Safari can let users sign in to websites with Touch ID or Face ID
In the next version, Apple browser Safari will have the function to let users log in to websites with Touch ID or Face ID. The function will only work after the first login in the usual way.
It concerns a ‘Web Authentication platform authenticator’, Apple writes. Logging in via Touch ID or Face ID uses several ‘steps’ of multi-step authentication, Apple argues: the user’s device and the fingerprint or face that belongs to that user.
After logging in for the first time, sites can give users the option to log in with Touch ID or Face ID the next time, according to a session at WWDC online developer conference. Safari informs websites that the option is available, after which a notification on the site activates the function. Sites do need to build in code to support the feature.
The function works on iOS and macOS, according to the presentation. Many recent MacBook laptops have a Touch ID fingerprint scanner. All iPhones and iPads that are supported in iOS 14 also have Face ID or Touch ID on board.
The new version of Safari will be released later this year along with macOS 11 Big Sur and iOS 14. Apple announced the new version of Safari earlier this week.
Update, Friday: Safari uses webauthn for this function, a standard that has been in other browsers for some time. For example, Chrome could already use Touch ID on macOS and it was already possible on Android.