Apple Adds App-Specific Passwords For iCloud

In their ongoing effort to better secure iCloud, Apple is taking additional steps to let us safeguard our stuff. In addition to two-factor authentication, which came back to iCloud not long ago, Apple is also letting us create app-specific passwords for various third-party apps that access iCloud. The feature will also become standard very soon.

Apple will let you have up to 25 app-specific passwords at a time, which can be found under in Apple ID settings. App-specific passwords are a function of two-step authorization, but function easier for third-party apps.

To use app-specific password, two-factor authorization for apps must be activated. Like other iCloud security protocols, an email will be sent once you set up a password for an app. That "third step" is so you know whether or not your account has been compromised or not.

This is only the latest move by Apple to better secure iCloud. In the wake of the celebrity photo leak scandal, where Apple's iCloud was rumored to be the source, Apple has taken steps to put more control in the hands of users. Two-factor authentication via your mobile device is the bigger play, and an email follow-up when your account is accessed is another. Moving forward, Apple will likely diversify options for users, adding more along the way.

Via: Mac Rumors