I got a lot of comments about my article on Keychain so I want to follow up with some explanation of the newest Keychain addition: iCloud Keychain. With iCloud Keychain your account names, passwords, and even credit card numbers can be securely stored on your iPhone or iPad Keychain and synced across your devices that are connected to your iCloud account. When used with Safari you can save those obscure passwords suggested by Safari, too.
The first time you set up your iOS device you will be asked if you want to enable iCloud Keychain. If you skipped that or weren’t ready at the time you can turn it on later by going to Settings > iCloud > iCloud Keychain. When you first turn it on, you will be asked to sign into your iCloud account with your Apple ID, name, and password. After that, you will be asked to set a passcode. You can use the same code you use to lock your device or, for greater security, choose a different one.
If you want to use your names and passwords and your stored credit card numbers you should also go to Settings > Safari > Passwords & AutoFill to turn those features on. Some websites may not allow your password to be saved, but if you toggle “Always Allow” at that settings panel it will override that in most cases. This is also the location where you can add and delete saved passwords or credit card numbers.
When you are setting up iCloud Keychain on a new device it will send a notification to your other devices seeking approval. Once you approve, iCloud Keychain will begin updating on that device. Should your other devices not be handy you can still set it up if you have your iCloud Security code and the device that is using the SMS-capable phone number you used when you first set up iCloud Keychain. A verification code will be sent via SMS to that phone number.
If you use Chrome, Firefox, or other browsers, you may find that iCloud Keychain is not for you as the features are definitely Safari-oriented. I would really like Apple’s Touch ID to be more integrated into iCloud Keychain so that your fingerprint could unlock all the features, but that is probably coming in a future update.