Meta is now rolling out passkey support for Facebook on iOS and Android devices, aiming to provide users with a more seamless and secure login experience. This update allows individuals to sign in using their smartphone’s built-in authentication methods, such as a PIN, fingerprint scan, or face scan, doing away with the need for traditional passwords. Passkey support for Messenger is slated to follow in the coming months, with the same passkey working across both platforms.
“We’re introducing passkeys on Facebook for mobile devices, offering another tool to safeguard your privacy and security. Passkeys are a new way to verify your identity and log in to your account that’s easier and more secure than traditional passwords. Passkeys will soon be available on iOS and Android mobile devices for Facebook, and we will begin rolling out passkeys to Messenger in the coming months. The same passkey you set up for Facebook will also work on Messenger once this capability launches,” Meta noted in an official statement.
Passkeys isn’t really a new concept. Several platforms (Amazon, X, and Google, for example) have already begun adopting them. Traditional password-based systems remain vulnerable to a range of threats, including phishing scams, brute-force attacks, and data breaches. Passkeys, by contrast, leverage on-device biometric authentication or PINs, making them inherently more resistant to these remote attacks. This security directly translates to a reduced risk of account compromise, protecting sensitive personal data and digital identities from unauthorized access.
Passkeys function as a two-key cryptographic system, where a key stored on the user’s device must match a corresponding key on the server. Since the on-device key is never transmitted, it reduces the risk of interception by malicious actors. Meta emphasizes that passkeys cannot be phished or stolen, offering stronger protection than traditional passwords or SMS-based two-factor authentication. Apart from this, passkeys can be a major convenience for users, ensuring that they no longer need to memorize complex passwords. While passkeys will become the default login method on supported mobile devices, Meta confirms that other authentication options, including traditional passwords and physical security keys, will remain available for flexibility, particularly when accessing accounts from devices without passkey support.
The utility of passkeys extends beyond just logging into accounts. Meta also plans to integrate passkey functionality for securely autofilling payment information within Meta Pay. This provides an added layer of protection for financial transactions across Meta’s services. Meta’s adoption of passkeys for Facebook comes after other major tech companies and platforms, including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, eBay, PayPal, X, and Meta’s own WhatsApp, have already implemented this more secure login method, as mentioned earlier. Users can set up their Facebook passkey through the “Accounts Center” within the Settings menu, under “Password and Security.” Meta may also prompt users to upgrade to a passkey during the login process.
