Amazon enables passwordless passkeys on iOS and the web

Amazon is launching passkey support starting with its shopping website and iOS shopping app, with Android support coming soon.

by Umar Shakir

Oct 23, 2023, 2:48 PM UTC

Illustration of a hand holding an iPhone with the Face ID screen saying a passkey for amazon customer will be saved in iCloud keychain

Amazon.com on iPhone supports passkeys so people can log in with Face ID.

Image: Amazon

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Umar Shakir is a former news writer for The Verge.

Amazon’s rolling out passkey support for its online site and mobile shopping apps. Customers can log in to Amazon using just their devices’ biometrics and start shopping without the need to enter a password or follow through with two-factor authentication (2FA) through email or text.

Amazon dipped its toes into passkey support earlier this month for its web experience, but it wasn’t ready for primetime yet since the implementation still required a 2FA code and wasn’t enabled for the mobile apps. If you’re interested in enabling passkey support with Amazon, you can enroll by going to Amazon.com, visiting your account settings, clicking “Login & Security,” and using the “Set up” button next to “passkey.”

The Amazon iOS app has a new passkey section under Your Account > Login and Security.

Screenshot: Umar Shakir / The Verge

You can also enable passkeys through the iOS app once it’s updated. It will be under Your Account > Login and Security > Set Up For Passkeys. Amazon did not provide a timeline for Android app users but did say it’s “coming soon.”

Amazon is the latest company to add passkey support for customers to securely access their accounts without a password. Just keep in mind that most companies still retain passwords on accounts, so the world won’t be genuinely password-free for a while.

What are passkeys?

Passkeys can replace traditional passwords with your device’s own authentication methods. That way, you can sign in to Gmail, PayPal, or iCloud just by activating Face ID on your iPhone, your Android phone’s fingerprint sensor, or with Windows Hello on a PC.

Built on WebAuthn (or Web Authentication) tech, two different keys are generated when you create a passkey: one stored by the website or service where your account is and a private key stored on the device you use to verify your identity.

Of course, if passkeys are stored on your device, what happens if it gets broken or lost? Since passkeys work across multiple devices, you may have a backup available. Many services that support passkeys will also reauthenticate to your phone number or email address or to a hardware security key, if you have one.

Apple’s and Google’s password vaults already support passkeys, and so do password managers like 1Password and Dashlane. 1Password has also created an online directory listing services that allow users to sign in using a passkey.

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