Dashlane First to Bring Native Passkey Authentication to Wear OS

Dashlane has launched a new Wear OS app that delivers full-fledged passkey and password management directly to Android smartwatches, making it the first password manager to offer native, system-level credential provisioning via the Credential Manager API on wearables.

The innovation comes not just in the app's existence, but in how deeply it's integrated into the Wear OS ecosystem. Dashlane's approach goes far beyond displaying TOTP codes or offering second-factor verification. It enables Wear OS apps to request and receive credentials natively from the watch, without requiring a paired smartphone or companion app interaction.

The development was led by Dashlane staff engineer Sebastien Eggenspieler, with technical collaboration from Google‘s Developer Relations and Wear OS teams. The new app leverages Android's Credential Manager API, which only became available on Wear OS earlier this year. This system API establishes a direct link between credential providers (like Dashlane) and other apps on the watch, allowing for seamless, passwordless logins using synced passkeys or saved credentials.

Once the Dashlane Wear app is installed and the user logs in, it automatically syncs stored credentials and passkeys from their vault. After setting Dashlane as the system credential provider, any other Wear OS app using Credential Manager can invoke it to authenticate the user. This means users can now log in to apps on their smartwatch with a single tap, no phone required, no QR scanning, and no typing on a tiny screen.

Dashlane, a France-based password manager with over 18 million users across 180 countries, is already available on major platforms, including Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and browser extensions. But its latest release marks a significant milestone for passwordless access on Android wearables, where Dashlane also offers enhanced autofill and passkey suggestion features.

What makes Dashlane stand out

This novel Wear OS integration sets Dashlane apart from competitors in the wearable space. While password managers like Keeper, LastPass, Bitwarden, and SafeInCloud have released smartwatch apps, their functionality is typically limited to viewing credentials, accessing TOTP codes, or enabling second-factor authentication. Some, like Keeper and Bitwarden, do offer watch-based interactions, but none provide the kind of native credential provisioning that Dashlane now supports via Credential Manager.

For example, Keeper's Wear OS app allows TOTP and credential viewing, but doesn't support app-to-app login on the watch. LastPass on Apple Watch lets users view vault items and notes, but lacks system-level credential integration. Bitwarden, Enpass, and others offer wearable apps, but none yet bring passkey-based login flows to smartwatches.

Dashlane's real differentiator lies in its full Credential Manager API integration, which allows any compliant Wear OS app to request login credentials directly from the system and receive them from Dashlane. This elevates the watch from a secondary device to a first-class authentication platform, capable of operating independently and securely.