Apple has discreetly activated the access keys, originally called passkeys, on its own website. When you open the Apple ID sign-in page from Safari on an iOS 17, iPadOS 17, or macOS Sonoma device and enter the account email address, you should see an option to “Sign in with iPhone.” Selecting this option will display an Apple-customized QR code used to sign in with an iPhone or iPad, this time running iOS 16 or later.
The new way of connecting to an iPhone is shown on the left of the Apple page, on the right the personalized QR code generated by iOS 17.
The aim of this novelty is not to simplify the connection to your account on your devices, Apple has been offering solutions for this for several years. Rather, the idea is to allow you to sign in on another device by using your iPhone or iPad to provide the passkey. That explains why it also works from a Mac, for example, where this possibility might make more sense.
From the iPhone or iPad that needs to provide the access key, you can use the tool to scan the QR codes or use the camera directly (which has been improved in this respect with iOS 17). iOS will then prompt you to confirm the connection using the device’s biometrics, either Face ID or Touch ID.
On the iPhone side, you must first scan the QR code (left) and then confirm the connection with the device’s biometrics (right).
The ability to connect to an iPhone also existed on my Pixel 4, but oddly without the QR code display behind it. Instead, Android informed me that there is no passkey for Apple on this device, which is correct. I couldn’t find an option to save this key on Google’s smartphone, but that might come later.
The ability to connect to an iPhone is present on this Android smartphone (left), but the site does not display a QR code, instead looking for a local access key (right).
In any case, this is the first time Apple has used access keys on its own website. Even if its users have other equally simple and secure solutions to connect to its website, in the long run this method will come in handy for connecting to other users’ devices or even on Android and Windows. That’s the whole point of this solution, which is responsible for consecutive passwords. It is not limited to a single operating system. There are still a few things missing, but Apple will no doubt add them in the coming months.