Currently, the macOS desktop app must be installed via the Mac App Store (MAS) in order to use biometrics to unlock the vault in the browser. I am requesting the ability to use biometric unlock in the browser without installing via the Mac App Store.
Steps to reproduce:
brew install --cask bitwarden
launch and log in to app
go to settings, click “Allow browser integration”
see error:
Browser integration not supported
Unfortunately browser integration is only supported in the Mac App Store version for now.
Why this is important to me:
Longer passphrases are more secure, but take longer to enter. So if I have to enter my password too frequently, I’m more likely to get annoyed and set the password to something shorter. Biometrics solve this neatly. I don’t install any apps from the app store right now. I don’t have an Apple ID and I don’t want one. I don’t want to complicate my install/update process further.
I wanted to break free from the AppStore and now an Open Source app is telling me to go back to the AppStore for biometric access? Even KeePassXC allows this, whilst not being dependent on the AppStore.
If someone here is feeling experimental, try the integration on the brew version using the ALLOW_BROWSER_INTEGRATION_OVERRIDE=true environment variable. It is not fully tested with MacOS gatekeeper yet, so having some users in the field reporting on whether it works well, would help rolling it out.
Been testing with Librewolf (Firefox fork) on Ventura for a couple weeks, has worked great after setting up a symlink for native messaging since it uses a different folder than Firefox’s. Wouldn’t expect most people need to do that though.
If anyone wants a script to launch bitwarden in the background with this enabled, this is what I’ve been using
#!/bin/zsh
ALLOW_BROWSER_INTEGRATION_OVERRIDE=true /Applications/Bitwarden.app/Contents/MacOS/Bitwarden >> /dev/null 2>&1 &
disown
Hi @Quexten I am able to use the env var, which makes the “Allow browser integration” available, so now this and “unlock with Touch ID” is set. I checked that, restarted Bitwarden and Firefox (extension have all permissions), but still it is only making master password available in the browser.
macOS: Sequoia 15.3.1 M3 Max FF 137 (aarch64)
Thanks
I have also been testing it with Brave on Sequoia, and it works flawlessly. I even created a Siri Shortcut to launch Bitwarden every time with the environment variable enabled. I sincerely hope the developers implement this feature as soon as possible, as it appears to be functioning without any issues. To be honest, I am at a loss as to why it is still restricted for those who do not install the MAS version.
