How to use iCloud Keychain on iPhone

ICloud Keychain

Today with the growing number of websites and services in which we are registered it is absolutely impossible to remember all usernames and passwords. Although many take the fast track of having a single username and password for all their records, something absolutely inadvisable and we will see why, it is much better to opt for other much more secure solutions, and Apple offers us its own that integrates perfectly with the system, it syncs between iOS and macOS and it works really well. We explain everything you need to know about the iCloud Keychain, how to activate it and how to get the most out of it.

Why do I need a keychain for my passwords?

Many of the people I explain how I manage my passwords with iCloud Keychain find it strange that I have different passwords for each service I use. It is much easier to always use the same password, and if it is easy to remember, even better. Those are just two of the customs that anyone who knows something about internet security would advise you against, for two very simple reasons to understand:

  • Never use the same password for all your services, basically because as one of them has a security breach and they get your username and password, you will have all the others compromised. And security flaws exist, if not tell Yahoo and its users.
  • Don't use easy passwords to remember. If it's easy for you, it'll be easy for anyone who knows you and wants to steal your password. Your date of birth, wedding anniversary or easy number combinations can be easily guessed through what is known as "social engineering" even by someone who has never seen you and knows nothing about you, let alone know you.

ICloud Keychain works precisely by avoiding these two points, since allows you to create secure and independent keys for each of the web pages or services you need, and do not worry about how to remember them, because it will remind you when you need it, filling in the fields automatically when you want to enter any of them. Not only that, but it also allows you to save your credit card details so that you don't have to enter them when you want to make purchases online.

Security is guaranteed

Storing all your keys in one place is something that many people find hair on end, but although absolute security does not exist, we can say that iCloud Keychain guarantees the maximum possible security. On the one hand, nobody can activate the iCloud keychain on a device with your account without your permission., even if it was done with your iCloud key. Even if you do not have two-factor authentication activated (something you should do and that we explain in this article) it will be essential that you authorize the new device added with another trusted device.

To this security mechanism Apple adds the encryption of all data both in iCloud and when it is transmitted from the cloud to your device, so a possible security flaw that allowed hackers to get hold of that data would be of no use to them either. Apple has taken the matter very seriously so we can rest assured.

What data does iCloud Keychain store?

It is not only about saving access data to web pages, users and passwords, but also useful data such as credit cards are stored. The data that is saved from these are only the numbering and the expiration date, not the security code of each card that you must fill in manually when requested. The passwords for accessing the WiFi networks that you have configured on your devices are also saved, and developers can also use this function with their applications if they wish.

As iCloud Keychain it is synchronized between all the devices that have it activated with the same iCloud accountOnce you access a website with your data on your Mac, you will no longer have to enter it on your iPhone or iPad, because it will be filled in automatically.

How to activate iCloud Keychain

It is a process included in the initial configuration of the iPhone or iPad, but if you did not do it at the time you can do it whenever you want by accessing the Settings menu of your device. Click on the first menu where your name appears and enter iCloud. There you will find the preferences of the Apple cloud service with all the data that you synchronize with it, and at the bottom you will see the option "Keychain"  which is the one you have to activate.

How to activate iCloud Keychain

If you have two-factor authentication activated, your device will begin to synchronize all the data saved with iCloud Keychain because the device verification has already been done. In the event that you do not have it activated, you will need approval on any other trusted device that has activity for iCloud Keychain to work on that new device. You can also use if you prefer the iCloud Security Code that you configured the first time you activated iCloud Keychain on a device, or even the verification via SMS on the phone number you added.

A very important detail for those who are very suspicious about saving data in the cloud: You can prevent iCloud Keychain from being stored in the cloud if when activating it you do not configure the iCloud Security Code. In this case, the data will be stored only on the activated devices, and will be synchronized between them, but will not be stored in the cloud.

How to turn off iCloud Keychain

The process is the same as when activating it, unchecking the Keychain option in Settings> iCloud account> iCloud> Keychain. Doing so will ask you if you want to disable Safari autofill, offering you two options: continue storing the data on your device so that the autofill options continue to work or delete it. If you delete them, do not worry that it will only affect that device, not the rest that have it activated, and if you chose to have them synchronized in iCloud of course they will continue to be stored in the cloud.

How to create passwords using iCloud Keychain

It is one of the most important functions of this function: create random and highly secure keys so that nobody can guess them, in addition to storing them so you don't have to memorize them and they are also synchronized between all your devices with your same iCloud account. If you enter a website where you want to register, you must fill in all the information you want and when you place yourself on the iOS password box, it will give you the option to create it for you.

Create-iCloud-passwords

Click on «Passwords» just above the iOS keyboard while inside the password box of the website in question, and choose the option «Suggest Passwords». You will be shown the password that Safari suggests, a combination of numbers, letters, hyphens, uppercase and lowercase, and you only have to click on "Use suggested password" so that it is used on that website and automatically saved on your iCloud keychain.

How to save a password in iCloud Keychain

If you already have the access data to a website but have not yet entered it in your iCloud Keychain, the break to do so is very simple. Use Safari to enter that website and when you enter your username and password, Safari will ask you if you want to save that data access on your keychain and synchronize it between all your devices. Answer yes and you will no longer have to re-enter that password on your iPhone, iPad or Mac because Keychain will do it for you. If you manually enter a different password again, Safari will ask you if you want to update the one you have stored in Keychain.

Save-password-icloud

How to choose an iCloud Keychain password

When you access a web page from which you have already stored your access data on that device or on any other with your iCloud account, it is normal that Safari will automatically fill in the access data so that you only have to click on the button «Enter» and you will access the web. But there are times when you have multiple accesses and want to use another account. To be able to select which account you want to use to access a site you must click on "Passwords" or "Autofill password" and a window will appear in which you can choose the passwords that you have saved.

Choose-password-iCloud

If it is not one of those, you can then click on "Other passwords" and then you will have to authenticate using Touch ID to access all the passwords saved in iCloud and choose the one you want to use.

How to clear a password from iCloud Keychain

It may be the case that you no longer have an account that you used to access a website and you want to delete it, or that by mistake you have entered and saved some access data that are not correct and want to delete them. It is quite easy to do it, you just have to follow the steps as if you wanted to enter with that password, click on Passwords and choose to delete it. It will disappear from iCloud and from all your devices.

Clear-password-icloud

How to add credit cards to iCloud Keychain

As we said at the beginning, iCloud Keychain allows you not only to save access data to web pages but also credit cards to be able to make purchases online comfortably. Although we can save the cards at the time of making a purchase, we can also do it without having to wait to buy anything to have them ready for when we need them.

Save credit cards in iCloud

Go to System Settings and access the Safari menu, there choose Autofill and enter the "Saved credit cards" section and at the bottom choose the "Add card" option. You can enter the card data manually or take a photo of the card so that iOS recognizes them automatically. Don't forget to add a description so that you can easily identify it later. If you ever want to delete a card, you just have to click on the one you want to delete in this same section and delete it.

How to view passwords saved in iCloud Keychain

In addition to saving the passwords on the device (and in the cloud if you wish), the iCloud Keychain also serves as a notepad to be able to see the user names and passwords that we have stored, You can even copy them to be able to enter them manually in those websites that for some reason the autocomplete does not work well, that sometimes happens.

View iCloud Keychain passwords

As before, you must access the device Settings, enter the Safari menu and click on «Passwords». Now you will have to authenticate with your touchID to be able to access them, and once inside you can choose the one you want and copy the desired key to paste it where you want.

Convenience and security built into the system

ICloud Keychain has the enormous advantage that it is a function of the system so it integrates perfectly with it, and if we add synchronization through iCloud to this, it is a function that when you start using it, you will not be able to stop doing it. . Although it has some drawbacks, such as not having a specific section within the system settings that allows you to consult all the stored data (such as the keys to your WiFi networks), something that we can do however in macOS, it really works very well, it is comfortable to use and very fast, and it is compatible with practically all the websites that I know.

There are other options, such as third-party applications that also work very well, we have already told you on many occasions about 1Password, one of my favorites, which has just what iCloud Keychain does not have: a well-made interface to check saved passwords. However, these applications, although they are very well worked and the iOS extensions have allowed us to improve them a lot, they do not work as well as the native option of the system, so we can really consider them a complement rather than substitutes for iCloud Keychain.


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  1.   one level up said

    It seems to me that it is a very complete explanation, the use of iCloud Keychain, for me, is not very easy, I need to practice to be able to be safe in use. Thanks