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Comment by SCLeo | Hacker News Reader

To those who are recommending all different password managers, I have a question: why not using Chrome (or Firefox/Edge/<any other browser>)'s built-in password manager?

I have been using it for a couple years and haven't noticed any issue. Even if Google decides to screw me over and terminates my Google account, I can still access the passwords via the local copy in Chrome, so that is not really a concern.

(Though, don't take this as my recommendation to use Google' password manager. I have not done enough research in the password manager landscape, which is why I am asking this question in the first place.)

EDIT: also include other browsers' password managers. (It appears that it is a mistake to mention anything Google on HN :/)

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Google's/Chrome's password manager would be reasonable if I could actually add passwords to it, manually. It only saves passwords that you type in a login page in the browser. So for the plethora of other credentials I need to manage it's less than useless, because it just gets in the way.

Oh. That is true. I did not run into this issue personally but I just checked and they indeed do not have such option. It is kind of bizarre they don't have this functionality.

Google is an advertising company. In the coming years, they'll continue to erode the privacy of Chrome users. I've long since reached the breaking point and switched to firefox. You may not be there yet, but when the time comes, you should make it as easy to switch for yourself as possible.

Alright google hater. I have edited my question to also include Firefox's password manager.

EDIT: Also, if you don't know, Chrome also supports passwords export/import, so it not any more vendor-lock-in than any other password managers.

The browser built-in options are too limited. I want to do these things:

- Use multiple browsers

- Sync even if <browser vendor> screws you over and terminates your account

- Store things other than passwords. Credit card numbers, PGP keys, SSH keypairs, etc

- Backup the database to my own storage

Export/import is not enough. If I use Chrome, then import to FF, then add a password in FF; now Chrome is missing some data. You need to be able to sync, not just import.

For most people, using the browser's built-in password manager is the only realistic way for them to start using a password manager. All you have to do is select "Suggest strong password" and the rest is taken care of. My mom now uses a password manager without even knowing what a password manager is. She would never install something like LastPass.

I've done the same transition. I was too lazy to install a password manager and didn't care enough about my online accounts. Now I have strong passwords on all my accounts and they propagate to my Android apps automatically, without me having to do anything. I also trust Google's security.

Because as far as I know you can't easily access your password outside of Chrome. For example, it's not practical to use on my iOS devices. If you want to log into an app, I believe you can't easily use passwords stored in Chrome.

You can use passwords.google.com, which is what I have been using.

Browser-based managers only work in those browsers.

I use passwords on my iPhone, MacBook, and Windows, so I need a manager that can provide passwords across all of those (and not just in a browser)

My passwords from Chrome propagate automatically to my Android apps.

You can actually access the passwords via passwords.google.com. That is what I have been using when I need to log into an app on my phone.

> I have a question: why not using Chrome's built-in password manager

Because then you are locked into Chrome and some people prefer the freedom to switch browsers at any time

Right, that is why browsers have the option to import passwords. I actually use Firefox at the same time and imported my passwords without any problems.

Because then you're tied to whatever browser you pick. I prefer to stay browser agnostic; Bitwarden for passwords. xBrowserSync for bookmarks.

I do. I treat them as a kind of cache and use pass as my password master.

because i like to use firefox?

Then why not use Firefox's built-in password manager? I thought my question should automatically generalize to any browser's built-in password manager.

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