Popular messaging platform WhatsApp has just unveiled support for a new and safer authentication feature for iOS users via passkeys.
The initiative is designed to ensure users can sign in via the most secure manner including biometrics and facial recognition that rids the need of the old age passcode endeavor.
Not only is it said to be safer but also more convenient and simpler in design as it uses Face IDs, Touch, or simply the passcode.
Passkeys in the form of Face or Touch identification are seen on various iOS devices and research has proven that they are certainly safer than the classic means for attaining authentication of the user.
It’s also less likely to make the user vulnerable to phishing attempts as it gets rid of the need to produce and type usual passcodes. Depending on this FIDO authentication, they are also said to be safer against threats like the stuffing of user credentials and a host of other leading remote attacks.
Those managed by the user’s device or the operations system seen on the computing device online tend to be synced through automated means between one user and the next through cloud-dependent services.
Meanwhile, it’s not only Meta’s WhatsApp that will soon be showing support for this authentication feature. There are plenty of other apps such as those from Google and Amazon that are hinting more toward this mechanism of logins too.
We saw WhatsApp mention how it would show support for it in 2023 but it just so happens that iOS attained support for it while Android didn’t, yet.
The massive support and launch for such passkeys might also be related to the stringent rules put forward by the Digital Markets Act which began in May.
The platform says it’s working hard to make new options that enable users to have files transferred offline with those nearby, in-app dialers, while news about iPad platforms is also on the rise as we speak.
This kind of launch will soon take time to attain acceptance from the masses but if you are an avid WhatsApp user with an iOS device, it won’t be long before you see this option for setting passkeys under the settings of your account.
Image: DIW-Aigen
Read next: Meta’s Reality Labs Records Major Loss in Early 2024