Chrome on Android will play nice with other password managers

For Android users who would rather not use the password manager that comes as default with Google, Chrome’s relentless push for Google’s password manager has come to an end. With an update recently, the app now includes a new flag that permits Chrome for Android users to choose their favorite password manager.

Use your favorite password managers with Chrome Android without any conflicts

Google had started work on allowing users to switch between its password management tool and other third-party alternatives set as default in Android versions which was first found in November. Although it has been non-functional until now, the feature has existed on recent Chrome releases over the past few months.

According to @Leopeva64 on Twitter/X, you can now see it working in Chrome for Android. Users can activate this option by toggling the “Enable Autofill Virtual View Structure” flag as described by Android Police. By turning on this flag, users will be using Android Autofill where there are no suggestions from Google but offers a virtual view structure.

Where to find the settings to enable third-party password managers

To activate this feature go to chrome://flags page and search for ‘Virtual view’ or directly go to chrome://flags#enable-virtual-view-structure via the address bar. Relaunch Chrome after enabling the flag so that changes can take effect upon relaunching it.

On activation, users can head over to Settings > Autofill Options and make their selection from there. Nevertheless, for now at least, because this feature is off by default it won’t sync across other devices. Some of the examples down below show how you can change the settings and easily opt between ‘Use other providers’ and Default (Google Password Manager).

It’s an important breakthrough for people fed up with how often their Chrome browser tries hard to sell them Google’s Password Manager. Now Android users can select third-party password managers more easily since they are supported in the Android Chrome application making autofills better overall.