Passkeys are the future. They aim to replace passwords for good to make your online accounts more secure and safer from phishing attempts. WhatsApp is one of the latest services to jump on the passkey bandwagon, allowing Android users to protect their accounts without the hassle of remembering another password.
If you are new to the world of passwordless login, read below to learn how to secure your WhatsApp account using passkeys.
What to Know Before Setting Up Passkeys for Your WhatsApp Account
While setting up passkeys for your WhatsApp account is no rocket science, there are some other requirements that must be met. Your password manager must support passkeys. Alongside passkeys, enabletwo-factor authentication in WhatsAppfor added security.
WhatsApp will prompt you to save the generated passkey in Google’s password manager if you don’t use a password manager. It is not possible to use passkeys to secure your WhatsApp account without a password manager. On the plus side, passkeys are automatically synced to other devices linked through your password manager for easy access.
You can go through ourpasswords vs. passkeys comparisonto understand how the two login methods differ.
Do note that WhatsApp is not making passkeys the default sign-in method on Android. So, you can continue using the older authentication method if you wish to.
Lastly, passkey support is currently limited to WhatsApp for Android. There’s no clarity from Meta on when the feature will roll out to iOS. WhatsApp’s passkey support appears half-baked as well. It is unclear how you may use a passkey after setting it up.
How to Set up Passkeys Login For Your WhatsApp Account
verify to update WhatsApp for Android to the latest build before setting up passkeys. If the option is missing, the feature likely has not yet been rolled out to your account.
Once WhatsApp fully rolls out passkey support, you will be able to use it to log into your account on a new device.
How to Revoke Your WhatsApp Account’s Passkey
If you don’t like the passwordless login method or are unsure how to use it, you can revoke the generated passkey.
Ideally, you should go all in on passkeys. Google has also made this the default sign-in option, so go ahead andset up passkeys for logging into your Google account.
Passkeys Will Eventually Replace Passwords
Given the benefits of passkeys, it is only a matter of time before they replace passwords for good. Another benefit of passkeys is that it will promote the usage of password managers, which everyone must use to keep their login credentials safe.
With passkeys, you won’t have to bother remembering the passwords of your various accounts. They also do a great job of limiting phishing attacks and identity thefts.
