WhatsApp activates passwordless logins with passkeys for Android customers

WhatsApp customers on Android can say goodbye to insecure and annoying SMS two-factor authentication. The Meta-owned firm introduced on X (previously Twitter) that it’s rolling out help for a passwordless passkey characteristic to all Android customers. The brand new safety choice permits WhatsApp customers to make use of their gadget’s face, fingerprint, or pin safety to unlock and entry their accounts — following Google’s lead when it started prompting customers final week to create passkeys.

Passkeys have been beforehand being examined by WhatsApp in its beta channel, nevertheless it’s now coming to common customers of the app on Android. We reached out to Meta about iOS compatibility, and whereas there’s no phrase but on help for WhatsApp passkeys on iPhones, Android help will roll out over the approaching weeks and months.

With WhatsApp including passkey help, it’s a small step on the highway towards by no means having to memorize a password that might doubtlessly be stolen in a knowledge breach or compromised by phishing. That doesn’t imply WhatsApp’s 2 billion-plus customers are fully protected against all digital threats, nevertheless it ought to assist make issues simpler and safer for each those that have already got good password habits and people who nonetheless set their passwords to “12345.” (Unusual, I’ve received the identical mixture on my baggage.)

Replace October sixteenth, 5:06PM ET: Added clarification on iOS help and the timeline of the rollout.