Apple has released a new open source tool that allows password manager developers to create stronger passwords for many popular websites

According to the tech giant, Password Manager Resources, available on Github, allows developers to integrate the website-specific requirements used by the iCloud Keychain password manager to create strong, unique passwords that

The best passwords can be generated by using the iCloud Keychain password manager

The best password managers can be used to generate strong and unique passwords, but the generated passwords may not be compatible with certain websites or platforms

As a result, the user may abandon the generated password and instead revert to manually creating a less secure password

For example, many sites require a minimum number of characters in a password Some sites also do not allow users to use passwords that are too long Some sites also require passwords that include punctuation

Often, settings can be tweaked so that the output of the password generator matches the website's requirements, but Apple would like to automate this process

These resources are intended to help password manager developers "collaborate on resources to make password management better for users," as Apple explains in the project readme file

According to the documentation, the password minimum requirement is just one of several website "quirks" that the project addresses Another "quirk" is that two or more websites may share the same login credential backend, resulting in different passwords created for each site conflicting with each other

The project also wants to make it easier for password managers to direct users to each website's password change page

Apple claims that these resources have three high-level benefits:

Apple is also asking developers to contribute so that all users of participating password managers can benefit from discovery and testing