Michal Ždanský Logging into various services in iOS clients can be quite annoying, especially if you have a habit of logging out. Although keyboard shortcuts can make it easier to at least fill in a long login name, however, as part of Continuity, Apple has come up with an interesting solution in iOS 8 that will make the login process much easier. At one of the developer seminars, the AutoFill & Password feature could be seen. It can link data from the iCloud Keychain obtained from Safari and use it in a specific application on iOS or Mac.
For example, the keychain knows your Twitter login password, which you entered in the web version of the social network. When you want to log in in the official application on iOS or Mac, instead of entering a password, the system will offer the option of using already existing data stored in the Keychain. However, this feature is not automatic and requires some initiative from the developers. They will have to insert a piece of code on their pages and the applications themselves, which will ensure verification that the page and the application are related. Using a simple API, it will then enable the offer of automatic data filling on the login screen in the application.
The keychain in iCloud will ensure synchronization between all devices, so for the same application, automatic login filling will be available on any device, whether on iPhone or Mac. It will also be possible to update the data in this way. If the user logs in, for example, with a different password that he has changed, the system will ask him if he wants to update this data in the key ring. The AutoFill & Password function is another great example of the connection between the two operating systems within Continuity, which also includes the Handoff function or the ability to make and receive calls from a Mac thanks to the connection with the iPhone.
So it will only work in applications written with HTML5, or those that only load the mobile version of the site into the application?
Not. The applications will be directly connected to the Keychain or to the login data belonging to it. The keychain is here an intermediary between the website and the native application.