As a regular user of iOS or MacOS devices, you will have many accounts on different sites—whether it’s email or social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and so on. In each of these sites, you would have created unique passwords.
Now, if you follow the frequent advice given by cybersecurity experts, they will tell you to create strong passwords that are as complicated as possible.
This means while your passwords may prove to be difficult for the hackers to guess and break in, it could be as difficult for you to remember them.
If you forget your password, then you will have to go through a lengthy process to access the saved password from your device.
But this issue is no longer an issue. Your Siri assistant can help you with just a simple voice command.
Many Changes Incorporated in iOS 12
Apple’s Siri has had a reputation of being not so dynamic as Google’s Assistant app. Google Assistant is possibly more popular due to the sheer number of devices that sport the AI-based application. All Android phones have them.
But Apple appears to have made several improvements to the latest version of the OS and when you start using the iOS 12 iteration, you may feel the real difference.
This feature facilitating password recall too is part of those changes in the new version of the OS that the company will officially unveil later this month, around the time when new iPhone products are released.
Password Recall Using Siri
The procedure to get the password you need when you have forgotten it is not very complicated. You just need to speak the command, “Siri, show me my passwords,” and the system will take no time in bringing up the page that contains all the passwords you created and used on different sites.
Now, if you are concerned about how can this be a safe practice since anyone can gain access to your passwords, you need not have any apprehensions on that score.
There will be a personal identification process—either through using the facial recognition feature or fingerprint sensor which is already present on your device. The security aspect gets taken care of there.
You Can Be Selective as Well
Now the doubt in your mind could be: What if I need the password just for one particular site and not the whole page where all passwords are stored? This is as simple as the previous one; simply say, “Siri, fetch me my Gmail account password.”
Siri will immediately take you to the page within Settings where the passwords are stored and pull out the one you just requested. The same verification will be performed and you will be good to go.
This Is for Those Who Don’t Want to Use Siri
There are still many users of smartphones and other devices who are not so conversant or comfortable with the use of the digital assistant and giving out the voice commands.
They don’t mind clicking or tapping through a few buttons to get what they desire. If you happen to be one of those users, then you always have the option of using the conventional method of checking the forgotten password.
The process is:
- Go to “Settings” first.
- On the Settings page, find the Accounts & Passwords menu option.
- Tap on it to reach the page where you have an option Website & App Passwords.
- You will reach the page you have been wanting to access to know the details of the stored passwords for different sites and applications.
- You can go ahead and do your work from there.
As mentioned, the easier option, now that Apple has introduced the facility, is to use Siri.
Get a Good Password Manager
Going beyond this case of Siri helping out with digging up the forgotten but saved password, you might also consider having a good password manager installed in your system.
These applications are quite useful. They come to your help when you are in the process of creating and storing passwords, and keeping them safe for future use.
Many organizations—whether banks or other institutions—require that you change your password after a certain duration. If you created one and forgot the new one, but you remembered the old one, you could get locked out of the site.
The password manager takes care of all these issues, so it’s a helpful tool to add to your smartphone experience as well.