If you are a Google Chrome user, you might be aware of Google Smart Lock, which saves passwords, input forms, etc whenever you log into a new website?
It’s the inbuilt password manager in Google chrome which makes life a little easier for everyone who has a habit of forgetting passwords.
On techtippr, we always advise our readers to create the strongest password they can and keeping it different for every service. This does make remembering password for each service a pretty tough thing, but thanks to Google Chrome’s inbuilt password manager, it can be taken care of.
But, did you know many other third-party password managers exist and are used by millions of people already?
We have compared the third-party password managers with Google password manager in a separate post.
Well, you might be thinking, when there is an Inbuilt password manager in Google Chrome, (or some kind of password managers are available in every browser) like Safari has Keychain, Firefox and Opera have their own.
And it pretty much serves its purpose to aid the users by auto-filling the passwords. But, then who are these millions of people who use services like LastPass and Dashlane, and why do they opt to Pay for something that is a free feature in Browsers?
We find out in this post
To understand it, we need to know what unique features does these password managers offer that makes people opt for them.
Dashlane vs LastPass Inbuilt Password Manager (Chrome, Safari, Firefox & Opera)
We have already written about the differences between third-party password managers and inbuilt Password Manager of the browsers, if you want, you can read about it in detail.
But talking about the benefits of using third-party password managers over inbuilt is a different thing. I am not here to convince you into opting for these dedicated cross-platform password managers, but you should be aware of what features day offer so that you can make an intelligent decision.
A truly cross-platform cross Browser Password Manager.
If there is any browser that is truly cross-platform, it would be e Google Chrome, since it is also available for mobile devices.
And if you are logged into your browser, it is pretty easy to continue your workflow on multiple devices. Not only you can manage your password on different devices you can also access web pages that you have opened because the browser history is the same.
But if you are using different browsers on different devices. Such as, you are using internet explorer at work, Mozilla Firefox at home, Google Chrome browser or inbuilt mobile phone browser on your mobile phones, then the inbuilt password manager is isn’t going to help you with your passwords.
The dedicated password managers have their apps which means it can work independently of the browsers on different devices.
Crutial Security Features
The major benefit of using dedicated Password Manager apps is that you get more control over the passwords you save.
For example, Dashlane gives you a user interface where we can check out the list of accounts you have added to their app, and the dates when the password has been changed or updated.
The dedicated password managing apps also so give security features like Password Monitoring, which notifies you whenever there is an attack on a website where you have an account and yor password has been breached. So that you can take action immediately and change the password.
This is something that is not available in inbuilt password managers, and you have to be e always updated all by yourself, by reading the news, or getting communication from the website that has been attacked.
This one feature is quite crucial for people for whome, the majority of the work revolves around online services. And it is scary for your password to leak on the web for the accounts where you have your credit card information saved.
Sharing account passwords with others
There can be a few use cases where you would find yourself sharing your password with other people.
One such use case is sharing the login credentials of streaming apps like Netflix and Prime video with your family are friends.
Surely, you can share the passwords in a simple text format via instant messaging apps, but the dedicated password managers offer a more streamlined and organized way of sharing passwords.
Because it would not just be Netflix or Prime video login credentials that you could be sharing with other people.
Maybe you have a virtual assistant or another team member whom you want to give access to a particular web service using your account, a dedicated password manager makes it easy, as they can monitor, have it automatically updated when someone replaces it, or revoke access.
Having said that, the majority of the people we can still live with the inbuilt password managers of the browsers provide, especially if you are using Google Chrome since it has improved its inbuilt Password Manager.
But there is no harm in trying out these dedicated third-party password managers yourself since all of them are on the freemium model, which means they also offer a free account with Limited functionality so that you get a taste of how beneficial visa password managers can be for your workflow.
Find out more office tips, or productivity tips on the blog
