Safari Will No Longer Save Passwords Without Usernames in iOS 15.4

[MacRumors]

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.

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.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1493997660310810625

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

 

[iLoveDeveloping]

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.

 

[02-serious-stent]

How about allowing me to save a password/auto fill on a page Safari thinks doesn’t have a login? Too much to ask?

Then again, I am still waiting for Apple to fix the bug where frequently visited sites disappeared on my iPhone.

 

[dontwalkhand]

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.

 

[BWhaler]

Nice addition.

 

[contacos]

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

 

[Ash Pole]

I dumped keychain for Bitwarden years ago.

 

[jonblatho]

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

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.

 

[Macintosh TV]

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.

 

[dontwalkhand]

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.

That explains it. There needs to be a manual save button then when a password is automatically generated like this.

 

[sgreen314]

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.

 

[kmm333]

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.

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.

 

[bb9]

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.

YES, you are the only one. If you prefer not to save a username, then don’t. ?

 

[Edgejr]

Now, if only I could get my Keychain secure notes on my iOS device. <sigh>

 

[Stromos]

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.

Literally have the same problem and no I do not consider it an edge case. Admin consoles aren't always multi user.....

 

[bb9]

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

You are not an IOS user, if your were, you would know that the password is automatically saved.

 

[AbSoluTc]

I dumped keychain for Bitwarden years ago.

Congrats!

It's like when people talk about Windows PC's, there's always someone that chimes in with "I ditched Windows for Linux and my life is so much better"

Ok cool

 

[AbSoluTc]

You are not an IOS user, if your were, you would know that the password is automatically saved.

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

 

[visualseed]

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.

 

[nwcs]

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.

 

[turbineseaplane]

This seems to be "bad" just as often as it might be "good"

A curious decision that will limit the usefulness of the features

 

[MacMan988]

This is innovation.

 

[johnmacward]

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

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.

 

[turbineseaplane]

This is the sort of frustrating stuff that makes me never want to count on them for passwords.

 

[Eso]

But my router doesn’t have a username…