One of the new features of iOS 7 is the popularity-gaining iCloud Keychain. In iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, iCloud syncs your Safari website usernames, passwords, credit card info, and WiFi network information (SSIDs and pass) across all your Apple devices. The Keychain also syncs mail, contacts, calendar and messages on the Macs. All information on iCloud is stored and transmitted using the 256-bit AES encryption. When you add a new device, all other devices will ask for your explicit consent before the data is synced. This guide is intended to help you on how to set up iCloud Keychain on your iOS 7 device.
How to setup iCloud Keychain on iOS devices:
-Enable Keychain:
- Once you upgrade your device to the latest iOS 7.0.3, it will ask you to setup iCloud Keychain. In case you have skipped it (like many of us), you can come back to its settings from Settings > iCloud > enable the Keychain on. When you turn it on, iOS will guide you through the steps to setup iCloud Keychain on iOS.
-iCloud Security Code
- Once you enable iCloud Keychain, it will ask you to setup an iCloud Security Code. This code will be used to setup Keychain on the new devices. The code can be your passcode, a new code, or a randomly generated code by the iOS. Go to Advanced Options to enter an alphanumeric code for better security level. Keep this code safe - remember it or note it down somewhere safe.
-Enter phone number
- Apple will have to send you an SMS to verify your identity. Hence enter the country code and your phone number on the next screen. Once you have entered this info successfully, your iCloud Keychain setup process is complete!
How to use iCloud Keychain:
Using iCloud Keychain is similar to how you use Safari’s Auto-fill feature.
- Go to a website’s login screen and enter your login credentials. Safari will show you a popover asking you if this password can be saved to your iCloud Keychain.
- You can also ask Safari to generate a safe password for you when you sign-up on a new website, using the Suggest Password button.
- The next time you visit that website, you should see your login information auto-filled.
- Important: some websites do not allow Safari to AutoFill passwords, hence you won’t be able to use this feature on those websites.
- To override this behavior, open Settings and navigate to Safari > Passwords and AutoFill. Enable the Always Allow toggle. Autofill will now work on all the websites.
iCloud Keychain requires your iTunes password, security code and SMS verification when setting up on a new device, making it a very great security feature of iOS 7.
