New Prompts, No New Passwords for Select Sites
If you’ve been considering signing up for a new site — like Pinterest or Reddit — you may be greeted by a pop-up widget encouraging you to use your Google Account to sign in or sign up:
With “one tap,” you can set up a new account without creating a new password. If you already have an account and you’ve cleared your cache, you could also sign in using your Google account. While Google users are likely familiar with the Sign In with Google feature, they may be less familiar with the pop-up widget. Google Identity Services is looking to make it easier for businesses to rope in new customers, while also making registration and log in more convenient for users. “Users can sign in to or sign up using just one tap, without having to remember their credentials or to create a password,” Google Identity product manager Philip Verley said.
How Does Google One Tap Work?
You’ll only see the pop-up if you’re: If you’re logged in, you still won’t see the feature on every website and app, but the interface is available to businesses as a software development kit that integrates the Sign in with Google button and One Tap. For partner websites and apps, it uses “secure tokens” rather than passwords to sign users in, Google said. The sign-up or sign-in feature doesn’t redirect users to a separate landing page but rather slides in as a button — on desktop devices from the top right, and from the bottom of mobile devices.
Select Websites, Apps, and Browsers Implementing One Tap
The new interface seems to be working for some big companies, Verley said. Social media platforms Pinterest and Reddit have recently implemented the new interface, with Reddit nearly doubling their new user signups and returning user conversions, Verley said. Pinterest also saw steep jumps in sign-ins and sign-ups. At the moment, Google One Tap won’t work on Safari, but does with Chrome on Android, macOS, Linux and Windows 10. Though Google said the new feature wouldn’t appear on iOS browsers, a pop-up appeared on Pinterest on our iOS Chrome test. It’s supported on Microsoft Edge on macOS and Windows 10, while Firefox is supported on Android, macOS, Linux and Windows.
Is Google One Tap Safe to Use?
According to research from NordPass, the average user has 70-80 passwords, many of which they repeat across websites and apps. With all those passwords to remember, Verney pointed out a common theme that occurs online. “The most common online security vulnerability occurs beyond our own products, where users sign in to online accounts using bad passwords,” Verney said. “Each day millions of passwords are exposed in data breaches putting users’ personal information at risk.” As one of the largest tech companies in the world, Google employs first-rate security measures — so using your Google account to register for websites and services is certainly safer than using the same password or weak passwords across multiple platforms. You’d just want to make sure that your Google account password is incredibly difficult. At VPNOverview, we recommend using a secure password manager. These tools let you automatically generate difficult passwords and store them safely in one place. Using one master password, you’re able to unlock your online wallet and automatically enter them into sites. If you’re looking for the best password manager for 2021, check out our full recommendation here.
