Signing in with Apple helps you stay safe online. Here’s how to use it

Sign in with Apple is a privacy tool that can help improve your online security when you sign in to third-party apps and websites on your Apple devices with your Apple ID. The feature works in any supported browser and app and is available on iOS, MacOS, TVOS, and WatchOS. You can choose the Sign in with Apple tool to verify your credentials instead of signing in with Facebook, Google, or creating a brand new account using your email address on an app or website.

Connecting with Apple is part of the tech giant’s ongoing commitment to privacy. Over the past few years, Apple has added more privacy controls to iOS, including the ability to block apps from tracking you across websites and “nutrition labelswhich allow you to see what information apps collect before you download them.

Here’s everything you need to know about how Sign in with Apple works and how to use it. Moreover, here how to check your iphone privacy settings in two easy steps and nine rules for strong passwords.

How to use Sign in with Apple

1. When you open an app or website, if it supports Sign in with Apple, just tap Continue with Apple.

2. Accept or deny all permissions requested by the app.

3. Follow the onscreen instructions for your Apple ID. You can choose to change your name or share or hide your email. Choose Continue.

4. Enter your password when prompted. You can also confirm with Face ID or Touch ID. If you don’t have any of the three, you can use your Apple ID password.

As long as you are logged in on your device, you will be logged into the app. To sign out, just find the settings in the app or website and choose Sign Out. You will have to repeat the process if you want to reconnect.

How Sign in with Apple works

Signing in with Apple uses your Apple device to verify your credentials instead of using your social account credentials, which could make you vulnerable to online tracking. With the Hide My Email option, Apple creates a random email address – you’ll recognize it by the unique alphanumeric string followed by @privaterelay.appleid.com.

The random email address can only be used for a specific application. The app or website will use the generated email, but Apple will forward all correspondence to your real email, protecting your identity. You can reply to any emails you want without exposing your personal email address. Apple also lets you turn off the email forwarding feature at any time.

Signing in with Apple says it won’t use any of your information other than what’s necessary to allow you to sign in and out of an account. The tool also uses two-factor authentication with Face ID or Touch ID. If you don’t see the Sign in option, that means the app or website doesn’t support it yet.

Read more: Dumping Passwords Can Improve Your Security – Really

How do I know which apps support Sign in with Apple?

1. Open the Settings app on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, then tap your name.

2. Faucet Passwords and security.

3. Picking out Apps using your Apple ID.

From there, if you used the login, you should see a list of apps. You can browse each app and see the preferences you have set or change them, as well as read the privacy policy of the app or website. You can also turn off email forwarding here and stop using your Apple ID with the app.

Here’s how to do it on a Mac:

1. Choose the Apple menu.

2. Open System Preferences.

3. Click on Edit.

And here’s how to do it from a web browser:

1. Log in to appleid.apple.com.

2. Find the Security section.

3. Select Manage apps and websites under Sign in with Apple.

4. Picking out Manage.

Read more: 3 old password rules that turned out to be dumb today

How to change your forwarding email address

If you’re using Hide My Email and need to make changes, here’s how to do it on mobile:

1. Open Settings.

2. Tap your name.

3. Faucet Name, phone numbers, email.

4. Faucet Transfer to under Hide my email.

5. Choose a new email address to use for the transfer.

The new address you enter will apply to all apps you use the Hide My Email feature with.

How signing in with Apple is different from using Facebook or Google

Signing in with Apple only visually resembles the icons that allow you to use your Google or Facebook credentials. While logging in with Facebook or Google might seem easier, there’s a lot of personal information attached to these accounts, like your nicknames, hometown, and birthday. This data may seem unimportant at first glance, but some of it is a primary security issue for your bank account and other sensitive information.

Signing in with Apple also gives you more control over the permissions apps and websites have access to. You can choose which apps should ask for your permission each time they request your location data over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. This is handy if you’re trying out a new app or if you don’t plan on using an app often, for example.

To find out more, see how to stop your iphone apps from tracking you and Best iPhone VPNs.