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Magic Links Have Rough Edges, but Passkeys Can Smooth Them Over
Magic links, those emailed one-time login links, are annoying and inconvenient for folks who use a password manager, but they radically accept some fundamental truths about signing in for everyone else. By layering passkeys on top of magic links, websites can provide a seamless authentication experience for all users.
Passkeys — the next-generation authentication standard defined by the FIDO Alliance and W3C, with backing from all of the major platforms, browsers, and credential managers — can be layered nicely into a magic link-based system to give users a secure and fast sign-in experience without the frustrations that come with switching apps to refresh one’s email. Something that I’ve learned by working on the user experience around website and app authentication is that, if you need to educate a person to go against what the inline flow naturally leads them to do, that cognitive friction will frustrate or stymie a significant number of people. If the world can convince Ghost and other platforms like WordPress and Mastodon to support passkeys, and maybe even contribute time, money, or expertise to make it happen, a huge number of people stand to benefit.
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