Can I unlock KeyNesta with Face ID?
Security · Help center · Current as of 2026-10-10
Short answer
Yes on the phone apps, where the vault key is stored in the device keychain and released only by Face ID, Touch ID or an Android biometric. The web app has no equivalent and always asks for the passphrase. Biometrics replace the typing, not the passphrase itself, so you still need it after any change to the biometrics enrolled on the device.
Where the key sits
Turning it on stores the vault's key in the platform keychain, marked so it can only leave when the device's biometric check passes and only on that device. It is not stored in the app's own files, it is not included in device backups, and the passphrase is not stored anywhere at all — it is not what is being checked.
Adding a face or finger switches it off
The stored key is tied to the exact set of biometrics enrolled when you turned it on. Enrol another face or fingerprint and the key becomes unusable, biometrics switch off for that vault, and KeyNesta asks for the passphrase to turn them back on. That is deliberate: otherwise anyone who got hold of your unlocked phone could add their own fingerprint and walk into your vault.
So you still need the passphrase
You need it after an enrolment change, on every new device, after a restore, and if the phone is replaced. Biometrics are a convenience over the top of a passphrase you must still know — see what cannot be recovered. The iPhone and Android apps are built and awaiting store release, with no date to quote; until then the web app is the full product, with a passphrase at the lock screen.
Try KeyNesta free. The web app needs no sign-up.
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