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Here’s why Apple should still make a dedicated Passwords app (and a workaround)

Apple has described its vision for a passwordless future a number of times over the years, and this vision was bolstered in iOS 16 and macOS Ventura with the addition of passkey support. Even though we’re slowly seeing websites and apps adopt Passkey support, there’s still plenty of room for Apple to make a dedicated Passwords app.

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Apple opens testing for passwordless Face ID future with ‘passkeys in iCloud Keychain’ preview

In the years ahead, passwords, as we know them, will become a thing of the past. However, that change won’t happen overnight and will take a concerted effort from lots of different parties, including the major tech giants. At WWDC, Apple announced how it’s moving toward a more secure and easy-to-use passwordless authentication powered by WebAuthn and Face ID/Touch ID with the preview of passkeys in iCloud Keychain.

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Many iCloud services down or slow to respond – 11 different services affected [Update: Resolved]

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Update: As of 6.30am PT, Apple had updated its status page as showing all services back to normal. The company said that 40% of users had been affected.

Apple’s system status page is showing a substantial issue with iCloud services, the problems affecting eleven different services and persisting for four hours and counting at the time of writing.

While Apple lists the services as “may be slow for some users,” many users are reporting that the services are either completely unavailable or time-out when attempting to login … 
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iOS 8.0.1 will reportedly bring fixes for phone & keyboard bugs, Safari video, & more

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Apple’s next iOS 8 update following the public release of the operating system earlier this month will reportedly bring various fixes for phone and keyboard related bugs, problems with video in Safari and more. MacRumors claims to have details on the upcoming iOS 8.0.1 release from a source. In addition to fixing bugs with the phone, keyboard, and Safari, the fix will reportedly also include a fix for AirDrop support with Passbook and a problem with installing VPN profiles.

Here’s the full list of changes according to the report:

– Phone: Addresses bugs with call forwarding and freezing when accessing visual voicemail
– Keyboard: Fixes an issue with keypad not appearing to enter iCloud Keychain verification codes
– Safari: Fixes a problem with videos occasionally not playing
– Sharing: Fixes AirDrop support for Passbook passes
– VPN: Addresses an issue with installing VPN profiles

Apple released iOS 8 to the public earlier this month on September 17th two days ahead of its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models going on sale in initial launch countries. Adoption of the new operating system is lagging behind last year’s iOS 7 release, while Apple for the first time used its own CDN to deliver the update this year. A release date for the next iOS 8 update has not yet been confirmed, but Apple has said they are working on a fix for the HealthKit bug that delayed the feature expected later this month.

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The worst password of all is no longer ‘password’ according to hacked accounts chart

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You might have thought that it would be hard to come up with a worse password than ‘password,’ but according to a chart compiled by SplashData from hacked accounts, it has been edged out by ‘123456’.

The far more secure ‘12345678’ (33 percent more secure!) retains its position as number three, while a new entry in sixth place goes as far as ‘123456789’. Sadly, ‘letmein’, a password I always felt deserving of classic status, dropped seven places to achieve a mediocre ranking of 14.

Apple introduced iCloud Keychain as part of Mavericks and iOS 7.0.3, and if you’re not already using it, you can read our how-to guide. If you’re using older versions of OS X or iOS, we also ran a how-to guide on using a password manager to have unique, secure passwords for each website.

Via re/code

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Chrome for iOS getting automated form-filling, synced to your desktop browser

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Google’s Chrome Blog has announced that Chrome for iOS will be getting autofill functionality shortly, enabling automated completion of web forms. If you already use Chrome on a desktop machine, the iOS app will sync data between the two.

For iPhone and iPad users, Chrome for iOS will soon include Autofill to help you quickly fill out forms on-the-go just as you can on desktop and Android. When you sign into Chrome on your iPhone and iPad, you can quickly complete online forms using your synced Autofill info from other devices you’ve signed into.

Google says that it is “starting to roll out” the feature from today, but the version of the app on iTunes hasn’t been updated at the time of writing.

Safari introduced iCloud Keychain, offering synchronised logins and credit card data, with Mavericks and iOS 7.

How-to: Setup and use iCloud Keychain for Mavericks and iOS 7

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iCloud Keychain is a brand-new cloud service in OS X Mavericks and iOS 7.0.3 and launched with the new operating systems on October 22nd. iCloud Keychain stores your usernames, passwords, Wi-Fi networks, and credit card information so that you can easily fill in forms or logins whenever you need. This will sync across Safari and with third party apps that support iCloud Keychain. Your information is securely protected using 256-bit AES encryption, preventing unauthorized use of your information. iCloud Keychain also includes a powerful password generator, which will create unique passwords for your online accounts so that you no longer have to come up with secure or hard-to-guess passwords.

This article will teach you how to setup and use iCloud Keychain for iOS and OS X.


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Apple lists countries where new iCloud Keychain feature is available

Apple has updated its support website with a new list of countries in which iCloud Keychain is supported. iCloud Keychain was announced at WWDC 2013 earlier this year, and the feature allows users to create complex passwords and sync them via iCloud to their supported devices. The feature also allows users to store their credit card information in order to make payment processing online a faster process. The feature launched earlier this week with OS X Mavericks and iOS 7.0.3. We will be publishing a thorough how-to guide for setting up and utilizing iCloud Keychain in the coming days. The full list of currently supported countries is available below:


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OS X Mavericks is out, walkthrough: iBooks, Maps, and more

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Today Apple released version 10.9 of Mac OS X, codenamed “Mavericks.” The new OS includes several new features and enhancements over the previous version, “Mountain Lion.” The update is available for free for all compatible Macs from the App Store

Below you’ll find a closer look at some of the new features in 10.9.


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Apple announces OS X Mavericks available today for free

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Update: OS X Mavericks is available now as a free download on the Mac App Store. 

Apple has done something it hasn’t done before with a major release of OS X, announcing today during its iPad event that it will release OS X Mavericks, the latest version of its desktop OS, later today for free to all users.

Mavericks is available starting today for iMac and MacBook Pros from 2007 or later, 2008 MacBook Air, MacBook, and Mac Pro or later, and the 2009 Mac mini or later.

Apple first showed off Mavericks back in June at its WWDC developer conference and has since seeded several betas as well as Golden Master release followed by silent update to the GM release that could likely be the version Apple ships later this month. Despite not receiving a radical visual overhaul like iOS 7, OS X Mavericks includes over 200 new features and many big new user facing features like iBooks, improved multiple display support, iCloud Keychain, new Finder features, Maps, quick reply and lock screen notifications, auto-updating apps, and a number of under the hood enhancements to improve battery life and performance. (Full press release below)
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