Google updates its built-in password manager for Chrome and Android

American tech giant Google has recently announced that it has updated its built-in password manager for Chrome and Android as it attempts to position it as an alternative to standalone services offered by 1Password and Bitwarden.

According to The Verge, the most significant ability will be to manually add passwords to the service, rather than simply relying on Chrome's offer to save credentials when you use them.

Previously, there had been signs of this feature on Chrome on desktop, but now Google has said it's making it available across "all platforms."

The search giant also said it's working to unify the design of the password manager between Chrome and Android with "a simplified and unified management experience" and says this includes a feature that will automatically group multiple passwords used on the same site.

On Android, Google says a new 'Touch-to-Login' feature will let users enter their credentials via an overlay at the bottom of the screen "to make logging in even quicker."

Google's password manager already includes the ability to check for weak and reused passwords (and automatically change them on Android) and autofill saved passwords across apps outside of Chrome on iOS.

As per The Verge, Google has said it will continue to invest in its password manager to support emerging technologies like password-less passkeys (which Apple also intends to bring to Safari).