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Vault12 Open Source WebAuthn/Passkey Support for Electron on macOS: Enabling Touch ID and iCloud Keychain in Hybrid Desktop Apps

Production-proven Shamir’s Secret Sharing now available for iOS, Android, and Web apps


Miami - January 13, 2026 - Vault12 announced today the open-source release of electron-webauthn-mac, a native WebAuthn/Passkey implementation for Electron apps on macOS only that ports Apple's platform authenticators (Touch ID and iCloud Keychain) and cross-device passkey flows directly inside Electron-based desktop applications.

Why this is important: WebAuthn functionality in Electron apps on macOS is still blocked from real-world adoption.

On macOS, Electron does not provide native prompts for selecting a passkey or security key, and developers must use an Electron native module that invokes the Apple authorization APIs natively, and then manage the flow through IPC between the renderer and main processes.

“WebAuthn and Passkeys are extremely powerful security tools — but only if developers have a reliable platform for app deployment. We created electron-webauthn-mac to make that authentication pathway reproducible, auditable, and open-source — so other teams can ship applications protected by passkeys with Touch ID and iCloud Keychain without re-inventing the wheel.”
- Max Sky, co-founder and CEO of Vault12.

This highlights why many teams still don’t ship Apple-native passkeys in desktop web apps: the path is platform-specific, native-code heavy, and easy to get wrong. Meanwhile, Electron’s macOS WebAuthn behavior has been a long-running pain point for developers, with reports of the standard navigator.credentials flows being broken or unresponsive on macOS in Electron contexts.

Vault12’s solution: a native polyfill that connects Electron to Apple AuthenticationServices

electron-webauthn-mac is a native implementation and polyfill for macOS that enables Electron apps to use Apple’s AuthenticationServices framework directly — while retaining the ability to access the regular WebAuthn APIs on other platforms. This capability is already included in Vault12 apps.

Key capabilities include:

  • Platform & security key authenticators: Touch ID, iCloud Keychain, cross-device QR pairing, and external FIDO2 keys
  • PRF extension support to derive symmetric keys from passkeys for client-side encryption (platform authenticators)
  • LargeBlob extension support to store/retrieve arbitrary data on the authenticator (platform authenticators)
  • System integration to open the macOS Passwords/Password Manager directly from an Electron app
  • TypeScript-ready developer experience, with included type definitions and an example Electron app showing best-practice main/renderer bridging

One big reason WebAuthn on macOS in a desktop app is fiddly has to do with the fact that macOS insists on security measures indicating that this app comes from the relying party domain (rpId). Vault12’s project documents and operationalizes the necessary steps, including hosting an apple-app-site-association file and embedding Associated Domains entitlements during code signing – with guidance on provisioning profiles and verification.

Availability

The electron-webauthn-mac is open sourced today (MIT licensed). See the repository documentation for installation and quick start: https://github.com/vault12/electron-webauthn-mac

About Vault12

Vault12 is the pioneer of crypto inheritance and develops security technologies that enable people and companies to protect important secrets — like cryptographic keys and 2FA seeds — using secure, customizable and privacy-focused tooling, including open-source components designed to work offline.

It is a venture-funded company that has raised funding from Winklevoss Capital, Naval Ravikant, Data Collective, and True Ventures.

Vault12 Guard can be found in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

For media inquiries, please contact: Wasim Ahmad media@vault12.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxskibinsky/
https://twitter.com/_lordmax_
Press

Vault12 Open Source WebAuthn/Passkey Support for Electron on macOS: Enabling Touch ID and iCloud Keychain in Hybrid Desktop Apps

Production-proven Shamir’s Secret Sharing now available for iOS, Android, and Web apps

app store downloadcomprehensive asset inventorycrypto assetsdigital assetsdigital inheritancegenerational transfer solutioninheritance planning processtrusted guardians networktrusts and estatesprivacy protection solutioninheritance vaultinheritancepasswords
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Max Skibinsky

Max Skibinsky is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and startup mentor. Most recently, Max was an investment partner with Andreessen Horowitz, where he focused on enterprise security and bitcoin and deals with Tanium, TradeBlock, and Digital Ocean. In addition to co-founding Vault12, Max leads the R&D team. Before that Max was the founder and CEO of Hive7, a social entertainment company that became part of The Walt Disney Company. In 2003, Max joined the newly formed Voltage Security, an encryption startup incubated at Stanford University, where he architected and designed an Identity-Based Encryption messaging system that was showcased at DEMO '04. Voltage was acquired by Hewlett Packard in 2015. Max has also advised and invested in many startups graduating from Y Combinator including Eligible, Transcriptic, and ZenPayroll. Max graduated with a masters' degree in theoretical and mathematical physics from Moscow State University.

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Blake Commagere

Blake is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and advisor to several companies in the SF Bay Area. He has started seven companies and sold five of them. He regularly gives talks on subjects including Growth Hacking, Fundraising, and Psychology Management.

He created the social gaming category by building some of the biggest apps ever (over 50 Million players) on Facebook, including the iconic games Zombies, Vampires, and Werewolves. Blake also wrote and designed the first version of Causes on Facebook, which has over 120 Million users and has raised over $100 million for various charities. Blake graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Rice University.

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Wasim Ahmad

Wasim Ahmad is a serial entrepreneur and an advisor in the fields of AI, blockchain, cryptocurrency, and encryption solutions. At Vault12, the pioneer of crypto inheritance, he led private and public fundraising efforts and focuses today on expanding the Vault12 ecosystem. In addition, he is a producer of the upcoming movie 'The Bitcoin Executor'.

His crypto experience began with AlphaPoint, where he worked with the founding team to launch the world's first crypto trading exchanges. Previously he was a founding member of Voltage Security, a spinout from Stanford University, that launched Identity-Based Encryption (IBE), a breakthrough in Public Key Cryptography, and pioneered the use of sophisticated data encryption to protect sensitive data across the world's payment systems.

He has also been very involved with regulatory initiatives in both the US and the UK, providing feedback to the SEC and FCA respectively pushing for expanded momentum for innovation and startups within the regulatory frameworks of both countries.

Wasim served on the board of non-profit, StartOut, and is a Seedcamp and WeWork Labs global mentor.

Wasim graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and French from the University of Sussex.

https://vault12.com/u/wasim-ahmad

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Vault12

Vault12 is the pioneer in crypto inheritance and backup. The company was founded in 2015 to provide a way to enable everyday crypto customers to add a legacy contact to their cry[to wallets. The Vault12 Guard solution is blockchain-independent, runs on any mobile device with biometric security, and is available in Apple and Google app stores.

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Backup and Inheritance for Bitcoin

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You will lose your Bitcoin and other crypto when you die...play icon

You will lose your Bitcoin and other crypto when you die...

...unless you set up Crypto Inheritance today.

It's simple — if you don't worry about crypto inheritance, nobody else will — not your software or hardware wallet vendors, not your exchanges, and not your wealth managers. So it's up to you to think about how to protect the generational wealth you have created, and reduce the risks around passing that crypto wealth on to your family and heirs. What are the challenges with crypto inheritance?

  • Crypto Wallets are difficult to use and do not offer crypto inheritance management. In fact, most of them tell you to write down your seed phrase on a piece of paper, which is practically useless.
  • Some people back up their wallet seed phrases or private keys on paper, local devices like hardware wallets or USBs, or in the cloud. All of these options have severe drawbacks that range from hacking to accidental loss to disrupted cloud services.
  • Software wallets operate on specific blockchains, yet your crypto assets span multiple blockchains. For inheritance to work, you must be able to manage inheritance across every blockchain — now and forever.
Vault12 is the pioneer in crypto inheritance. Watch our explainer video above, or our inheritance demo today.

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Screenshot of Vault12 Guard apps - Add an Asset screen

Pioneering Crypto Inheritance: Secure Quantum-safe Storage and Backup

Vault12 is the pioneer in Crypto Inheritance, offering a simple yet powerful way to designate a legacy contact and pass on your crypto assets—like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) —to future generations. Built for everyday users yet robust enough for the most seasoned crypto enthusiasts, Vault12 Guard ensures your wallet seed phrases and private keys are preserved in a fully self-sovereign manner, across all Blockchains.

At the heart of Vault12 Guard is quantum-resistant cryptography and a decentralized, peer-to-peer network of trusted Guardians. Your critical information is never stored in the cloud, on Vault12 servers, or even on local devices—dramatically reducing the risk of a single point of failure. By fusing a powerful software layer with the Secure Element of iOS devices (Secure Enclave) and Google devices (Strongbox), Vault12 Guard locks down your private keys against present and future threats.

Our innovative approach harnesses social recovery, enabling you to appoint one or more trusted individuals or mobile devices as Guardians. These Guardians collectively safeguard your protected seed phrases in a decentralized digital Vault—so there’s no need for constant lawyer updates or bulky paperwork. Should the unexpected happen, your chosen legacy contact can seamlessly inherit your crypto assets without compromising your privacy or security.

Preserve your digital wealth for generations to come with Vault12 Guard—the simplest, most secure way to manage crypto inheritance and backup.

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Screenshot of Vault12 Guard app - Adding data into the Vault

Take the first step and back up your crypto wallets.

Designed to be used alongside traditional hardware and software crypto wallets, Vault12 Guard helps cryptocurrency owners back up their wallet seed phrases and private keys (assets) without storing anything in the cloud, or in any single location. This increases protection and decreases the risk of loss.

The first step in crypto Inheritance Management is making sure you have an up-to-date backup.

The Vault12 Guard app enables secure decentralized backups, and provides inheritance for all your seed phrases and private keys across any blockchain, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others, and for any crypto wallet.

Note: For anyone unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies, Vault12 refers to wallet seed phrases and private keys as assets, crypto assets, and digital assets. The Vault12 Guard app includes a software wallet that works alongside your Digital Vault. The primary purpose of this is to guard your Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) wallet seed phrases, private keys, and other essential data, now and for future generations.

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