It look like Google is testing a new way to make passwords irrelevant, a reddit user has been invited to test a new feature which makes signing into a Google account much easier since the user isn’t required to bother with passwords or two factor authentication. All the user needs to do is have their Android smartphone nearby and that’s all they need to sign into their account on other devices without entering a password.
The user mentions that this feature works by first configuring the compatible smartphone, most likely newer handsets like the Nexus 6P, and once it’s all set up users just need to input their email address and confirm that they’re trying to sign in from another computer.
Approve that prompt and you’re in, it will always be possible to use the account’s password for the purpose of signing in, but it won’t be necessary anymore if you’re going to use the phone most of the time for this purpose. The reddit user has posted the email he received from Google which goes into details about this feature and also includes a Q&A section online to give us all a better idea of what this feature is capable of doing.
Major beneficiaries of the ability to sign in with a smartphone would be those who tend to regularly change their passwords, they won’t have to worry about remembering them, since the phone will handle everything. Security and safety against unauthorized use can be guaranteed by just locking the phone with a passcode, and if it has a fingerprint sensor that’s enabled, then that just makes it so much more harder for the feature to be abused.
No word as yet if and when this feature is going to be released for the public.
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