Apple has offered password management features for years, but never until iOS 18 has there been a dedicated Passwords app. The new app has a lot going for it, but there’s one feature in particular that’s stood out for me above the rest: Shared Groups.
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For years, Apple provided its built-in Keychain password management tool hidden within the Settings app. This tool allowed passwords to be automatically generated and saved in the Passwords section, but it could often be cumbersome when a user wants to manage particular logins.
Now, in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, saved passwords have broken away into their own rounded corner island on the home screen called Passwords. Apple hopes this new app will make managing credentials more convenient for users. However, there are concerns that it may not offer enough features to replace paid password managers. Sure, but is that the goal?
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iOS 18 is a huge release for iPhone users. It brings major improvements to system apps like Photos, Messages, Notes, and more. The update also introduces a brand new app: Passwords, which makes password management on Apple devices easier than ever. Here’s a look at everything that iOS 18’s new Passwords app can do.
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Apple’s new Passwords app in iOS 18 aims to provide a secure, convenient location for saving all of your important logins and passwords. There’s one key feature, however, that could eventually make the app largely obsolete: automatic passkey upgrades.
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Apple has a brand new Passwords app coming in iOS 18. Once users upgrade this fall to the latest OS versions across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and even Vision Pro, they’ll find the new Passwords app installed.
But while Passwords will offer lots of the functionality found in third-party options like 1Password (at least for personal use), there are two specific 1Password features you won’t find in Apple’s Passwords app.
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As hacking tools become more and more powerful, it’s more crucial than ever to maintain good password habits – or fix weak spots. World Password Day is a good reminder to share best security practices with friends or family or see if you’re on top of everything yourself. Here are 8 important ways to check passwords and improve security.
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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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Mozilla is best known these days for its cross-platform Firefox web browser, but its Test Pilot Experiments group wants to shake things up with two new mobile apps. For iOS users, the first Mobile Test Pilot Experiment from Mozilla is a new password manager for Firefox users called Lockbox.
1Password, the popular service that allows users to securely store their various passwords, has today announced a new plan for families that makes it considerably more affordable. In a blog post, AgileBits, the company behind the service, detailed 1Password for Families, explaining that the service costs $5 per month for a family of five, while additional people can be added for $1 per month.
AgileBits has updated its popular login manager app 1Password to include new features for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus as well as other security and function enhancements for all users. 1Password 6.2 for iOS adds 3D Touch quick actions from the Home screen icon plus Peek and Pop for previewing items within the app. Pressing the app icon firmly on the latest iPhone models lets you quickly search for items, jump to your favorited passwords, or create new entries. Once you open the app, 3D Touch lets you preview items and swipe up to access popular functions like copying usernames and passwords or opening the 1Browser within the app. There are also a few new security and convenience enhancements for all iPhone and iPad users…
LastPass, which claims to be the world’s most popular password manager, now offers the choice of free usage on either mobile or desktop platforms. Previously, desktop use was free while use on a mobile device required a $12 annual subscription.
You can now use it for free on either platform – but still need to pay to get both mobile and desktop usage. LastPass told us that, seven years in, it was time to change its freemium pricing model …
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Image: n3rdabl3.co.uk
Popular iOS and Android apps from companies like Walmart, ESPN, Slack and SoundCloud have been found vulnerable to password cracking, according to a recent report from AppBugs. The security firm found that dozens of the most popular apps are lacking, in that they allow you to make any number of attempts to login without restriction. These clearly opens up a gap for attackers who have the means to guess those passwords and gain access to your accounts.
The most secure apps will force you to reset your password if you don’t enter it correctly, or they’ll lock you out after you’ve made a certain number of attempts.
AppBugs tested the most popular apps to see how they stacked up. It checked 100 popular apps which support password-protected web accounts and limited themselves to apps which had been downloaded at least 1 million times. Of those 100 apps, 53 were found to have the vulnerability.
Starbucks has confirmed multiple reports of users of its smartphone app having three-figure sums stolen from their accounts in the form of gift certificates, reports CNN.
One user lost $550 in a matter of minutes, his account auto-reloaded each time it was emptied by a hacker sending a series of $50 gift cards. Other users have also reported three-figure losses within a matter of seconds or minutes …
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The popular secure password management app 1Password is out with a big update today adding new features on both iOS and Mac. Arriving in version 5.2 of 1Password for iOS is a new login creator tool, a one-time password tool for use with two factor auth, new entry fields for pro users, and more. On the Mac side, 1Password version 5.1 was released adding a number of improvements to sync. This includes the ability to sync secondary vaults to iOS over WiFi. More on the major new features below:
Smart password and security techniques are becoming increasingly important in our digital lives as new hacks seem to appear all the time, and having a unique and secure password (unlike these) helps ensure that your online identity is safe in the event of such a compromise.
LastPass, a cross platform secure digital vault app, is helping Mac users tackle the password management problem with the debut of its new Mac app. Previously only available for Mac as a browser extension and web portal, the new LastPass for Mac app brings new features to the desktop including quick search, security check, and more.
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SplashData, the company behind corporate password manager SplashID, has just compiled the latest top-25 ‘most hacked passwords’ rankings. As last year, the most-hacked password is 123456, with ‘password’ only managing second place.
But perhaps naive Internet users have been paying attention. It seems some of those using 123456 have come up with a cunning plan to defeat the hackers: dropping the final digit. 12345 has raced 17 places up the charts into third place. Old favorite ‘letmein’ has climbed one place to #13.
New additions this year include baseball, football, batman and access (cunning). You can see the full top-25 below. If you’re not already using a password manager to enable strong, unique passwords for each website, check-out our how-to guide.
1. 123456
2. password
3. 12345
4. 12345678
5. qwerty
6. 123456789
7. 1234
8. baseball
9. dragon
10. football
11. 1234567
12. monkey
13. letmein
14. abc123
15. 111111
16. mustang
17. access
18. shadow
19. master
20. michael
21. superman
22. 696969
23. 123123
24. batman
25. trustno1
After password manager Dashlane grabbed the limelight yesterday with an automated password changer for 50 top US websites, LastPass has hit back with its own version of the same feature. However, while LastPass supports more sites, it falls short of the Dashlane offering by forcing you to change one password at a time, rather than doing all supported sites en-mass, and not yet supporting sites that employ two-factor authentication.
We’re excited to announce that the Auto-Password Change feature we released to our Pre-Build Team last week is now available for all users in beta. LastPass can now change passwords for you, automatically. We’re releasing this feature for free to all our users, on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox (starting with version 3.1.70) […]
Auto-Password Change already supports 75 of the most popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Pinterest, Home Depot, and Dropbox.
LastPass notes that it does this while maintaining its secure approach of ensuring that only encrypted versions of the password are ever stored on the LastPass server, with the apps doing the decrypting on your device.
You can download the beta from the LastPass download site. If you’re not yet using a password manager, check out out our how-to guide.
A database containing login information for nearly 7 million users of the private cloud storage provider Dropbox has been accessed by hackers, according to a partial dump posted on Pastebin earlier this evening (via The Next Web). However, Dropbox has issued a statement denying that this breach occurred on its end, saying that Dropbox itself was not attacked, but rather a third-party service that had stored user credentials:
Dropbox has not been hacked. These usernames and passwords were unfortunately stolen from other services and used in attempts to log in to Dropbox accounts. We’d previously detected these attacks and the vast majority of the passwords posted have been expired for some time now. All other remaining passwords have been expired as well.
In iOS 8, Apple is making the process of logging into apps a much smoother experience by allowing native iOS apps to access usernames and passwords stored in Safari. The new feature, which works by letting iOS apps tap into Safari’s AutoFill & Passwords feature, will allow users to login to apps with a simple tap rather than having to type login info. Imagine your username and password are stored in Safari’s AutoFill for Facebook, for example. When launching the native Facebook iOS app, the feature will let users select from passwords stored in Safari to quickly login (as pictured above with Apple’s demo “Shiny” app).
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1Password 4 for Mac was updated today to version 4.3 with a bevy of enhancements and new features. Unlike today’s update to the iOS version of the app, the OS X-based update is not an overhaul of the application, but instead focuses on refining the software’s feature set.
This update features big updates to the 1Password Mini plugin, which now allows you to edit your saved items and generated passwords, recognizes a number of new keyboard shortcuts, and supports “fuzzy search” for saved items; the auto-save system, which now prompts you to update your existing password if you create a new password for a saved website; and a lot more.
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.
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:
An online poll conducted by Polar compares key user-interface elements from iOS 7 to the iOS 6 counterparts. Despite the outpour of criticism from some of iOS 7, these results show that an overwhelming amount of poll responders prefer the design of iOS 7 to iOS 6 and other previous iOS versions…
