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You’re probably sick of hearing this, but you really need a password manager. You can take your pick of excellent third-party password management utilities, but for the less technical among us, there’s a tempting option that looks much easier: use the password management tools that come with your platform of choice.
In recent years, these platforms — Apple, Microsoft, and Google — have focused their development resources on password management, turning what were once basic browser features into more capable cross-platform tools.
- Apple’s iCloud Keychain, a core feature of its desktop and mobile operating systems, now comes with a Passwords app that helps you generate and save passwords. Those saved credentials are also available on Windows PCs and on every desktop browser, with the help of an extension.
- Google’s Password Manager is a core feature in Android devices and in the Chrome browser, which is available on every platform. It can take over AutoFill functions on Android mobile devices, iPhones, iPads, and Windows PCs.
- Microsoft is … well, let’s just say they are in a period of transition. The company’s strategy of syncing passwords through its Authenticator app was a flop, so it’s moving all those credentials into the Edge browser, which can handle AutoFill functions on Android and iOS devices.
Are these options safe? Are they easy to use? Does it make sense to use them instead of a third-party password manager like 1Password, Dashlane, or Bitwarden?
Those are complicated questions. To get definitive answers, I installed all of those options on a diverse slate of desktop and mobile devices and explored their inner workings.
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If you need the tl;dr version, here it is: For people who aren’t technically sophisticated and who live a simple online life, a platform-based password manager is an excellent choice. But there are significant limitations to these options, especially if you regularly switch between different platforms and browsers.
Let’s dive in.
What do built-in password managers do well?
Years ago, security experts cautioned against saving passwords in a browser. Today, the case for using one of those built-in password management tools is stronger. Consider the advantages of allowing your preferred platform to take over this task:
- No extra download is required, as is the case with third-party password management utilities. (You might need to install a browser extension, but those are easy to find.)
- Your passwords sync automatically along with all your other data. When you sign in on a new device using your Apple/Google/Microsoft account, your passwords are already available for you.
- There’s no subscription fee for these built-in password managers.
- Your saved/synced data is secured by the same encryption and two-factor authentication features you use with your email, cloud storage, and device security features. That’s a large advantage, at least theoretically, over third-party services that have to maintain their own cloud servers and security.
It helps if you’re all in on a platform. If your day involves a MacBook Pro on your desktop, an iPhone in your pocket, an Apple Watch on your arm, and an Apple TV in your living room, you’re a prime candidate for Apple’s iCloud Keychain and Passwords app.
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Likewise, if your work revolves around your Gmail account, Google Docs in the Chrome browser, and an Android phone, Google Password Manager is a tempting choice.
Microsoft, on the other hand, no longer controls a mobile platform, which means even the most dedicated Windows user has to jump through multiple hoops to use its password management tools. And a very recent change in platform features means that those who have already opted in to Microsoft’s solution are in for a few months of annoying change.
What’s missing from a built-in password manager?
Your favorite platform really does not want you spending time with other platforms. That’s the most fundamental difference between these built-in tools and their independent competitors.
To put it more bluntly: Third-party password managers are built to work everywhere, with a full set of features that are the same (or nearly so) across every device. The platform-based options have a basic set of features that work well on their devices. They impose a usability tax if you try to use them on other platforms — if they work on those platforms at all. Here’s what happens if you try to open Google’s web-based password manager using Apple’s Safari browser, for example.
Google Password Manager won’t work in Safari.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
Every platform-based option I looked at has a rudimentary feature set that can’t compete with paid alternatives. They’ve all stepped up with password checkup features that alert you if your password was part of a data breach, and they can typically also track things like addresses and credit card numbers for quick form-filling. But they fall short on other, more interesting features.
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For example, every platform-based tool I looked at is capable of generating a strong, random password that you can use when you create or change your credentials for a new site. But none of them offer the ability to customize that password by choosing a specific length, allowing or disallowing symbols, and so forth, as you can with the third-party 1Password utility shown here.
Third-party password managers like 1Password offer lots of options for generating random passwords
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
If the password that’s automatically generated doesn’t meet the rules of the site you’re visiting (like not including a symbol), you’ll have to change the password manually. It’s a small amount of friction, but those little annoyances add up
Another feature that’s crucial for families: the ability to share a collection of passwords and passkeys, so that any member of the group can access a subscription service or place an online order using the same shared account. Apple’s alternative offers a pretty decent version of this sharing, with the ability to support multiple groups — as long as the other members of the group are also using Apple devices. Google and Microsoft don’t allow that kind of sharing.
Apple’s Passwords app lets you share collections of credentials with different groups, as long as everyone is using Apple devices.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
With a full-featured password manager, you can also add notes to each saved entry, manage bookmarks, enter alternate top-level URLs that use the same credentials, and so on.
The bottom line? For anyone whose online demands are modest, who uses the same browser on every device, and who can live with the limitations of these basic features, a platform-based password manager is probably good enough.
Here’s a quick overview of what you get if you go with one of these built-in services.
Who should use Apple’s iCloud Passwords feature?
Apple’s iCloud Keychain has been a part of the Mac OS forever. The Passwords app turns it into a better-than-basic password manager.
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For those fully invested in the Apple ecosystem, this solution might be good enough, but look elsewhere if cross-platform compatibility is important to you. The feature is completely unavailable on Android devices, and it offers only basic functionality on Windows PCs with the help of the iCloud for Windows app.
The ideal customer switches between a Mac and an iPhone, with rare visits to a Windows PC. On a Mac or PC, you can use any browser with the help of an extension, but Apple expects you to use Safari to take advantage of all its features.
Apple’s password manager works automatically in Safari, but you’ll need an extension to use it with any other browser.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
On the Mac, you can generate strong passwords, with or without symbols, when you sign up on a new site. On iOS, only one option is available. On Windows PCs, or in any browser other than Safari on a Mac, you’ll need to open the Passwords app to generate a new password and save a login.
You can’t generate a new password in any browser except Safari.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
The Passwords app is easy enough to use on Macs and iOS devices, and the group sharing feature is especially useful for Apple-centric families and collaborators.
Who should use Google Password Manager?
Google Password Manager is built into every Android device and is part of the Chrome browser, where you can access saved passwords from a Settings page. You can also use Edge or Firefox (but not Safari) to access your passwords from the web.
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If your primary mobile device is an iPhone, Google Password Manager can take over as the AutoFill provider. On a Windows PC or a Mac, you can create, save, and fill passwords using Google Password Manager in the Chrome browser, but that’s it. Because no extensions are involved, it won’t work with any other browsers.
And even on those limited platforms, the feature set is about as basic as it gets. You can only share passwords with someone else if they’re a member of your family group, and sharing just makes a copy in their Google Password Manager repository. You can’t sync a collection of shared passwords, and if you delete or edit your password, the other one remains untouched.
Sharing a password from Google means sending a copy. If you change the original, the copy remains untouched.
Screenshot by Ed Bott/ZDNET
It’s hard to recommend Google Password Manager for anyone but the most devout consumer of Google services. But if you’re OK with a basic user experience, it’ll do.
Who should use Microsoft’s password management tools?
For the past four-plus years, Microsoft has been trying to convince its customers to sync their passwords using the Microsoft Authenticator app, which works as an AutoFill provider on iOS and Android devices and also works with the Edge browser. The result was a confusing mishmash that even Microsoft-certified experts couldn’t figure out.
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So, earlier this year, Redmond threw in the towel and announced that it would discontinue the feature effective July 2025. If you have any saved passwords in Authenticator, you’ll need to migrate them to Edge before August 2025, when they’ll be permanently deleted.
Given that chaos, it makes absolutely no sense for anyone to use Microsoft’s built-in password management tools until the dust settles.
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