Today's post isn't about an app but about getting you onto password protected websites more easily. Do you get fed up typing in passwords or often forget them? If yes, then Keychain is for you.
When you log onto the school intranet, if you only have to click the login button because your details have been saved for you then you already have keychain turned on. Alternatively if you are always having to type your username and password then you might want to save yourself time by using Keychain for this and other selected sites and those apps which the developers have enabled for Keychain access.
What is Keychain
Just like how keys on a keyring allow you access to different locked spaces, so keychain stores your credentials (username and password) for different spaces you might visit on your iPad allowing you easier and faster access.
Once you have activated keychain (see below), when you enter new credentials that Keychain doesn't recognise, it will ask you if you would like to save those credentials in the Keychain for future use. If your iPad has a lock code on (which all school iPads should have) then you will mostly want to say yes, the exceptions being for those sites that might store more personal or private information, like banking.
Security
Because Keychain is saving passwords (and can also save credit card details although I have never chosen to save them) security is very important. The data saved in your Keychain is encrypted using 265-bit AES encryption and are stored on your trusted device(s). When you start using Keychain it will ask you to enter a mobile phone number (a number that can receive texts) which it uses to verify your identity in a particular set of circumstances.
You can read more about Keychain on Apple's website here.
Turning it on
- Go to Settings
- Select iCloud on the LHS
- On the RHS, tap Keychain
- Turn Keychain on.
- Enter a security code (4 digit number - don't forget this!)
- Enter a phone number that can receive texts.
- When a text arrives on your phone, enter the six digit code into your iPad
Troubleshooting
If Keychain doesn't ask you if you want it to save your passwords after you have turned it on, an extra step may be necessary: Go to settings, Safari, Passwords and Autofil and make sure that Names and Passwords is turned on (as shown in the last image above).
Turning it off
At any time you can turn Keychain off and it will ask you if you want to delete the data that it has stored.
You can see what Keychain has saved by going to Settings, finding Safari on the LHS and choosing Passwords and Autofill on the RHS.
A few extra details
- Keychain is only available if you are running iOS 7.03 or later
- Keychain won't work for all apps, for example it won't work for iSAMs, just for Safari browsing and some apps
- If you use the same Apple ID across multiple devices and turn Keychain on, Keychain will synchronise across those devices so that if you save a password on your iPad it will be available for the same site on your iPhone.