This seemed crazy when I first heard of it, but thinking about it a little more… password masking was originally invented on desktop PCs, with large, fixed-position screens that could easily be read from the other side of the room, or at least a few feet away. Particularly in an office setting, it could be quite difficult to be sure exactly who is looking over your shoulder at any given moment, and if they are, there’s not much you can do about it.
For mobile devices, screens are small and movable, so even in an untrusted environment you could just hold the device closer to your body or shield it with your hands; password masking isn’t nearly as big an improvement.
This seemed crazy when I first heard of it, but thinking about it a little more… password masking was originally invented on desktop PCs, with large, fixed-position screens that could easily be read from the other side of the room, or at least a few feet away. Particularly in an office setting, it could be quite difficult to be sure exactly who is looking over your shoulder at any given moment, and if they are, there’s not much you can do about it.
For mobile devices, screens are small and movable, so even in an untrusted environment you could just hold the device closer to your body or shield it with your hands; password masking isn’t nearly as big an improvement.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind something a bit more like this:
Optionally, below
Password:Which can be left blank iff not enabled.