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Passkeys for logging into websites, I need my phone all the time?

circatee

circatee

Contributor
Original poster
Nov 30, 2014
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So, I have started to use Passkeys, as that's what one should do now, I guess. 😳
But, that means no matter what I need to have my mobile with me, to point to the QR code, and then click on the passkey to login.

That is right, no?

I feel as if I am missing the really point of the passkey (besides being secure). When I am home, I often leave my phone in the living room or somewhere like that. Then, if I am upstairs on the internet and need to login, I need to go and grab it.

Well, again, I am more curious of the overall benefits, besides security. Seems like even more of an effort, even so, since I use a password manager (1Password).
 
I use Bitwarden, and it saves the passkey into the app.

It works as a Firefox and Safari extension - no phone needed. It syncs the passkey to any device it's installed on (such as your iPhone of course).

It's not as secure as using the phone in my opinion, but you do need to open Bitwarden using its own password.
 
Your Passwords App saves them, 1Password saves them as well.

its an easier or maybe better 2 factor authentication?
 
circatee said:
So, to be clear, I should be saving the Passkeys in 1Password?

Wondering if there is a default setting to allow this...
Click to expand...
Mine has automatically been just bringing up the program to add them to.

in settings, which program(s) are you using for your passwords? If all you want is 1Password, uncheck everything else there that can save them.
 
circatee said:
So, I have started to use Passkeys, as that's what one should do now, I guess. 😳
But, that means no matter what I need to have my mobile with me, to point to the QR code, and then click on the passkey to login.

That is right, no?

I feel as if I am missing the really point of the passkey (besides being secure). When I am home, I often leave my phone in the living room or somewhere like that. Then, if I am upstairs on the internet and need to login, I need to go and grab it.

Well, again, I am more curious of the overall benefits, besides security. Seems like even more of an effort, even so, since I use a password manager (1Password).
Click to expand...
Your macOS has the Passwords app. Located in Applications. It has all the passwords and passkeys that are in iOS Passwords.
 
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You need TouchID or an Apple Watch to use Passkey. If you use a MacBook in clamshell mode, open the lid. You can also get an Apple BT keyboard w/TouchID. For other devices, yeah you need to have your iPhone or iPad to scan the code.
 
gwang wrote:
"You need TouchID or an Apple Watch to use Passkey."

Hmmm....
I don't own an iPhone or iPad.
I don't use iOS ... AT ALL.
I don't even use the touch ID sensor on my MacBook Pro... never.

So...
I'm going to take a GUESS and reckon that "passkeys" aren't going to work for users like myself...?
 
circatee said:
So, to be clear, I should be saving the Passkeys in 1Password?

Wondering if there is a default setting to allow this...
Click to expand...
My settings to use 1Password exclusively

Settings > Autofill & Passwords

IMG_0361.png
 
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Fishrrman said:
gwang wrote:
"You need TouchID or an Apple Watch to use Passkey."

Hmmm....
I don't own an iPhone or iPad.
I don't use iOS ... AT ALL.
I don't even use the touch ID sensor on my MacBook Pro... never.

So...
I'm going to take a GUESS and reckon that "passkeys" aren't going to work for users like myself...?
Click to expand...
Macbook Pro can store Passkeys as well. But if you don't want to always lug around the MBP it's probably not ideal.

However, Android and Windows also support Passkeys, but if you use Apple's implementation of Passkeys you can't share between non-Apple devices, other than the QR code scan method (you want to sign in, you can scan a QR code on your device with Passkeys, main problem is it also wants a Bluetooth connection, and for almost brand new devices the Bluetooth connection is instant, but even a few years old Windows laptop doesn't do Bluetooth quick pairing, I use Passkeys on my work laptop with my iPhone using QR codes and my new work laptop autopairs the Bluetooth, but my old one from 2021 needs to be prepaired with Bluetooth, annoying).

1Password may be more ideal if you are cross-platforms and don't want to get into the QR code rigamarole.
 
circatee said:
So, I have started to use Passkeys, as that's what one should do now, I guess. 😳
But, that means no matter what I need to have my mobile with me, to point to the QR code, and then click on the passkey to login.

That is right, no?

I feel as if I am missing the really point of the passkey (besides being secure). When I am home, I often leave my phone in the living room or somewhere like that. Then, if I am upstairs on the internet and need to login, I need to go and grab it.

Well, again, I am more curious of the overall benefits, besides security. Seems like even more of an effort, even so, since I use a password manager (1Password).
Click to expand...
Passkeys are like phone 2-factor codes. You'd need your phone to get codes too, right? You can think of it like that.

Difference is that you don't need to type codes with Passkeys, it does the "work" for you behind the scenes.
 
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jaytv111 said:
Passkeys are like phone 2-factor codes. You'd need your phone to get codes too, right? You can think of it like that.
Click to expand...
This is what I was alluding to above with my comment about Bitwarden not being the most secure way of storing passkeys.

I don't need any other device - I open Firefrox, it opens the BW extension which requires me to log in, and then when I log into a website which requires Passkeys, I simply click on the Bitwarden entry.

The 2FA in this case is knowing my BW password as well as whatever I need to log in to my laptop. So, two factors (two passwords) not two devices.
 
Fishrrman said:
gwang wrote:
"You need TouchID or an Apple Watch to use Passkey."

Hmmm....
I don't own an iPhone or iPad.
I don't use iOS ... AT ALL.
I don't even use the touch ID sensor on my MacBook Pro... never.

So...
I'm going to take a GUESS and reckon that "passkeys" aren't going to work for users like myself...?
Click to expand...
Not with the native passwords app. You'll need to use 3rd party.

Edit: You can use a physical USB security key like Yubi or similar.
 
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