FAQ Solutions
NOTE: Advice and information provided below is of a general nature, relevant at time published, and if you choose to initiate any changes on your device/s it is done so at your discretion. If you would prefer tailored professional advice we recommend booking a remote or in person session with SSL.
💡TIP: make sure you have a backup of any device you plan to make changes to just in case eg. before upgrading operating system to give you access to features etc.
Passwords
*Before reading this please refer to “NOTE” at the top of this page. Information referenced is usually based on the assumption the user is running the latest available operating system from Apple on each device.
Apple has provided a way to create, store safely, manage, and synchronise passwords for your website accounts for quite some years now. It has improved time and time again with subsequent operating system and App updates and is very convenient for not having to remember all those pesky passwords, allowing you to autofill by simply using your Face ID, fingerprint, or simply entering your device passcode to authorise.
Apple ID
*Before reading this please refer to “NOTE” at the top of this page. Information referenced is usually based on the assumption the user is running the latest available operating system from Apple on each device.
An Apple ID is essentially a simple thing, but it causes no end of frustration for various reasons to many people.
It is basically your account with Apple, and the ‘name’ of your account is an email address that you provided when you first signed up - makes sense as it immediately gives Apple a way to communicate with you for everything in relation to this account, and hopefully your email address is something you’ll remember, right?
The second element to this online account is something that protects it and from others using or accessing it - a password! Now that’s great until such time that you forget the password…this is when the chaos can begin. People often panic, or are in a hurry or frustrated, so they choose the “forgot password” option which (for some) takes them down a ‘rabbit hole’ and they may change it and then they either forget to re-enter the new one on other Apple devices they own and/or they don’t save/update it in the Apple passwords preferences or don’t record it and then forget what they changed it to next time. Sound familiar?
The other thing we see a lot are people with multiple Apple IDs that have been created over the years for various reasons eg. forgotten details of original one, couldn’t gain access or change password so just created a new Apple ID, changed emails or no longer have access to original one. On this last example, I’ll mention that Apple have never allowed the merging of Apple ID’s, but in recent years at least you can change/reassign an Apple ID to a different email address - info on this here.
On the topic of sharing your Apple ID with another person, either knowingly or not, this can cause many issues. A common example if when a parent sets up or hands down an Apple device to another family member, but they leave their Apple ID ‘linked’ and many functions turned on. What this often means is that personal information is still coming to or is accessible on this device eg. (text) messages, emails, location info, contacts, calendars etc etc. In other words not ideal in most cases. To unravel this properly it can take some patience and knowledge, but there is a feature that Apple introduced some years ago called “Family Sharing” that in most cases is a great option for the above scenario where essentially each person (even children) have their own unique Apple ID so that the personal info is not a part of their device. This is explained well here.
iCloud
*Before reading this please refer to “NOTE” at the top of this page. Information referenced is usually based on the assumption the user is running the latest available operating system from Apple on each device.
iCloud is Apple’s ‘cloud’ system that does many things, and at the heart of it is pure convenience ie. it allows you to have your information synchronised and available on any/all of your Apple devices (subject to certain conditions being met).
There are so many ‘cloud’ based services/systems out there now, and you may be using a few eg. Dropbox, Office 365, Google Drive, accounting systems, etc. They offer similar features in many cases, with the key being able to access your information from virtually any device with an internet connection, and picking up where you left off because your information is in sync.
Apple’s iCloud offers many options, of which I think I use all of them. Certainly if you have multiple/all Apple devices the advantage of the fantastic integration and security by using iCloud is a key benefit. For more info take a look here - What is iCloud?
