Google Follows Apple Lead to Restore App Login Credentials

while NSA advises both iPhone and Android smartphone users to reset their devices On a weekly basis, users will probably give up on this idea, especially since having to log in again to multiple apps and services is such a huge pain in the ass. A new post on the Google Android developers blog confirms that account restoration will become easier thanks to the new credential restoration functionality of Android’s credential manager application programming interface. Here’s what you need to know.

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Meet Android’s Credential Restore Feature for Google App Developers

In a post on the official Android developer blog, Google developer relations engineer Neelansh Sahai said that a new feature in the Android credential manager API allows apps to “Seamlessly onboard users to their account on a new device after restoring their apps and data from their previous device.” That’s actually a pretty big deal, considering that nearly 40% of people in the US reset or replace their smartphones every year, according to Google. As someone who is part of that 40%, I am truly grateful that my Android smartphone will soon be as simple as my iPhone when it comes to restoring app credentials after a reset. “When users get a new phone, the friction of re-entering login credentials can lead to frustration, app abandonment, and discontinuation of using the app,” Sahai said. I would like to add that any disagreement in restoring application credentials can also lead to: Less than optimal password complexity and sharing of these weaker passwords across applications and services.

This new move by Google is very similar to this in many respects: iOS apps can access certain credentials stored in iCloud KeychainIt also makes it as easy as possible for application developers to transfer the credential restoration key from one device to another.

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Benefits of Google Android Restore Credentials Tool

While I’m not sure I’d go so far as to describe any login experience as enjoyable, Sahai’s word for the credential restoration experience is that anything that makes it easy to restore a device while maintaining app security is a winner in my books. “Users will continue to log in as they did on their previous device and will be able to receive notifications to easily access their content without having to open the app on the new device,” Sahai said.

Benefits include, Sahai said:

Users can easily switch to a new Android device.

Users instantly interact with notifications or other prompts.

If developers use a backup agent, users can automatically log back in after data restoration is complete.

If a backup agent is not used, the application can check for a restore key on first launch and then automatically log the user in.

The system uses the same server side application used for toggle switches.

I can’t wait for this new feature to be available in all my apps, and I congratulate Google on this move, although it may take longer than I would like to achieve it.

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