Ditching Passwords for Passkeys: A Mixed Bag of Awesome and Awkward

Hey folks, in the latest chapter of my digital life, I’ve decided to say goodbye to passwords and hello to passkeys. It’s been a wild ride, and let me tell you, it’s both fantastic and a bit of a hot mess.

So, my Netflix password used to be this insane string of characters that looked like I smashed my keyboard in a fit of rage. It was secure but a nightmare to type, especially on a TV screen. And my family? Not fans. That’s just one piece of the password puzzle I’ve been dealing with, alongside managing over 300 passwords for everything from pizza delivery to social media.

But here’s the deal: passwords, as we’ve known them, are on their way out. The new kid on the block? Passkeys. These nifty little codes use some fancy cryptography and live on your device or in a password manager. They’re supposed to be the Fort Knox of login methods, immune to being guessed, leaked, or phished. Big names like Google, Apple, and even Nintendo are on board, so I took the plunge and started converting my accounts to passkeys.

When passkeys work, they’re like a sneak peek into a utopian tech future. Logging into my Coinbase account went from a chore to a face-scan away. But getting all my accounts onto this passkey bandwagon? That’s where the adventure turned into a bit of a saga.

My first attempt to set up passkeys was a comedy of errors. My work laptop was outdated, PayPal threw a tantrum, and trying to set one up for TikTok with my work account was a no-go. Plus, trying to get a passkey onto Amazon required a QR code scan that my password manager just wasn’t ready for.

Adapting to passkeys is a bit like learning a new dance. You don’t need to remember steps (or passwords), but you do need to choose where to store these digital keys. And here’s where it gets interesting: you can save them in various places, from Apple’s keychain to a physical security key. I went with Google on a USB key for simplicity, but remember, I’m all-in on Apple devices, so your mileage may vary.

The folks behind the scenes, like the FIDO Alliance and password manager companies, are working hard to smooth out the experience. But it’s a bit like herding cats with technology standards, user expectations, and vendor implementations all trying to play nice together.

I’ve ended up saving most of my passkeys in Bitwarden, my password manager of choice. It’s not perfect—mobile support is still a work in progress—but it’s a start. And while Bitwarden and others are racing to catch up, the transition to a password-less world is more marathon than sprint.

So, are passkeys the future? Absolutely. They promise a world where logging in is easier, safer, and faster. But for now, we’re in this funny limbo where passwords are still hanging around, and passkeys are finding their footing. My advice? Start dabbling with passkeys where you can. It’s not an overnight switch, but it’s worth getting a head start. After all, who doesn’t want to live in a world where forgetting your password is a problem of the past?