The new Apple Passwords app “makes it easy to access your credentials and have them securely stored all in one place,” said Craig Federighi, the company’s software chief, Monday during the WWDC24 keynote.
Apple is upgrading iCloud Keychain to become a full-fledged password manager in iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia.
iPhone and Mac get a dedicated Passwords app
iCloud Keychain is already good enough to act as a password manager. In addition to saving your passwords and payment details, it can sync Wi-Fi passwords and passkeys, as well as detect leaked passwords. You can even share login credentials with your friends and family directly from iCloud Keychain.
But without a dedicated app, it’s hard to access your saved login credentials in iCloud Keychain. Apple hopes to change this with the dedicated Passwords app. It has a straightforward interface and separates data into different categories, such as accounts, passkeys, and Wi-Fi networks. Apple says you can “filter and sort accounts by recently created, credential type, or whether an account is in a shared group, to quickly find accounts you’re looking for.”
All the features you need, with Apple’s privacy baked in
Like iCloud Keychain, the Passwords app can generate new passwords, save login information, or generate one-time login codes. It will also autofill your saved login credentials in Safari and other apps. All data is end-to-end encrypted and synced across all your Apple devices for easy access.
In many ways, the Passwords app repackages iCloud Keychain in a more user-friendly interface while delivering the same functionality.
Image: Apple
Passwords app is coming to Windows
The Passwords app is available for iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS. It is also coming to Windows through the iCloud for Windows app, enabling you to access your login information across most major platforms. It’s unclear if Apple will release a dedicated Passwords app for Android as well.
