For browserless, I was referring to a 2019 article that I could have sworn was newer than that, on the need for OAuth 2.1 that also covers how they added OAuth for Native Apps (Code Flow) and basically a QR code version for TVs: https://aaronparecki.com/2019/12/12/21/its-time-for-oauth-2-...
As for SFAuthenticationSession, again my info might be outdated, but the basic idea is that there are often native APIs that can load OAuth requests in a way that doesn’t require you to relogin. Honestly most of those use cases have been deprecated by PassKeys at an operating system level. There’s (almost) no need for a special browser with cookies to your favourite authenticated services if you have PassKeys to make logging in more painless.
I agree that passkeys would solve all that, but they have their own set of problems (mainly being bound to a device) and they are still very far from being universally adopted.
I’m looking forward to OAuth2.1 - at the moment it is still in draft stage, so it will take a couple more years until it’s done and providers start implementing.
My prediction is that passwords will be around for a long time, at least the next 10 years.
PassKeys are definitely the future, they aren't just device-specific, they can be synced also. https://www.corbado.com/blog/nist-passkeys talks about this, though I'll admit I haven't read anything on the subject yet. But I can say that most implementations of PassKeys seem to cloud sync, including 1Password, Apple, Google, Edge, etc.
I should also add that PassKeys that are tied to devices are like FIDO2 security keys, you should be able to add more than one to your account so that you can login with a backup if your primary FIDO2 token is unavailable.
Likewise, SSO should ideally be implemented such that you can link more than one social network - and a standard email address or backup method - in addition to the primary method you might use to login with. It has always bugged me that Auth0 makes it much harder than it should be to link multiple methods of login to an account, by default.
The biggest issue I've seen organisations facing with PassKeys is that neither iOS or Android require biometrics to unlock one - this seems like a massive drawback.
Most apps wanting extra authentication implement biometrics which fall back to an app-specific knowledge based credential like a PIN or password. As far as I can tell, PassKeys on those devices fall back to the device PIN which in the case of family PCs/iPads/tablets is known to the whole household.
I've seen several organisations give up on them for this reason.
As for SFAuthenticationSession, again my info might be outdated, but the basic idea is that there are often native APIs that can load OAuth requests in a way that doesn’t require you to relogin. Honestly most of those use cases have been deprecated by PassKeys at an operating system level. There’s (almost) no need for a special browser with cookies to your favourite authenticated services if you have PassKeys to make logging in more painless.