Android users can now log into WhatsApp with passkeys

Android users were offered an “easy and secure” way to log back into WhatsApp, but iPhone owners will have to wait.

Now everyone who uses WhatsApp on Android can use passkeys to login, the Meta-owned messaging app announced on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Android users can easily and securely log back in with passkeys,” WhatsApp said after rolling out the feature following months of beta testing.

It said that users who opt for passkey login will be able to use biometrics such as a face scan and fingerprint, or a PIN number to unlock their WhatsApp account.

WhatsApp did not specify when passkey login would become available to iPhone users as well.

Passkeys are considered to be a simpler and safer alternative to simultaneously hard-to-remember and easy-to-crack passwords or a two-factor authentication.

Earlier this year, Google announced it was moving towards a “passwordless” future, while Apple did the same in 2022.

And yet passkeys are unlikely to eliminate passwords entirely just yet, a recent study has found, with companies citing cost and lack of support among greatest challenges.

Passkeys could also be a temporary solution, with quantum computers expected to have little difficulty breaking public-key cryptography.