Google Chrome for Android Reportedly Adds Support for Third-Party Password Managers

The feature is reportedly available on Google Chrome stable, Beta, and Canary builds.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 19 March 2024 16:44 IST

Google Chrome for Android Reportedly Adds Support for Third-Party Password Managers

Photo Credit: Pexels/Deepanker Verma

The feature can be accessed by users upon activating an experimental flag

Highlights

Chrome for Android currently supports Google’s default Password Manager
The feature reportedly still has a few bugs
Recently, Google Chrome added a safe browsing feature

Google Chrome for Android is reportedly adding support for third-party password managers. The browser currently only supports password autofill from Google Password Manager, its native service. As a result, Android users who prefer and use other password managers cannot use the app's saved data to log into their accounts on the browser. It appears that the tech giant is now addressing this pain point by allowing users to choose whichever third-party service they want. Notably, the desktop app of Google Chrome recently upgraded the standard version of the Safe Browsing feature with a real-time protection protocol.

Spotted by tipster @Leopeva64 on X (formerly known as Twitter) in the Stable version of Chrome for Android, the feature lets users autofill passwords from their preferred password manager. He said, “This feature now works and if you choose the "Use other providers" option, Chrome no longer shows you suggestions from its password manager.” The tipster first highlighted this feature in November 2023 when it was still under development.

In the example above I set Microsoft Authenticator as the default autofill provider in Android settings.

This is how it normally works in the Stable version of Chrome for Android: pic.twitter.com/t4oQ0ZVuQw
— Leopeva64 (@Leopeva64) March 18, 2024

The feature is already available on Chrome Stable, Beta, and Canary builds, and users with these builds can access them immediately. However, they will first have to activate an experimental flag. As per a report by Android Authority, it can be enabled at chrome://flags/#enable-autofill-virtual-view-structure. Once activated, the setting will appear. After that, users can go to Chrome Settings > Autofill options and select Use other providers. Once the setting is changed, Google will no longer show its password suggestions in login text fields.

This setting should automatically prompt Chrome to trigger the default password manager the user has set for their Android smartphone. To change the default password manager, users can head to Android settings and click on Passwords & accounts > Passwords, passkeys, and data services and select the password manager of their choice.

A thing to note here is while the feature is working, the report found a bug where entering a new password did not prompt an option to save it, despite the flag being activated. This can be a concern for users wanting to switch their password manager immediately. It appears Google is still fine-tuning the feature before its public release.

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Further reading: Google Chrome, Android, Google Chrome features, Google Password Manager, Google, browsers

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More