Google today announced that it provides native support for W3C WebAuthn for Google accounts on Apple devices running iOS 13.3 and later, thereby improving the security key experience on iOS and allowing more security key types to be used for Google accounts and Google’s Advanced protection plan.
With this update, iOS users can use Google’s Titan security key via NFC and tap the key on the back of the iPhone as a security measure when logging in.
If you have an Apple Lightning to USB camera adapter, you can use a Lightning or USB security key (such as YubiKey 5Ci) for your Google account. The USB-C security key can be inserted directly into an iOS device, such as Apple’s iPad Pro, through the USB-C port.
Google said that it is recommended that users install the Smart Lock app to use the Bluetooth security key and iPhone’s built-in security key because this provides iPhone with a way to provide additional protection for Google accounts.
Google also recommends that Google users who are at higher risk of targeted attacks use a security key and join its advanced protection plan, which provides additional account protection through physical security keys.
Using a physical security key provides more protection than two-factor authentication because it requires you to have a physical key (or iPhone key with Smart Lock app) to log in to your Google account, not just a digitally generated code.
