Google and Dashlane team up to ease password access

Google has teamed up with the password manager startup Dashlane to create Open YOLO – an open-source API project for Android developers that would allow third-party apps to  access passwords stored in password managers.

With this, users would only have to log into their password manager account in order to access any app built using the Open YOLO API.

Password managers store users' login details for a set number of apps or websites and make it easier for users to access apps just by logging into that password manager. Open YOLO is expected to streamline this process by automatically linking up logins for participating apps with users' password manager of choice.

"In the future, we see this open API going beyond just Android devices, and becoming universally-implemented by apps and password managers across every platform and operating system," said Dashlane community manager Malaika Nicholas in a statement put out by the company.

Dashlane said it had partnered with "other leading password managers" to create the software, but it didn't offer any clues about which apps were definitely on board or otherwise.

Dashlane community manager Malaika Nicholas said, ''To stay one-step ahead of the market demand, Google and Dashlane are helping create a seamless, universally-acceptable Android app authentication solution to increase your online security.

Many password managers, which allow users to login using a smartphone's accessibility features on Android, are already in use. However, the implementation is clumsy and not universal.

Apple's iOS has a more integrated solution, allowing password managers to link directly into password boxes, the feature is not supported by many apps.

The reuse of passwords had become a quite a problem for security, and while unique passwords under 14 characters were not longer recommended, it was almost impossible for the average user to remember the many passwords they needed each day.