Bitwarden's username generator now supports SimpleLogin, AnonAddy, and Firefox Relay email alias services

Bitwarden has updated its browser extensions and Web Vault to improve its username generator. The cloud-based password manager introduced the feature in April 2022.

What's new in Bitwarden 2022.05.0 Update

Bitwarden now supports SimpleLogin, AnonAddy, and Firefox Relay for generating usernames. Users can take advantage of the email forwarding services to protect their privacy. So now the usernames that it generates are not only unique, but also mask the real email address to prevent it from being leaked in data breaches.

Note: The latest version of the Bitwarden extensions for Firefox, Chrome, Edge, are not yet available on the stores, at the time of writing this post.

The announcement article on the company's blog illustrates how to use email aliases in Bitwarden. The username generator will allow users to select one of the three mail forwarding services. You will need to have an account with one of the services, and provide the API Key for your account in order for Bitwarden to register the created email alias with it. The password manager previously added the option to allow people to use plus email addresses, like example+notmyrealid@simplelogin.io. If your provider supports a catch-all inbox, you can use that too.

Image courtesy: Bitwarden

The email alias feature is available in the Desktop apps and the browser add-ons. The Web Vault will also support the services at launch, except for Firefox Relay, which will be added in the future. The best part of course is that the email aliases for the username generator is available for all plans, i.e. free and paid users can make use of it.

How to use Bitwarden with SimpleLogin or AnonAddy

1. Go to your Bitwarden Vault, and access the Tools page.

2. Switch to the Generator Tab.

3. Select generate "Username".

4. Toggle the option for the service that you would like to use. I'm using SimpleLogin in this example.

5. Enter the API Key from your email forwarding service's account. You can get it from this page.

6. Click the Regenerate username button and Bitwarden will generate an alias with your selected service.

The change-log on the project's GitHub reveals some more features that have been added in this update. The browser extension will split the credit card numbers in groups of 4, which is the standard formatting used across most payment gateways. The Bitwarden extension's performance has been improved, and you should see a reduction in its CPU and memory usage.

Bitwarden has changed its version numbering system. The latest one is Bitwarden 2022.05.0. The format represents the year, month and release number of the version. For reference, the previous version of the browser extensions is 1.58.0, while the desktop client's build number is 1.33.0.

Bitwarden Web Vault

The Bitwarden Web Vault has also received some improvements. Users who have a Self-hosted Enterprise Organization can issue Sponsorship for Families Organization via Billing Sync. There are new filters for organization, and the company says that this is the first phase of its plans to update the Web Vault UI for all users.

The Web Vault gains a new feature called Vault item linking. You can share items by copying its URL (link with the CipherID) with members who have access to your vault. When they click on the link, it will directly open the corresponding item.

The Bitwarden mobile app for Android now lets you switch accounts from the auto-fill flow. Let's say you are on a website's login page, but Bitwarden can't find the entry in your vault, you can tap the avatar bubble, and switch to your other account directly. HCaptcha image challenges can be bypassed using the accessibility option.

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