Apple's new Digital Legacy feature is now available to beta testers, giving the first clear indication of exactly what data Apple will make available to your next of kin when you pass away.
First outlined in June with the unveiling of iOS 15, Digital Legacy is a new feature designed to let you set a person as your Legacy Contact, giving the person access to your Apple ID account and personal information in the event of your death.
The Legacy Contact option can be accessed by opening up the Settings app, tapping on your profile picture and then selecting "Password & Security." From there, choose "Legacy Contact" from the list and you can choose a trusted person to access your account after you pass away.
When they need to, the Legacy Contact can visit digital-legacy.apple.com to request access using an access key and a copy of death certificate. There, they can access the following data from the deceased user's iCloud:
iCloud Keychain logins and passwords will not be made available, nor will any licensed media. Apple says that Digital Legacy also includes access to other personal information from a user's iCloud account, but it is not yet clear exactly what additional data will be available.
Apple did not include Legacy Contact in the initial versions of iOS 15 that were released to the public as the feature was not yet ready, but it is available in the iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 betas that were recently seeded to developers and public beta testers.
iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 also include a number of new features, such as Find My lost item tracking, Communication Safety, improvements to the Notification Summary, and more. For a full list of features that have been added with each iOS 15.2 and iPadOS 15.2 beta, we have dedicated guides for the initial beta and the second beta.
Wednesday March 29, 2023 1:54 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will use a new ultra-low energy microprocessor allowing certain features like the new capacitive solid-state buttons to remain functional even when the handset is powered off or the battery has run out, according to a source that shared details on the MacRumors forums.
CAD-based render of new solid-state buttons on iPhone 15 Pro models The source of this rumor is ...
Wednesday March 29, 2023 9:58 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today announced that its 34th annual Worldwide Developers Conference will take place from Monday, June 5 to Friday, June 9. Like WWDC 2020, 2021, and 2022, WWDC 2023 will be an online event for the most part, and it will be open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple will provide online sessions and labs, which will allow...
Wednesday March 29, 2023 7:28 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max models are rumored to feature a customizable Action button like the Apple Watch Ultra, according to a MacRumors forum member who leaked accurate details about the Dynamic Island on iPhone 14 Pro models last year.
The source claimed the Action button will replace the Ring/Silent switch that has been included on every iPhone model since 2007. They did not...
Apple today released iOS 16.4, the fourth major update to the iOS 16 operating system that initially came out last September. iOS 16.4 comes two months after the launch of iOS 16.3, an update that added Security Keys for Apple ID.
iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. It can take a few minutes...
Apple today published a support document explaining why it decided to release a standalone Apple Music Classical app for classical music.
In short, Apple says the app was designed to support classical music's complex metadata:Classical music is different. It has longer and more detailed titles, multiple artists for each work, and hundreds of recordings of well-known pieces. The Apple Music...
Tuesday March 28, 2023 10:15 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 16.5 and iPadOS 16.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a day after the launch of iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4.
Registered developers can opt in to the betas by opening up the Settings app, going to Software Update, tapping on the "Beta Updates" option and toggling on the iOS 16 Developer Beta. Note that an...
Tuesday March 28, 2023 1:50 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple has made the option to upgrade to new Home architecture available again with the release of iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, and macOS Ventura 13.3, after it temporarily pulled the update in December.
After updating Apple devices to the latest software, users can once again opt to upgrade any homes set up in the Home app to the new Home architecture, which Apple says brings faster, more reliable ...
Apple on March 27 released iOS 16.4, delivering 21 new emoji characters, support for Safari web push notifications, the return of the page-turning animation in the Books app, updates for the Podcasts app, and more.