Summary
- Google is testing a feature to ease password sharing between family members, expected to launch soon.
- A video of the feature in action shows that you can share usernames and passwords with family members via a share button in Google Password Manager.
- Despite competitors offering similar features, Google is catching up with password sharing tools.
If you’re tired of jumping through hoops to share passwords between you and your family members, Google has heard your cries of frustration. Toward the end of 2023, the company started testing a feature in Chrome Canary to simplify password sharing between Google account holders of the same household. Now, it seems that password sharing between family members is almost ready to officially launch.
Google’s Password Manager makes family sharing official
You will soon have the option to share usernames and passwords with your Google family members
As spotted by Android tipster AssembleDebug of TheSpAndroid, password sharing between Google account holders of the same family appears to be functional in beta after some tinkering. By enabling flags in the latest Google Play Services beta version 24.13.14, the code sleuth was able to take a closer look at how the feature will function when it formally rolls out.
How sharing will work between Google family members
There appears to be a share button that can be tapped once you’ve selected your saved credentials. After you tap, a share sheet opens with the names of your other household members, along with their profile images. You can then select who you want to share your password with, and then tap on the share button to send it along. It’s also worth noting that the person who receives your credentials can then save them in their own password manager.
As of now, the UI seems to still be under construction — the share button doesn’t appear to be fully functional just yet. It’s also unclear when the feature will debut — if at all — but given how much work Google has been putting into it, it’s hard to imagine it won’t come to fruition. It’s also not a far stretch to believe it’ll become a reality, given the official announcement Google made pertaining to the feature in February 2024. At the time, the company explained features that were recently seen in beta, such as the ability to store shared credentials in its password manager. Regardless of when (and if) Google rolls out the feature, it’s already late to the game, compared to its competitors. For example, 1Password has had sharing options for a while, and they are multifunctional. Regardless, the feature coming to Google will still be useful for its account holders.
