WebAuthn is a Web-facing Javascript API for accessing passkeys, which it calls Public Key Credentials. Technically, a Passkey is 'just' a key pair and other au

WebAuthn is a Web-facing Javascript API for accessing passkeys, which it calls Public Key Credentials. Technically, a Passkey is 'just' a key pair and other authentication information, associated with a web origin. It's meant to be a broad consumer facing term that resonates similarly with 'passwords' to convey its similar usage. Apple platforms, along with Android and Windows, are implementing a system that synchronizes passkeys within their respective ecosystems. They are adding ways you can entitle an application to work on behalf of a web domain, and thus get native access to register and authenticate with passkeys as well. A Yubikey or other FIDO device has been doing hardware-bound passkeys for ages. They just didn't use that term, instead calling them FIDO credentials. The above platforms are also working on processes to allow usage across ecosystems - for instance, using your iPhone to sign into a Windows desktop.