Apple’s new Passwords app lets you securely access all your login credentials in one place

Data privacy and security seemed to be a key focus area for Apple this year at WWDC 2024, as has been the case generally for the company.

The tech giant introduced several new privacy features for its devices including hidden app folders and app locks, selective contact access permissions, and more. However, one of the biggest announcements around the same was the Passwords app.

Passwords app: What you need to know

Apple’s new standalone ‘Passwords’ app is essentially an extension of the iCloud Keychain, currently available under a sub-menu in the Settings app. Passwords will provide users with quick and secure access to all their login credentials across apps and platforms, in one single place.

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Now, a dedicated password manager may not sound new or exciting. Especially considering how Google has something similar as well, and there countless such third-party apps too. However, Google’s Password Manager, again, is accessible only through your phone’s Settings app.

Moreover, the Passwords app also has another rather neat feature, that sets it apart. Users can essentially filter and sort their accounts based on different kinds of platforms, recently created accounts, credential types (PINs, Passwords, and Passkeys), and more.

Once stored, all of these credentials will be stored across devices including iPhones, MacBooks and iMacs, as well as iPads, and can be auto filled using the same, to allow for greater ease of access. It doesn’t end there either. The app is also compatible with the iCloud for Windows app, which adds to its utility all the more.

Why you should give the Passwords app a whirl

The average person has accounts across several different platforms that they access on a day-to-day basis. However, creating strong and, more importantly, unique passwords for each of them such that they can’t be accessed easily, is a different ball game altogether.

A dedicated password manager allows you the freedom to create them, as it saves you the hassle of having to memorise them. Moreover, it also keeps them safe and secure, as you require some form of authentication (whether PIN, password or biometric authentication based) to access the password manager itself.

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Apple’s new Passwords app will be available across its platforms starting with the next major releases of its operating systems. That is – iOS 18, macOS Sequoia, iPadOS 18, and as a fun little surprise, even visionOS 2.

The developer betas for all of the aforementioned operating systems are out already, and they are expected to be rolled out for use to the general public in the coming months.