You Should Use Your IPhone’s New Built-in Two-Factor Authentication
When it comes to securing your accounts, the general consensus is to always use two-factor authentication , which traditionally uses a unique six-digit code that is re-generated every 30 seconds. If you want to scare away hackers, this will be of great help … but the process is not flawless. You often need a third-party app and you will lose access to all your passwords if you lose your phone or the app itself.
In iOS 15 , iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, Apple wants to simplify all of this by linking two-factor authentication to the iCloud Keychain. You can set up two-factor mode natively on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, and because it’s linked to your iCloud account, it’s safe, auto-complete, and you’ll never lose access to it. Not to mention, it’s free to use.
To be clear, this built-in authenticator is different from your Apple ID’s two-factor authentication settings. The latter sends a code to one of your trusted Apple devices when you try to sign in to your Apple ID. However, this new feature is for third-party services that require an authenticator app.
How to set up two-factor authentication in iOS 15
To set up two-factor authentication for a website or app, you first need to add it to iCloud Keychain. The steps for doing this are pretty much the same for all websites and apps, although the wording may vary.
Basically, go to the passwords section of the website or app and select the two-factor authentication option. Then select the option to set up two-factor authentication on one device. This will take you directly to the iCloud passwords screen where you will need to authenticate with a one-time password.
We will illustrate this with the example of the Facebook application. Open the Facebook app, press the Menu button and go to Settings & Privacy > Preferences > Password & Security . Here, select the ” Use two-factor authentication ” option.
Select ” Authentication Application ” and click ” Continue “. You will now see a QR code and a manual configuration code. Just click ” Set up on the same device.” “
This will automatically open the Passwords section in Settings. Select your Facebook account here. You will see a verification code. Copy it and paste it into the Facebook app.
And it’s all. Your two-factor authentication is now set up. The next time you need to sign in, you’ll see a prompt to insert a two-factor authentication code right above the keyboard. No need to open a separate app including Settings.
How to add two-factor authentication codes manually
Facebook is a great example of an app that has been updated to support iOS 15’s two-factor authentication feature, but this may not be the case for every app or website. You can still use this function in the same way using the verification code. When you set up two-factor authentication on any website, copy this code to your clipboard.
Go to Settings > Passwords and select a website. Then tap the ” Set Verification Code ” option and enter the verification key. You will now see the two-factor authentication code. Enter this six-digit code on the website to activate the feature.