The annual iOS refresh is on the way—Apple has previewed it[1], beta testers have installed it, and the rest of us should get iOS 12 when iPhones arrive in September. While features such as winking 3-D emoji and screen-time limits[2] for your apps might take much of the attention when the software arrives, iOS 12 is a major step forward in one other crucial area: smartphone security[3].
It's something Apple has always prided itself on, with its tightly locked App Store and full device encryption, but iOS 12 is going to make your iPhone more secure than ever before. Here's how.
Smarter Two-Factor
Many of you have probably set up two-factor authentication[4] on your most important accounts, and if you haven't you really should. It means you need something else beyond a username and password—typically a code from your phone—to log into your account on a new device.
That makes life harder for a hacker who has somehow obtained your login credentials, but it also makes life a little more inconvenient for you if you do a lot of logging in across a lot of devices. iOS 12 eases that pain with a new feature called Security code AutoFill.
When a 2FA code comes into your iPhone via SMS, in iOS 12 it will automatically pass over to the app that's requesting it onscreen, so there's no need to switch between apps or copy numbers over. Ultimately, it makes 2FA easier to adopt, and every little bit helps.
Less Ad Tracking
Safari on iOS already blocks third-party cookies, which can recognize you across multiple websites, as well as first-party cookies—those specific to one site—that are older than 30 days. Unless you're regularly logging into a site, it