For most mobile app developers, password management has as much appeal as a visit to the dentist. You do it because you have to, but it is annoying and easy to screw up, even when using standard libraries or protocols like OAUTH.

Your users feel the same way. Even if they know to use strong passwords and avoid reusing them, mobile devices make this difficult. Typing a strong p@4sw0r%d on a tiny keyboard is a hassle.

Today, we’ve got some good news for app developers. We’re releasing a simple SDK drop-in for iOS apps called Tidas. This SDK allows you to completely replace passwords with a simple touch to log into an app. It relies on strong encryption built into iOS to validate the user’s identity without the need to transmit any private information outside of the device.

Tidas: Make passwords obsolete

When your app is installed on a new device, the Tidas SDK generates a unique encryption key identifying the user and registers it with the Tidas backend. This key is stored on the device in the iOS Secure Enclave chip and is protected by Touch ID, requiring the user to use their fingerprint to sign into the app. Signing in generates a digitally signed session token that your backend can pass to the Tidas backend to verify the user’s identity. The entire authentication process is handled by the SDK and does not require you to touch any of the user’s sensitive data.

Start a free trial to see our source code

Preserve user privacy and minimize your liability

Tidas is built by Trail of Bits, a security research company dedicated to advancing Internet security. From the ground up, we have designed Tidas to be safe even in the worst case scenario. If the Tidas backend or your servers were breached tomorrow, the attackers would gain nothing: they would find no passwords and no personally identifying information.

That’s because Tidas doesn’t store any sensitive data outside the mobile device. A user’s encryption keys never leave their device’s Secure Enclave chip and cannot be compromised even if the app, the device or the server are hacked.

Tidas doesn’t collect or have any access to the user’s fingerprints either. That’s Touch ID’s job: it collects users’ fingerprints for authentication and stores them in the Secure Enclave, so they remain completely opaque to Tidas. By design, Tidas protects user’s privacy, and you never have to worry about how to handle their login credentials.

Free access until March 31, 2016

Tidas is free until March 31st. There’s no billing, and no usage limits. Just sign up to gain unfettered access to Tidas’s API. We’ll also provide all the Ruby middleware and Objective-C client libraries you need.

Go to passwordlessapps.com now and download the Tidas SDK now!

Read more about the fast-approaching death of the password in the Wall St Journal and our press release about Tidas this morning.