The effectiveness of security systems on Android has always left much to be desired. Unlike iOS, where the developers from the very beginning carefully thought over the features of the functioning of all defense mechanisms, Android had to be content with only some imperfections. Google first equipped the Pixel 4 with facial recognition technology, but it didn't bother to support at least one app. Then the company began to offer users a tool for remembering passwords in Chrome, but did not give them a manager who would come up with protective combinations for them, and when he did, they did not think of protecting it using biometrics. Well at least now this understanding has come to her.
Autocomplete on Android will now be done by biometrics
Now the mechanism for autofilling passwords on Android can be protected using biometrics. The corresponding innovation appeared in the latest build of Google Play services, which can be downloaded from this link. By enabling a special parameter in the settings, users of devices under control Android will be able to confirm the automatic filling of credentials for authorization using their fingerprint, iris or their own face, depending on which verification method their smartphone offers.
How to enable autocomplete on Android
By default, biometrics autofill confirmation is disabled, even if the feature is already available to you. Therefore, you will have to enable it forcibly:
- Go to 'Settings' – 'System and Updates';
- Here select the section 'Language and input' – 'Other input settings';
You need to forcefully enable biometrics for autofill
- In the window that opens, select 'Autocomplete';
- Turn on Google autocomplete and enable biometrics verification.
Autofill confirmation with biometrics is a very important thing that can help you avoid unauthorized authorization in your accounts by third parties. That is, if someone takes your smartphone and secretly tries to log into your account on this or that site, he will not have this opportunity, because entering credentials will require biometric verification, which an outsider cannot be guaranteed to pass. Of course, only on condition that you have not added his fingerprint or face to the smartphone's memory in advance.
Where does autocomplete work
Autocomplete passwords can work in all applications, if the developers are concerned about the adaptation
By default, autocomplete only works in Chrome, but Google allows developers to customize this mechanism for their applications. Therefore, in many well-known programs like VKontakte, Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, etc. autocomplete with biometric confirmation works too. This is clearly a positive trend, which leads to the fact that in the near future passwords may become something exclusively technical, while all authorization actions will be performed using fingerprints, faces and irises.
It is important to understand that the mere fact of downloading the latest build of Google Play services cannot be a guarantee of the availability of the autocomplete function with biometrics. In any case, on some smartphones the innovation does not appear even after the update. This gives reason to believe that the changes are being applied on Google's servers, which is quite reasonable if you remember how Google usually distributes its updates. The company prefers to first release them to a narrow audience, and only then open them to a wider audience.