After the long-awaited iOS 18 is released, the public finally get their first taste of the upgraded mobile operating system from Apple.
Besides the customizable home screen, the redesigned Control Center, the enhanced Photos app, the Messages improvements and the Game Mode, among others, iOS 18 also introduces a 'Passwords' app, which can be a gamechanger.
At first glance, the app, just like what its name suggests, is essentially a password manager app, in which it allows users to store and manage their passwords securely.
But going deeper, it's more than just that.
This happens because the encrypted Passwords app is actually a public-facing evolution of its Keychain and password-saving capabilities.
With the Passwords app, the Keychain, which has existed for more than a decade, no longer has as prominent a home in the iPhone’s settings, as details previously saved there are being moved right into the app.
In a newsroom post on its website, Apple said that:
Upon opening the Passwords app, users are greeted with six different tiles: All, Passkeys, Codes, Wi-Fi, Security, and Deleted.
These are essentially the main functions of the app, allowing users to quickly, and also easily save each type of data within their relevant sections. The security section includes check-ups allowing weak and exposed passwords to be identified.
For privacy and security purposes, Apple said that the Passwords app uses end-to-end encryption to save users' details, meaning that nobody, not even Apple, knows what it's saved there.
For added functionality, Apple has included a search feature, where users can quickly look for the login details they wish to see. The app also allows users to set up groups to share passwords with others.
Once users saved a credential, the details are then synched across through users' iCloud account, meaning that the encrypted data is shared with Apple’s cloud servers and available to all of users' Apple devices.
Within Apple’s settings, users can turn off syncing passwords on a specific device.
And to make matters convenient, the app is locked using Face ID.
What makes it really stand out, is that the app automatically saves all what users have previously saved in Keychain or AutoFill.
What this means, if users have used the Sign in with Apple login system on any websites or apps, the credentials are automatically imported to the app.
With passwords now slowly dying, the Passwords app can help get the automatic sign-in technology to a broader audience, one which might not use a password manager otherwise. The app is also, at least subtly, encourage users to adopt passkeys.
In other words, the app may also help improve people’s relationships with their passwords.
With Apple wading into the password management market by including a new app, Apple literally gives millions of iPhones, Macs, and iPads a new app that can impact the wider ecosystem.
The app that boasts end-to-end encryption and data synching ability across users' devices, and that it's also being made available on macOS Sequoia and iPadOS 18, the app could to varying degrees, challenge existing password managers.
After all, the app is literally the default password manager and come pre-installed, and that it is tightly designed into the operating system itself
While this also means that there are risks of Apple locking people into its own password manager, suggesting how Apple is again trying to restrain people into the Apple ecosystem, users should know that they should only use password manager that reflect what type of software they want to support and the individual threats they may face.
And given by the many Apple users and enthusiasts, Apple’s new app is probably better than not using a password manager at all.
Read: With iOS 18, Apple Wants To Make Its iPhones 'Thief-Proof' And Not Worth Stealing