Apple is about to give a new home to the Passwords page which is buried in the Settings app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The company is expected to launch a new password management app at the WWDC 2024 event later this month, Bloomberg reports.
The app called "Passwords" will be powered by Apple"s iCloud Keychain service, which is already used to sync passwords across Apple devices. It will find a home in future versions of Apple"s operating systems: iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15. The report states the upcoming app will also support the $3,499 headset Vision Pro and Windows PCs as well.
Apple"s Passwords app will display a list of user credentials divided into various categories such as accounts, Wi-Fi networks, Passkeys, and an "Apple-promoted password replacement that relies on Face ID and Touch ID." The app will auto-fill data from websites/apps and generate passwords to work like an authentication app such as Google Authenticator.
Several of these functionalities are already available through the Passwords section in the Settings app. Instead of going to the Settings app, users can also ask Siri to reveal the password for a specific website or app.
However, Apple wants to rival the likes of 1Password and LastPass, as per the report, and the Passwords app will let users import passwords from other services. There are no words on whether a version of the Passwords app will be available for Android.
Having said that, it remains to be seen how the Passwords app will fit among Apple"s existing software around password management. Apple pushed a major update for its iCloud for Windows app earlier this year, which already supports iCloud Passwords and generates 2FA codes.
The keynote event of WWDC 2024 will start at 10 am PT on June 10, where Apple is expected to make several other announcements. For iOS 18, previous reports suggest iPhone"s next operating system upgrade will bring AI-made custom emojis, AI transcription, and changes to Safari and Siri. Apple is also in talks with OpenAI to bring ChatGPT"s AI features to the iPhone. It was also reported that the first set of AI features may run locally on the device.
Source: Bloomberg