You will soon be able to share your account logins and passwords with your loved ones thanks to a new function in Google Manager. A practical option for accounts used by several people.
We can’t repeat it enough: to avoid having your accounts hacked, it is absolutely necessary to use strong and unique passwords. A security measure which, however, remains somewhat complicated to respect when you have to memorize multiple passwords… This is where password managers come in. These tools allow you to store and manage numerous passwords securely, by locking everything using a single password, making everything easier to remember. If they are not as good as dedicated apps, password managers integrated into web browsers at least have the merit of being quick and easy to use. This is the case of the Google Chrome password manager (Password Manager), which keeps them with the Google account with which they are associated, to automatically enter them as soon as you need to connect to a particular account (email, bank , administration, online store, etc.).
However, it happens that some accounts are shared between several users. This could be a family sharing a streaming service, relatives having a common email for administrative matters, etc. But what to do when you have a little memory lapse? Google is coming to the rescue of its head-in-the-air users by working on a new function allowing them to securely share a login ID and password with a family member. No more need to copy and paste this sensitive information in plain text into a message! This feature, which was already in development for Chrome on PC, should soon come to Android devices.
Chrome password sharing: a feature for family groups
The first tests to integrate this function began on the browser in June 2023. Last November, password sharing finally appeared in the Canary build – the beta version – of Chrome. To date, however, it is not yet available to the general public. However, it should land soon, including on the Android version of the browser. Indeed, according to TheSpAndroid, version 24.09.12 of Google Play Services includes flags which indicate the presence of a password sharing function, even if it is not yet operational. However, Google will only allow it for users whose Google accounts are part of the same family group.
As a reminder, the family group function allows you to create a group in which you can add members of your immediate family who have a Google account. This allows you to share with them the benefits of the products and services to which you subscribe and use. With this new function, it will be possible to share passwords with family members from the password management application on your Android device. A new “Share” button will appear next to each registered account, and you can choose the family member with whom you wish to share it. The recipient will then see a tooltip on their device when they visit the website, letting them know they have access to the password. This should greatly simplify things! It remains to be seen how Google handles this, as sharing passwords could pose security issues, exposing users to potential risks.
To be able to take advantage of the function on the Web version of Chrome, it is necessary to create a family group with all its members from your Google account. To do this, you must go to the Play Store settings, go to the “Family” section then click “Create a Family library”. All you have to do is register, configure your payment method and add the Google accounts of your family members. All must use the Canary version of Chrome. To activate the function, type chrome://flags/#password-sharing in the address bar, then click on “Default”, then “Enabled”. All that remains is to restart the web browser!