(Update: As of May 2019, Firefox Lockbox has been rebranded as Firefox Lockwise.)

Mozilla, the non-profit foundation and creator of the Firefox browser, has released its password manager app called Lockwise for Android this week. It’s been a long time coming for Android as Lockwise has been around for quite some time now on the iOS platform.

When I got word from the Mozilla Blog that they’ve released it for Android, I had to reread it a couple of times to know it was for real! I had been itching to try Lockwise, but since I don’t have an iOS device, I can’t — at least until they made it available on Android this week.

Firefox Lockwise courtesy of Mozilla on their YouTube page.

Password managers galore!

Password managers have been around now, and they’re quite numerous, each with their own pros and cons. It’s much, much better than having to write all your passwords in some notebook or index card somewhere, where it’s prone to get lost or worse, stolen. Apps like 1Password, LastPass, and TrueKey, among others, are reliable ones, but usually come with a price tag to unlock full functionality. For the longest time, I had remained loyal to Firefox Sync, which also syncs bookmarks and passwords across my Firefoxes on my laptops and my Android device. It’s nifty, although it’s quite cumbersome when some sites don’t allow autocomplete of the username and password credentials, and then I’d have to dig in through Options > Privacy & Security > Saved Logins > search for the credential > right click and select “Copy password” and then get the password.


How I used to get passwords from within Firefox. Lots of clicks just to get a copy (or view) the passwords!

Firefox Lockwise

With Lockwise, it simply makes getting those passwords easier, to a level of convenience that those commercial password managers offer. Assuming you have been using Firefox and saving passwords in the browser, and you’ve also set up Firefox Sync, you can easily access all your passwords in lesser clicks.

It’s been also mentioned by Mozilla that they use 256-bit encryption for the credentials that you stored via Firefox Sync, so that you have sufficient peace of mind that it will not be compromised. Moreover, for smartphones with fingerprint security, you can use that built-in feature to gain access to your credentials easier, just like what other password managers offer!

  • You can use your phone’s built-in fingerprint security to authenticate.
  • It doesn’t automatically give the relevant site though; you’d have to key it in.
  • Select the matching credential that you need…
  • … and it will then be filled in to the field!

From what I’ve experienced tonight, it is almost similar to using TrueKey, which I also tried out.

Lockwise is relatively new though, so some downsides include not being able to automatically pre-fill-in username-password combinations on some apps (e.g., BPI and BDO online banking apps). It also requires using the Firefox browser as well as syncing your passwords via Firefox Sync. But of course, feel free to try this out, as I don’t think Google has something similar in their Chrome browser (although they do have passwords.google.com which also provides storing passwords via your Google accounts).

Give your thoughts and valuable feedback to Mozilla by selecting Menu then “Provide Feedback”, so they can refine the application further. Who wouldn’t want a free password manager from a well-trusted Internet company?