Re:It Takes 16 Clicks for a Student to Open a PowerPoint on ...
by WorldMaker on Saturday November 14, 2026 @10:36AM
(#50497843)
Passkeys do eliminate or trivialize many of these steps.
> * Find the […] phone
You can use Passkeys (with biometric unlock) directly on Windows/Linux/macOS and not need your phone at all for a Passkey login. (You have an option to keep all your Passkeys only on your phone, but you don't need to. Add that Windows passkey next to your iOS passkey and login on all your devices the easiest way. The Passkeys API will even help you do this automatically in some cases.)
> * Scroll and search for the app. If you don't remember the right authenticator, that's another process.
> * Type keywords to find the right account
Passkeys don't require a separate app at all (just use the OS or browser provided flows), but if you optionally want a password manager involved it integrates into the OS or browser provided flows and you don't have to search for it.
Similarly, Passkeys keep enough metadata that you never have to search for a specific passkey, as in all flows (even with a third-party password manager) the best passkey is chosen automatically.
> The last two (copy/paste) aren't a required part of 2FA, if you're using (T)OTP it's just a short numeric code.
You've never struggled with dyscalculia, then. (Dyslexia's mathematical friend where the ordering of numbers is hard to read and/or maintain in one's head.) TOTP codes can be especially frustrating to dyscalculia because they are random and have no additional punctuation. I don't have consistent dyscalculia, but I have enough bouts with it that I certainly don't trust "just remember it then type it in" if I can avoid it and try to copy and paste whenever possible. Because I have been locked out of accounts for accidentally transposing two numbers in a code too many times in a row.
Which is also to say that you've just switched copy/paste steps with remember/type steps and assumed remember/type was easy and hid that under the "just" rug. It's just remembering and typing 6 numbers. How hard can that be? Harder than you think for some people. (Arguably many people on a bad day given all the ways that short-term memory can be compromised in adults.)
> * Find the […] phone
You can use Passkeys (with biometric unlock) directly on Windows/Linux/macOS and not need your phone at all for a Passkey login. (You have an option to keep all your Passkeys only on your phone, but you don't need to. Add that Windows passkey next to your iOS passkey and login on all your devices the easiest way. The Passkeys API will even help you do this automatically in some cases.)
> * Scroll and search for the app. If you don't remember the right authenticator, that's another process.
> * Type keywords to find the right account
Passkeys don't require a separate app at all (just use the OS or browser provided flows), but if you optionally want a password manager involved it integrates into the OS or browser provided flows and you don't have to search for it.
Similarly, Passkeys keep enough metadata that you never have to search for a specific passkey, as in all flows (even with a third-party password manager) the best passkey is chosen automatically.
> The last two (copy/paste) aren't a required part of 2FA, if you're using (T)OTP it's just a short numeric code.
You've never struggled with dyscalculia, then. (Dyslexia's mathematical friend where the ordering of numbers is hard to read and/or maintain in one's head.) TOTP codes can be especially frustrating to dyscalculia because they are random and have no additional punctuation. I don't have consistent dyscalculia, but I have enough bouts with it that I certainly don't trust "just remember it then type it in" if I can avoid it and try to copy and paste whenever possible. Because I have been locked out of accounts for accidentally transposing two numbers in a code too many times in a row.
Which is also to say that you've just switched copy/paste steps with remember/type steps and assumed remember/type was easy and hid that under the "just" rug. It's just remembering and typing 6 numbers. How hard can that be? Harder than you think for some people. (Arguably many people on a bad day given all the ways that short-term memory can be compromised in adults.)