Google revamps its Password Manager for better protection and ease of use

Passwords. Despite numerous predictions of their demise we still can't live without them. Using strong passwords though, especially if you have several devices, means using a password manager to help you keep track.

Google Password Manager has been around in Chrome since 2008, but it's always offered a somewhat different experience on desktop and mobile devices. Until now that is.

Today the company is rolling out a simplified and unified management experience that's the same in Chrome and Android settings. If you have multiple passwords for the same site they'll be grouped automatically, and you'll be able to create a shortcut in Android to get access to all of your passwords with just one tap.

Other enhancements include being able to generate passwords for your iOS apps when you set Chrome as your autofill provider.

The Password Checkup tool, released in 2019, will now flag not only compromised passwords but also weak and reused ones on Android. It also features an automated password change function so you can easily fix issues. In addition, compromised password warnings will be extended to all Chrome users whether they're on Android, Chrome OS, iOS, Windows, macOS or Linux.

You'll now be able to add new passwords directly to the app rather than waiting for the browser to prompt you when you login to a new site. There's a new Touch-to-Login feature for Android versions of Chrome too that will let you login directly from an overlay at the bottom of the screen.

You can find out more about the enhancements on the Google blog.

Image credit: Octavio Hoyos / Shutterstock