I have re-installed the Bitwarden app. I have re-installed the Firefox Bitwarden browser extension.
When I boot up the computer, the Bitwarden app starts automatically minimized. After boot up, when I start Firefox (and wait for the Bitwarden app to start), the “Unlock with biometrics” button is grayed out and I must enter my PIN. How do I unlock with biometrics?
I only have one Bitwarden account. Yes, I am logged into the Bitwarden application using my Bitwarden credentials.
After further testing, you are correct, I have to wait until the Bitwarden application is started before I open Firefox and attempt to using biometrics to unlock the Bitwarden Firefox extension.
When logging into Windows, it takes 65 seconds for the Bitwarden application to be started (minimized). If I start Firefox before the Bitwarden application is started, biometrics cannot be used to unlock the Bitwarden extension even after the Bitwarden application starts. To make this work, I must wait the 65 seconds before starting Firefox. I can no longer test it, but I am pretty sure, a couple months ago, when biometric unlock previously worked with the Bitwarden browser extension, I could start Firefox before the Bitwarden application started (minimized), and biometric unlock would work. It seems that this is a new restriction in the biometric functionality.
My understanding is that this is expected behavior.
I cannot test this either.
A feature request may be in order, as there might be some technical solution that could ameliorate the situation (for example, if it is possible to do a behind-the-scenes automatic restart of the extension process, after checking that the desktop app is running).
I think this feature request already comes close to it:
That also seems to clear up the question if it worked like that before. (Spoiler: it didn’t. – But there formerly was a notification/error message of the browser extension, that the desktop app would be needed and to opened first. Such a message seems to be missing now.)
It is close, but it is not really the same request. In the case I posted about, one just has to wait until the Bitwarden application starts before attempting to start the browser. If I were to make a request, it would be for the two applications to be started in any order while still allowing for biometrics to be used.
Maybe I read too many posts today (and can’t comprehend anything any longer), but the feature request I posted would make that possible what you suggest. It specifically request the desktop app to be opened automatically when initiating biometric unlock in the browser extension (i.e. when you start the extension first). – The other case doesn’t need a feature request, because when the desktop app was started first, biometric unlock is already possible for any extension.
So in essence, you then could choose any order to start those clients while still allowing for biometrics to be used, if that feature request was implemented.
PS: @grb’s suggestion here would indeed result in another feature request (but with the same goal… maybe both technical suggestions should be integrated in that existing feature request, I would ponder here, as the goal is important for the user… in whatever way the developers might implement it):
You are correct. The end result would be the same – enabling a user to start the browser without having to wait for the Bitwarden application to start minimized.
