The Passkey Revolution is Happening. But What Is It?

Do you know what passkeys are? There's a passkey revolution happening, but like many buzzy tech words that have preceded it, the term is often misunderstood and misused. Meanwhile, the primary beneficiaries of passkeys — website and app users — simply don't know what they are.

So, in this post let's dig into what the term means and debunk some of the common misconceptions — while exploring some of the key benefits.

What is a passkey — from a user experience point of view?

Let's say you're an iPhone user. Simply put, passkey technology allows you to use FaceID or TouchID to log into your favorite apps and websites.

Put another way, the traditional experience of logging in to a site or online service with a username/password relies on you remembering your password, or "knowledge-based credentialing". It's based on the user knowing (and remembering) your account login information.

Passkeys, on the other hand, rely on possession-based credentialing — something you have (a device) plus something you are (e.g. your fingerprint or the appearance of your face). Users no longer need to remember difficult passwords.