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Safari Will No Longer Save Passwords Without Usernames in iOS 15.4

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In the iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4, and macOS Monterey 12.3 betas, Apple has added a minor quality of life improvement to the way Safari saves passwords. At the current time, Safari will gladly save a password without a username, which can lead to confusion later, but that's no longer the case in the beta updates.

safari-icon-blue-banner.jpeg

When you are prompted to save a password to iCloud Keychain in iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4, or macOS Monterey 12.3 and Safari has only detected a password, Safari will pop up a window asking for a user name. "To save this password, enter the username for your [website] account," reads the alert.

Details about the new feature were shared by Safari Apple employee Ricky Mondello, after they were asked about it on Twitter. According to Mondello, Apple made the change to "address a pain point" with the way that Safari and iCloud Keychain operate, and the update will indeed cut down on instances where a password is saved without a username.


iOS 15.4 also adds notes to iCloud Keychain and it lets you hide password update alerts, so there are quite a few useful updates in the betas. For a full rundown of everything in iOS 15.4, we have a dedicated features guide.

Article Link: Safari Will No Longer Save Passwords Without Usernames in iOS 15.4
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/02/16/ios-15-4-safari-password-saving-update/
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Something needs to happen where it works a lot more consistently. Sometimes when I tell it to save a password, it looks like it saved the randomly generated one. Great. I go back to that website, and nothing saved at all.

Also something needs to be done about people who use the same login provider. I am looking at you B2Clogin and Page.Link! Now I have 27 different passwords for B2C Login because my VoIP provider, DMV, State Tax board, a forum I frequent, and a video upload site all decided to use B2C Login from Microsoft. Great. Of course, since each one has a different password, this will be fun to sort out.
 
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contacos said:
How about the many times you take the suggested password but then you do not get the prompt to actually save it and you are left with a new account which password you don’t know? SO annoying
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Yep, this is the big pain point for me. It only saves when a new page is loaded (I assume with an HTTP 200 “OK” status required) in that tab after the password has been suggested, which doesn’t always happen depending on how the developer designed their signup flow.

If the form is submitted and a response received via JavaScript in that same tab, and there’s no way for you to visit a new page in that tab after your account is created/password changed, that password is likely lost. If you can find a link to click that opens in the same tab, your new password will be saved. Obnoxious.
 
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Certainly notice this happening with both Safari and 1Password. There are rare cases where I want to store just the password but usually I'd like to have a username/login attached and it's nice to be prompted to add it.
 
jonblatho said:
Yep, this is the big pain point for me. It only saves when a new page is loaded (I assume with an HTTP 200 “OK” status required) in that tab after the password has been suggested, which doesn’t always happen depending on how the developer designed their signup flow.

If the form is submitted and a response received via JavaScript in that same tab, and there’s no way for you to visit a new page in that tab after your account is created/password changed, that password is likely lost. If you can find a link to click that opens in the same tab, your new password will be saved. Obnoxious.
Click to expand...
That explains it. There needs to be a manual save button then when a password is automatically generated like this.
 
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How will this work when there is literally no username for a webpage? The way I'm reading it, please correct me if I'm wrong, it will demand a username. My 'Pi-hole' login literally only requests a password when logging in.

edit: Yes, a bit of an edge case.
 
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iLoveDeveloping said:
Ok. Am I the only one that doesn’t want this? Kinda like that it just saves everything. If I need to I can go back in and change it if needed. Sometimes I like just my password saved.
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Maybe an option to override the prompt and save the password only would be a good middle ground. I for one appreciate this change but can see instances where you might want to continue without entering a username.
 
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sgreen314 said:
How will this work when there is literally no username for a webpage? The way I'm reading it, please correct me if I'm wrong, it will demand a username. My 'Pi-hole' login literally only requests a password when logging in.

edit: Yes, a bit of an edge case.
Click to expand...
Literally have the same problem and no I do not consider it an edge case. Admin consoles aren't always multi user.....
 
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bb9 said:
You are not an IOS user, if your were, you would know that the password is automatically saved.
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Am iOS user (heavy user) and no, it's not ALWAYS saved automatically. Many times I have found that a suggested password isn't there for a site/account I just created.

Also, this no username problem is big for me. So many passwords saved and no usernames. Also multiple passwords/usernames for the same site/login. Safari and iOS password saving is a hot mess. Still better than most though
 
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This will help with the few times I had safari overwrite my saved password for a site with a two-factor ID code. I think it was simply becuase it was entered in a password type text field.
 
This is good. Too many times Safari saved the password and not the username. I store things in 1Password thankfully but this is a bit of a pain for my relatives who don't have the sophistication to use a feature filled manager.
 
contacos said:
How about the many times you take the suggested password but then you do not get the prompt to actually save it and you are left with a new account which password you don’t know? SO annoying
Click to expand...
This drives me insane and is literally the worst way to handle passwords, put in something nice and complex and then totally forget it because the way the site works. I prefer the Firefox behaviour of allow the save up in the toolbar.
 
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