Biometric Boons, Part 3: Passkeys

Client Notes

Last week, I helped Diana excitedly set up a new iPad that will probably replace her Kindle with a more pleasing reading experience. I also referred Lloyd and Joe to my colleague Aaron Gobler for help with their websites, and coached Juliet on her backup strategy.

Plus, I worked with Michael to install a security camera in his studio and helped him get acquainted with monitoring its activity and recordings. And, I troubleshooted Touch ID on Adrianne’s Mac and encouraged her to contact Apple for support because the sensor is malfunctioning.

Use Biometrics to Unlock Apps

There are two ways to use your biometrics to unlock an application. Many apps where you store sensitive information, such as a bank or password manager, provide the built-in ability to use Touch ID or Face ID to sign in and access your account and data. Look for a toggle on the login page or in the app settings.

In some cases, you must open the app regularly and use your biometrics to unlock so the feature keeps working. Some apps will expire your biometric passkey and require your password as a fallback before enabling biometrics again.

Require Biometrics to Open an App

Additionally, starting with iOS 18 and iPadOS 18, you can choose to require Face ID or Touch ID (or your passcode) when opening any specific app on your device. To activate, simply long-press on the app icon and select Require Face ID, Require Touch ID, or Require Passcode.

In the dialog that appears, select the first option to simply require the passkey. Or, where available, you can choose Hide and Require… to additionally hide the app from view. Then, the app is hidden from search and most other contexts, but is accessible in the Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library.

To disable requiring Face ID, Touch ID, or Passcode for an app, long-press the app icon and select Don’t Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode). Learn more.

Passkeys for Websites

Using your biometrics to sign into a website is a little different. First, a website has to support passkeys as an authentication mechanism.

Best Buy was one of the first sites to add support a couple years ago and now over 200 popular websites do. 1Password, which added passkey support to its password manager last year, maintains a directory of them.

Second, you need to choose where to store a passkey. Common options include your web browser or password manager. Depending on your setup, these could be one and the same.

Most modern Mac browsers have this facility and it’s built into your iPhone or iPad running version 16 or later. Additionally, the Apple Passwords app starting in iOS 18 and macOS 15 supports passkeys, as do other password managers like 1Password.

Thus, if you use biometrics to unlock your 1Password vault, storing passkeys there is a no-brainer for the sake of convenience. Some argue that this reduces the security of the tool. This is true and there is often a binary of choice between security and convenience left up to the user.

Third, signing in with a passkey doesn’t work the same way on all websites. Sometimes the passkey replaces only your password while others it also replaces a multi-factor authentication code. As of this writing, only the former is true in the case of Best Buy and over 85% of other listed websites.

Add Website Passkeys

To add passkeys for a website, you’ll generally visit the site and navigate to your account settings. There, you should find an option to add a passkey. Upon taking this action, you can instantly save the passkey, unlocking your password manager and/or updating an existing entry for the account as appropriate.

If you use 1Password, you can visit Watchtower to easily show accounts stored in your vault that support passkeys. For a given item showing the Passkey available banner, select Use passkey to open the provider’s page in the directory. This includes links to the setup page and additional information as well as any particular requirements or other notes.