If you’re running the beta for iOS 10.3 on your iPad then you’ve most likely already received a push notification from Apple encouraging you to enable Two-Factor Authentication for your Apple ID. Apple began pushing these persistent notifications sometime yesterday. Simply opening them and dismissing the notification does not clear it. In addition, if you have badges activated for your Settings App, it will continue to display a notification even after it is confirmed/read.
Although this may seem a little heavy-handed by Apple, it’s in you best interest to be a safe as you can, and it only take s few minutes to enable two-factor authentication on any of your iOS or macOS devices. I took the plunge last night and set it up on my iPad, iPhone and Mac–and here’s how I did it.
How to Enable Two-Factor Authentication
In my situation, I enabled two-factor authentication via the notification I had discussed earlier. However, you can be proactive about it and take action without being prompted by opening the Settings App on your iPad and underneath the your Apple ID header select Trust This iPad. 
At this point, you enter your Apple ID password and Apple will send a verification code to your assigned trusted device so that you can activate two-factor authentication.
Once the message is sent to your trusted device so that you can complete setting up two-factor verification, you simply need to enter in the six digit code on your iPad. A trusted device is an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch with iOS 9 and later, or Mac with OS X El Capitan and later that you’ve already signed in to using two-factor authentication. Trusted simply implies that Apple has been able to verify that it is yours and can be used to verify your identity. If for some reason the code is never delivered, you can have it re-sent form the pop-up page.
This actually happened to me, and it was easy enough to work around and still get the code I needed. In addition, if you didn’t receive your verification code, you can also use a Trusted Phone Number. A trusted phone number is a number that can be used to receive verification codes by text or phone call. You need to verify at least one trusted phone number to enroll in two-factor authentication. A trusted phone number is especially helpful if for some reason you temporarily can’t access one of your own devices.
Why is Two-Factor Authentication Important
Security, security, security!
Because your password alone is no longer enough to access your account, two-factor authentication dramatically improves the security of your Apple ID, and by extension, all the personal information you store with Apple.
By using two-factor authentication, your account can only be accessed on iOS and macOS devices you trust. When you want to sign in to a new device for the first time, you’ll need to provide two pieces of information—your password and the six-digit verification code that’s automatically displayed on your trusted devices.
One and done–no need to worry about having to utilize the authentication process again, unless you sign out of that device completely, need to change your password, or erase the device. In addition, when you sign in on the web you can choose to trust your browser, thus eliminating the need for a verification code the next time you sign in from that specific computer.
© Renkman for iPad Insight, 2017. |
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Post tags: Beta, Security, Two-Factor Authentication