Android apps support various authentication methods to help you sign in to your account. You can sign in with your username, phone number, or biometrics or use federated sign-in solutions like Sign-in with Google. In addition, you can also set up passkeys for your accounts to simplify sign-ins. While having so many options to sign into apps is a bonus, Google wants to make things a bit simpler who don't want to bother with the different interfaces each option presents. To that end, the company has released the Credential Manager API.
Available to app developers in alpha starting today, Android's new Credential Manager Jetpack API allows developers to simplify the sign-in experience for their apps. It supports multiple sign-in methods, including username/password and federated sign-in solutions in a single API, making it easy for developers to integrate it into their apps.
For end users, the Credential Manager API "unifies the sign-in interface across authentication methods, making it clearer and easier for users to sign-in to apps, regardless of the method they choose," Google said in a blog post. Highlighting the benefits of the new API, Google said, "Users face multiple sign-in methods and in many of those cases the sign-in methods are parallel ways for the user to get into the same account. Credential Manager aggregates all available sign-in methods for the app into one list, while deduplicating entries for the same account. This simplification allows users to focus on selecting the account without needing to understand the underlying sign-in technology."
The Credential Manager API also supports passkeys, the new industry standard for passwordless authentication, which is more secure than using a username and password to sign in to apps. It will let users create passkeys for apps and store them in Google Password Manager. The stored passkeys will sync across devices signed in to the same Google account for a seamless experience. Since Credential Manager is currently available to developers in alpha, it might be a while before you see the unified sign-in experience on your device.