Chrome on Android's password autofill could soon require a biometric test

Google Chrome on Android does a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to passwords. With Google Password Manager, the browser lets you seamlessly add and save new passwords, complete with the option to use strong suggested options. And when you return to a website where you’ve previously saved your login credentials, Chrome can automatically fill them in for you. As convenient as that is, Google wants to add an additional step to that process.

Google is testing a new feature where Chrome on Android will require biometric authentication before it autofills passwords.

The development was first highlighted by browser sleuth Leopeva64 on X, who notes that this isn’t Google’s first rodeo with such a feature. The giant has been experimenting with the feature since September 2024, at the very least. It then made its way to Dev and Canary Chrome versions in August last year, only to be pulled before going stable. Now, Google appears to be giving the feature another shot.

The latest Chrome Canary build introduces a new flag called Biometric reauth for password filling, and it’s available to me after updating to the latest version 157.0.8083.0 Chrome Canary build via the Play Store.

Enabling the flag doesn’t do anything on my Pixel 8 for now, even after force-closing the app multiple times. That, however, is not the case for our source, as seen in the image above. For them, tapping a saved password under the “Use saved password?” prompt immediately triggers authentication. Chrome proceeds with autofilling the password only after the biometric check is completed.

The source also appears to be on an older version of Canary (version 157.0.8079.0). I rolled back to the older build, but I still couldn’t get the biometric speed bump to appear on my device, suggesting that the feature might not be tied solely to a specific Canary build. To try out the feature and check its availability for yourself, update Chrome Canary and search for chrome://flags. Type Biometric reauth for password filling in the search bar and toggle it to Enabled. Relaunch Chrome Canary as prompted and visit a website where you have a saved password.

The flag’s return does suggest that Google hasn’t entirely abandoned the authentication-before-autofill idea, and if it does materialize into a stable feature, it should give security-focused users more peace of mind, especially when handing their unlocked phone to someone else. That said, considering that the company has tested and pulled the feature before, there’s nothing stopping it from doing the same again.