[pkulak]

I think the point is that Passkeys are not supposed to be as precious as passwords. You're supposed to have a brand new one for every device/application combination. So they are just login cookies at this point, and haven't even come close to replacing passwords because you need to know your password to get a new passkey every time you log in.

Now, is that the official stance? I don't know; but it's _absolutely_ what every current implementation suggests the companies deploying this stuff want.

You can make passkeys better. Like me, you can install a well-funded password manager (well-funded, because it needs the engineering effort behind it to keep up with the ever-changing passkey apis on every platform in the world; screw up and oos, can't log in today!). Then you have one passkey per remote service, and just have to make sure 1password is _always_ installed and perfectly integrated. Easy!

[MattTheRealOne]

There are a couple of problems I have with that. 1) Many websites limit the number of passkeys I can link to my account. Some only allow 2 or 3. I have more devices than that. 2) If I am supposed to create a new passkey for every device, how do I login in the first place? Most websites currently fallback to password login which defeats the security benefit of using passkeys in the first place.

I currently only use passkeys for a few websites that have awkward password login workflows or do not autofill properly from my password manager. I just have a single passkey for each that is synced via Bitwarden. Currently, I see passkeys as using an electronic biometric lock on the front door while passwords are still regular locks on the backdoor. The biometric lock on the front door does not do much for security when the backdoor still exists and I have come across very few websites that support only allowing passkeys. And those that do still run into problem 2 listed above.

[pkulak]

Yeah, I agree. My policy is much the same as yours: set a passkey only when a site makes logging in with a password such a PITA that the PITA of a passkey becomes the easier option. Google comes to mind. They seem to actively not want anyone to log in. At some point sites will start to 2FA you even with a passkey, but we don't seem to be there yet.