Wednesday, 02 January 2019 10:03 - (463)
For security reasons, we always recommend that you use a password manager like 1Password or LastPass to generate, store, and enter strong passwords in your Web browser. We hope you’ve been doing that because iOS 12 has a fabulous new feature that lets you enter passwords from third-party password managers in addition to iCloud Keychain. It makes logging in to Web sites—and iOS apps!—vastly easier than before.
Set Up AutoFill
To begin, you need to enable the feature. Go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts > AutoFill Passwords. Tap the AutoFill Passwords switch to turn the feature on, and select your password manager in the list below.
Two notes. First, the iOS app for your password manager must be installed for it to appear in the list. Second, although you can also allow iCloud Keychain to fill passwords, it’s not worth the extra confusion unless you have a lot of passwords stored only in iCloud Keychain.
Log In to a Web Site in Safari
Now it’s time to try the feature. Navigate to a Web site where you need to log in, and for which your password manager has stored your credentials. Then follow these steps:
- Tap in the username or password field.
- iOS 12 consults your password manager, and if it finds a username/password pair that matches the domain of the site, it displays the username for the site in a blue button or in the QuickType bar above the keyboard. Tap it, and unlock the password manager using your password, Touch ID, or Face ID. iOS fills in your credentials.
- Tap to continue the login process.
If you have multiple accounts for the same site, you may see several of them in the QuickType bar, but if the one you want doesn’t appear, or if none appear, tap the key icon to see all available passwords. If none are right even still, tap the name of your password manager at the bottom of the list to open and search it manually.
Log In to an App
The process of logging in to an app is often similar to logging in to a Web site, as with the Dropbox and Netflix apps, but iOS 12 doesn’t know how to match every app with an associated account in your password manager. For an app that iOS 12 can’t identify, like the Pixabay app, follow these steps instead:
- Tap in the username or password field.
- In the QuickType bar, tap the key icon to open your password manager.
- If necessary, unlock it with your password, Touch ID, or Face ID.
- Search in the password manager for the associated account.
- Tap the account to autofill it in the app’s login fields.
Password Manager Limitations
As welcome as iOS 12’s new support for password managers is, it’s lacking in two important ways:
- The autofill integration is limited to usernames and passwords, so if a site requires an additional field for login, you’ll have to enter that information manually. Similarly, it won’t enter credit card numbers or other information the password manager can autofill when used on a Mac.
- The password manager can’t automatically create new accounts or generate new passwords, as all password managers can do on the Mac. You can do both manually, but the process is so clumsy that it may be easier to wait and do it on a Mac later, or use an easily typed password temporarily until you can change it to something stronger on your Mac later.
Despite these annoyances, iOS 12’s support for third-party password managers is a huge step forward for anyone who wants quick access to the same login credentials on an iPhone or iPad.
Social Media: For those who rely on a password manager like 1Password or LastPass, iOS 12’s new support for third-party password managers makes it easier to log in to Web sites in Safari and iOS apps. Here’s how:
If you deal with a significant number of websites and online services on a daily basis, then you must have lots of passwords to remember. Since using the same password for every account is not the best option, it's much safer to store the passwords on your iPhone.
In this article, you'll find out about the main ways you can securely and quickly save passwords on an iPhone.
Use iCloud Keychain to Store Passwords on Your iPhone
iCloud Keychain is a tool used for keeping passwords, credit card info, and other secure information across all your Apple devices. So whenever you need to log into a website or fill in a Wi-Fi password, iCloud Keychain will do it automatically.
This is a native iPhone feature, so you can be sure that the information stored using it will be safe. Moreover, your data will be encrypted, which means that no one else except you can access or read it, not even Apple.
Another useful feature of this password manager is that it will let you know whenever it thinks one of your passwords may have been compromised.
To locate compromised passwords on your iPhone, head to Settings > Passwords > Security Recommendations. From here, you can easily change any compromised password. To do this, just tap Change Password on Website.
Your device will ask you whether you want to set up iCloud Keychain when you update it to the latest software release. But if you didn't set it up then, here's another way you can do it:
- Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
- Tap your name at the top of the screen.
- Head to iCloud.
- Scroll down the list and tap on Keychain.
- Enable iCloud Keychain.
How to View Saved Passwords on Your iPhone
You can find all of your saved passwords directly on your iPhone in a couple of simple steps. Here's how:
- Open the Settings app on your device.
- Scroll down a bit and choose Passwords from the list.
- Your device will ask you to use Face ID or Touch ID to access the passwords. Do it, and you'll find all of the passwords that are stored on your iPhone.
How to Delete Saved Passwords on iPhone
At any time, you can clear the passwords that you no longer need from your iPhone. To do this, follow these steps:
- Head to Settings on your iPhone.
- Tap Passwords.
- Use either Face ID or Touch ID to access the passwords.
- To make changes to the passwords, tap Edit at the top-right of the screen and then select the passwords that you wish to delete.
- Tap Delete on the top-left corner to remove them from your device.
How to Turn Off iCloud Keychain on iPhone
Whenever you want to disable this feature, head to Settings and tap your name at the top of the screen. Then go to iCloud > Keychain and toggle off iCloud Keychain.
You'll have two options: save your passwords or delete them from your device.
If you go with the second option, your passwords will disappear from all synced devices and iCloud, and you won't be able to restore them afterward.
Get a Third-Party Password Manager
Even though iCloud Keychain is a highly secure and easy-to-use password manager, you can only use it for Apple devices.
For some people, this isn't an issue. But if you have an iPhone as well as a Windows laptop or an Android tablet and you want to sync your passwords across all those devices, downloading a third-party password manager would be the most convenient option.
A good example of such an application is 1Password. It has numerous handy features, such as categories for your passwords, custom fields for storing security questions, tags for organizing everything, Face ID, and more.
It's free to download, but you're required to get a subscription to use it. However, you can get a free 30-day trial to determine whether this is the password manager you want to stick with or not.
Download: 1Password (Subscription required, free trial available)
Is It Safe to Store Passwords in Notes?
One of the places where people tend to store important personal information, including passwords and financial details, is Notes. But in general, this is not a secure app for keeping such sensitive information.
If you still want to use Notes to save your passwords, then your best option is to protect that note with a password, or with Face ID or Touch ID.
But keep in mind that you can only do this for the notes that are stored locally on your device or synced to iCloud. If the notes are also synced with Yahoo, Gmail, or any other third-party service, then you can't lock them.
To use the locked notes feature, you should first create a password for the Notes app:
- Head to the Settings app.
- Scroll a bit lower and tap Notes > Password.
- Type in the password that you wish to use, a hint in case you forget the password, and enable the Use Face ID or Use Touch ID option to use those biometrics. Remember that if you forget your password, the note will be locked forever, and you won't be able to reset it.
- Tap Done.
Before you lock a note, make sure it has a title. You'll be able to view the title regardless of whether the note is locked or not. Now to lock a note, open the Notes app on your iPhone and follow these steps:
- Open the note that you wish to lock.
- Tap on the three dots icon located at the top-right of the screen.
- Tap Lock and enter the previously created password.
- To confirm, tap OK.
Keep Your Passwords Protected on Your iPhone
Whether you choose to store your passwords and other sensitive information using the iCloud Keychain or any other third-party password manager, you can be sure that it is safe.
With the Notes app, it is a bit more complicated. If you really want to stick with this app, you should only save your passwords if you lock the note afterward.