Google's making our lives a little easier in the password management game. If you're like me, juggling dozens of logins gets messy, and if you have opted to use Google's own password manager (the one you find in Chrome) in favor of third party ones, you'll find that it is not as feature-rich as one would hope.
There are several reasons why I prefer to use Google Password Manager. For one, it is free, which is always a plus. Secondly, I find that it works well when you stay within Google's ecosystem. For example, password autofill on my desktop Chrome browser and apps on my Google Pixel device is pretty much seamless. However, things can get a little dicey if you want to go a little more in-depth and import passwords from a CSV file. While this works very well on desktop, it hasn't really been an option on mobile…until now.
Google Password Manager on Android devices is part of Google Play Services. As spotted by AssembleDebug back in February, a change was already taking shape there of a half-working option that had been added to import a CSV file from your phone's storage.
Now, with Play Services v24.12, which is still in beta, this option is now there without the need to enable any experimental flags. We've always had the option to export our credentials as a CSV file, but it was just not possible to do it the other way around, unless you used the Chrome desktop browser.
Image Credit: AssembleDebug
The process looks super straightforward, as you can see in the screenshots above. One thing that's a bit of a mystery is what exactly gets imported, although it appears that duplicates do get skipped. Since this is still in beta, there's of course a chance that this will be further tweaked and streamlined as we get closer to a widespread release, which is likely around the corner.
While this is not exactly a feature I see myself using often, it's good to see Google strengthening the feature set of its native password manager. It's always felt as an afterthought, until recently when Google started working on adding more features, as well as recognizing that it is not the only option in town.
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Johanna 'Jojo the Techie' is a skilled mobile technology expert with over 15 years of hands-on experience, specializing in the Google ecosystem and Pixel devices. Known for her user-friendly approach, she leverages her vast tech support background to provide accessible and insightful coverage on latest technology trends. As a recognized thought leader and official member of #TeamPixel, Johanna ensures she stays at the forefront of Google services and products, making her a reliable source for all things Pixel and ChromeOS.
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