A strongly rumoured feature may soon allow families to share passwords on Chrome, so they can easily access joint accounts.
Twitter/X user Leopeva64 (a web browser authority who has already discovered many other features pre-launch) first noticed a new feature lurking in Chrome’s back end in June, which appeared to permit users to share passwords with certain others.
Now, either following more digging or a development at Google’s side, Leopeva64 has identified more features that could explain just how this feature would eventually work.
Whilst choosing to share a password currently returns an error message (presumably as the functionality hasn’t been fully set up yet), Leopeva64 discovered that it’s only usable within Family Groups. These are groups of Google account holders comprising no more than six users, most typically used to set boundaries around what content children can view online, for example.
However, this new feature could signal an expansion of the scope of Family Groups, hinting that more could be to come from Google as it seeks to not only provide additional functionality but also make people aware of a service about which they may otherwise have not known.
Sharing passwords in this manner may appear less secure but in reality the opposite is more true. If a user has to write down a password on pen and paper, or send it through an unsecured channel, it could make it very easy for a hacker to intercept. However, with Google almost certain to keep these interactions fully secured, it could provide the safest way for credentials to be shared (potentially even allowing users to not see the password if they’re only granted a single login).
This strongly rumoured feature is just one of a huge number that have been developed and deployed in recent months as Google seeks to continue being the world’s most popular browser. Others have included improved safety measures for extensions, a mobile search revamp and in-line previews for web links.
