Apple’s upcoming working system updates are set to unveil a long-awaited function for these wishing to navigate a password-free panorama: an environment friendly and safe mechanism for exporting and importing passkeys throughout completely different platforms and functions. Right here’s the way it will perform.
Based on Ars Technica’s Dan Goodin (through SixColors), Apple showcased this new performance throughout WWDC25, tackling some of the important drawbacks of passkeys to this point.
Beforehand, passkeys generated on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad had been predominantly confined inside the Apple ecosystem, syncing effortlessly throughout iCloud-enabled gadgets however missing a possible methodology to transition them to Home windows, Android, or numerous different third-party credential managers.
This limitation has sparked official criticism, as passkeys, whereas promising enhanced safety, appeared to impose a brand new sort of vendor lock-in. When you misplaced entry to your Apple gadget or wished to modify platforms, your passkeys successfully turned unreachable.
A Protocol Problem
The problem of portability wasn’t solely an Apple dilemma. It represented a broader business problem because the FIDO Alliance labored diligently to ascertain safe strategies for facilitating communication between completely different platforms and functions with out compromising the very safety mannequin that makes passkeys worthwhile.
Now, with help from the FIDO Alliance—together with Google, Microsoft, 1Password, Dashlane, Bitwarden, and others—Apple is introducing native import and export capabilities for passkeys. This function will launch later this 12 months with iOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, iPadOS 26, and visionOS 26.
This performance doesn’t cease at passkeys; Apple has indicated that the identical framework may also facilitate the safe switch of passwords and verification codes.
No Messy Information, No Handbook Exports
The importance of this function lies in its operational methodology. In contrast to standard password exports that generate unencrypted CSV or JSON information, this new approach ensures end-to-end encryption, app-to-app switch, and mandates native authentication (like Face ID or Contact ID) to proceed.
The info received’t linger in a probably unsafe export file in your gadget. As a substitute, the switch will happen immediately between credential supervisor functions—or from the system keychain to an app—and can make the most of a standardized information format devised by the FIDO Alliance for cross-compatibility.
“This empowers customers with higher management over their information and the selection of credential supervisor to make the most of,” the narrator in Apple’s demo elaborated. This marks a notable shift in method, particularly contemplating the beforehand shut integration of Apple’s Keychain ecosystem.
The function is about to launch later this 12 months. For anybody hesitant to totally embrace passkeys because of considerations about ecosystem lock-in, this improvement is exactly the progress we’ve been anticipating.
For these within the technical specifics, make sure you take a look at Apple’s “What’s New in Passkeys” session on the Apple Developer web site.
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