Apple has joined the FIDO Alliance and will help with new authentication standards

By Oliver Haslam
published

iPhone X passcode screen
iPhone X passcode screen (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple has joined the FIDO Alliance.
  • The FIDO Alliance hopes to solve "the world's password problem".
  • Apple joins companies like Amazon, Samsung, and Microsoft.

Apple has joined the FIDO Alliance, with MacGeneration spotting that the companies logo had been added to a list of board-level members.

The FIDO Alliance hopes to be the answer to "the world's password problem," by making it easier to implement methods that can help prevent data breaches. That includes anything from second-factor multi-factor authentication to pure passwordless methods of accessing accounts and data. Those might include fingerprint and facial recognition, just like Touch ID and Face ID, or new mechanisms like physical security keys.

Fido Alliance Members

Fido Alliance Members (Image credit: iMore)

Apple recently added support for FIDO2-compliant security keys, like the YubiKey, to Safari via the iOS 13.3 update and it has long tried to make it easier for users to access their devices without needing to remember complex passwords. That aim even goes all the way back to the Mac OS 9 days and the infamous Voiceprint Password mess.

FIDO has been around since 2013 and continues to grow as more and more companies come on board.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.