Protect yourself

Get to grips with iOS 12’s new password safety measures

Password practices often leave a lot to be desired, many of us reusing the same password in multiple places. If just one site suffers a breach, you run the risk of those credentials being tried on other sites to gain access to even more of your data.

So, iOS 12 does a few simple things to encourage you to adopt better habits. When creating an account on a website, iOS 11 would ask if you wanted it to create a secure password, also offering the option for you to choose your own.

The difference in iOS 12 is subtle. The phrasing in its dialog tells you it has gone ahead and generated a strong password, though it doesn’t submit it to the website or app until you allow it. You retain the option of rejecting it and setting your own password, but the slight change of phrase may encourage you to let it have its way.

Ideally, you would never share an account’s credentials with anyone else. You certainly wouldn‘t want to enable someone else, even your kids, to have access to your email and payment method for the App Store, for example. But, some services — Netflix, say — are built in a way that encourages sharing one account and setting up multiple profiles within the shared account.

Rather than using a method that risks interception, iOS 12 enables you to share a set of credentials over AirDrop, which establishes an encrypted connection directly between two Apple devices — how to do this is described down below.

Not keen on iOS’s built–in password manager? Look out for updates to third– party alternatives; developers are now able to connect to the keyboard’s QuickType bar and populate it with details from them directly rather than iCloud Keychain.