Start Using iPhone Autofill, How-To

Nobody likes to enter all their personal details on iPhones and others iDevices again and again. So if you’re one of those users who regularly fill out various forms, then you’ve got to use Autofill.

This feature is pretty handy in remembering all your personal information. So now you don’t have to type in your name, email, phone number, credit card details, and so forth every time you fill out a form.

How Does Autofill work?

To get things started, check that your own personal details and information is saved on your iPhone, iPad, or other iDevices as a contact. If you don’t have your contact already, it’s really easy to create.

To Create a New Contact

1. Open Contacts
2. Tap +
3. Add your information (addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and anything else relevant)
4. Press Save to create a new contact for yourself

Remember to fill in at least the most important fields like “name,” “email IDs” and “phone numbers.” If you’re confident about your iPhone’s security and privacy, fill in more sensitive information like credit card numbers and information. Once you enter all this data, tap “done.”

As a reminder, if you already have your contact saved but the information is out of date, it’s easy to change. Tap on “edit,” and you make any necessary changes to your contact. And then tap “done.”  That’s it!

Enabling Autofill

This feature works hand in hand with Apple’s proprietary browser Safari. So once your contact is ready, update your Safari settings to get autofill working for you.

To Get Contact Info Working

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll down to Safari
3. Select “Autofill”
4. Turn the slider “Use Contact Info” ON
5. Tap “My Info”
6. Select Your Contact

Now your iPhone or another iDevice can use all the information stored in “My info.” To change to a different contact, simply tap on “my info” and update it with the new contact.

Concerned About AutoFill and Privacy?

Autofill is a way to save time typing things like your name, email, phone, and address out. While you can save information like passwords, usernames, and credit cards, you don’t have too.

To limit autofill information, go to Settings > Safari > Autofill and toggle off Names and Passwords and Credit Cards.

We also suggest you remove any saved credit cards.

Autofill Passwords

Another great feature is Safari’s ability to save IDs and passwords automatically.

To save IDs and passwords

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll down to Safari
3. Select “Autofill”
4. Turn the slider “Names and Password” ON

Autofill Credit and Debit Cards

For your credit card or debit card information, you have some options for either manually entering every time you fill out a form or having this information stored in your iPhone autofill.

To save your credit and debit card

1. Go to Settings
2. Scroll down to Safari
3. Select “Autofill”
4. Turn the “Credit Cards” Slider ON
5. Tap Saved Credit Cards
6. Enter in iPhone passcode or Touch ID if asked
7. Select Add Credit Card
8. There are two options
   1. Enter your credit card information manually
   2. Have your iPhone extract the relevant information by taking a photo of the card

As an FYI, debit cards are added the same way.

Protect your phone

If you decide to use autofill, it’s best practice to password protect your iPhone or another iDevice Without password protection, anyone with access to your iPhone also has access to your confidential data.

To Passcode Protect

1. Go to Settings
2. Select Touch ID & Passcode
   1. On devices without Touch ID, go to Settings > Face ID (Touch ID) & Passcode
3. Tap Turn Passcode ON
4. Enter a Six digit passcode or your Touch ID/Face ID
   1. Or tap Passcode Options to switch to a four-digit numeric code, a custom numeric code, or a custom alphanumeric code
5. Enter your passcode again to confirm it and activate it

Check out this article for an in-depth look at passcode protecting your iDevice.  For those really concerned about security and privacy on their iDevices, check out this article.

How is Autofill different than iCloud Keychain?

Autofill stores your information on your specific iDevice when enabled. iCloud Keychain syncs that information across all your iDevices and your Mac(s) if turned on in iCloud Settings or Preferences. So autofill and iCloud Keychain work hand in hand, sharing information and storing it on your iDevices and computers. If you have more than one iDevice or Mac, it’s a great idea to use iCloud Keychain to keep your passwords, contact information, and other information, so it’s synced across all your devices and computers.

To Turn iCloud Keychain On

1. Tap Settings
2. Select iCloud
3. Choose Keychain
4. Set iCloud Keychain to ON

For Macs

1. Go to System Preferences
2. Select iCloud
3. Check on Keychain

Set Up iCloud Keychain on ALL Devices

You need to set iCloud Keychain to ON for all your iDevices and Macs. You now need to enter your Apple ID and Password and approve the sync for all other iDevices and macs that are logged in using the same Apple ID and Password.

Summary

Autofill makes working with your iPhone or another iDeviceeasy and convenient, especially when filling out form information for online ordering. With this feature enabled, your iPhone logs into websites automatically, without the need to enter any credentials. When you visit a site that needs your information, use the option called AutoFill.

AutoFill saves and automatically fills out personal information to websites. It just makes online browsing and shopping on your iPhone, iPad, or another iDevice a much easier and calmer experience. Use it and save yourself a lot of time!

Elizabeth Jones

For most of her professional life, Amanda Elizabeth (Liz for short) trained all sorts of folks on how to use media as a tool to tell their own unique stories. She knows a thing or two about teaching others and creating how-to guides!

Her clients include Edutopia, Scribe Video Center, Third Path Institute, Bracket, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Big Picture Alliance.

Elizabeth received her Master of Fine Arts degree in media making from Temple University, where she also taught undergrads as an adjunct faculty member in their department of Film and Media Arts.