnson]

So I love the built-in 2-factor authentication that was built into iCloud Keychain in Monterey and iOS 15. BUT, was wondering if there are any utilities, or other mechanisms, to somehow be able to use it in third-party apps or different browsers. Right now, any time I need to log into anything other than Safari, I have to keep the Safari > Preferences > Passwords window open so i can jump back and forth to copy and paste the necessary info. Would be nice if there was something that made it easier - say, a menubar app you could click to send authentication to whatever app you're trying to use.

This isn't as much of an issue on iOS, most third-party apps already use iCloud Keychain to do autofilling AND support Touch / Face ID so its rarely necessary on my phone.

 

[gilby101]

On macOS, the best you can do is export your passwords from Keychain to a csv and them import that into something else. You don't say which 3rd-party browser you want to use.

a menubar app you could click to send authentication to whatever app you're trying to use.

That is what a password manager provides. I use 1Password (though I hesitate to recommend that latest version), but the free version of Bitwarden should be enough for your purposes. Both can synchronise their password database between macOS and iOS.

 

[petekjohnson]

I know what a password manager is; iCloud Keychain is a pretty decent one that comes for free with all Macs and iOS devices. I was just musing aloud about the 1% use case of when I occasionally am opening up some app and have to toggle back and forth between Safari (I suppose I could also toggle back and forth with System Settings) to copy and paste (1) the username/email, (2) the password, and (3) the 2FA code. I use unique randomly generated passwords for everything otherwise it wouldnt be THAT much trouble to just type it out when i needed to.

I dont use any other browsers like Chrome often enough to bother importing my passwords, its really 3rd party apps i was more curious about, and it would get outdated rather quickly unless i was updating the Chrome passwords on a regiular basis.

Thanks

 

[gilby101]

I know what a password manager is; iCloud Keychain is a pretty decent one that comes for free with all Macs and iOS devices.

Agreed, so long as your needs are relatively simple. Maybe you are beginning to outgrow it as a password manager.

Coming back to wanting an app to provide easy access to keychain passwords. In principle, an app and Safari can share a password stored in a Keychain. But the app must be written to use "Shared Web Credentials". See https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/shared_web_credentials.

Apple doesn't provide an API for access to just any password item in a keychain. So you may have to accept the 1% use case.

 

[petekjohnson]

I think THAT's the main explanation: no APIs. And I suppose that's understandable; you don't want to open up your primary security mechanism to just anyone. If ANY developer could call Shared Web Credentials, it wouldnt be very long before it became Attack Vector #1.

But yeah, i don't really see myself outgrowing iCloud Keychain. I'm very used to it and comfortable with it and all these "extra steps" it takes me for the occasional login outside of Safari have become so second-nature i could do them blindfolded.

 

[gilby101]

Apple doesn't provide an API for access to just any password item in a keychain

Just to tidy this up, that is probably not completely true.

1) There is the Terminal command 'security' which can do all sorts of complex (i.e. nearly unintelligible) things with your login keychain. With a bit of playing, I got it to show one of my many passwords. Not so obvious (to me!) how to use it for the iCloud Keychain.

2) The automation tool Keyboard Maestro can read and write keychain passwords. But, I think, with the same limitations as the 'security' command.

I am now getting out of my depth, so will leave it there.