QuickAdvice: Keychain Turns Your iPhone Into A Virtual Filing Cabinet For Your Valuable Information
Keychain ($0.99) by FoneBot is an app that helps you keep all of your important data safe, right on your iPhone.
We have to deal with a bunch of our valuable information every day, and it can be a hassle to remember it all. But what better way to keep all that data with us than our iPhone? The new app, Keychain, will allow us to store our valuable information in the app and keep it safe with a passcode and encryption.
The interface of Keychain is minimalistic and simple, yet it looks good (reminds me of the Tapbots apps). The first thing you should probably do with the app is to go to the settings and set a passcode, recovery options, and some other options.
Passcode will be a four-digit number that you will have to enter each time you go in to Keychain (even if you open up the multitasking tray). Recovery will allow you to do a backup via iTunes File Sharing, and even restore from a backup. There's also an option to set and require a password for data recovery.
In Keychain, there's a button with a lock on it in the bottom corner. This can do one of two things, depending on how you configure it in settings. It can either toggle the passcode screen or hide your information by replacing it with • encryption. Keychain also features sounds, which can be turned off from the settings menu.
Now once all that is set up, it's time to start entering in your information into Keychain for safekeeping. When you create a new item, there are four options to choose from: Account Info, Number, Other, or Category.
Account Info is the option to select if you want to store stuff like web logins, email accounts, and the like. Number is good for credit card numbers that you often have to refer to, alarm codes, or anything other numbers that you have to remember. Other allows for text entry, and you can even create Categories to organize all of your bits of information.
Editing the list of items will just allow you to select items for deletion or reorder them by dragging. You can edit an existing item by tapping and holding to bring up a HUD with some options: copying and modifying.
Worried about security? Keychain uses 256 bit encryption so that all of your information is only accessible to you and your iPhone and computer. It would be tough to crack the encryption that Keychain puts on your information.
There is even a way to convert your data into a readable QR & bar code with a built-in generator, but so far I have not figured out a way to access this feature. There are no help guides when using the app for the first time, and this feature is not blatantly obvious.
So far, I am enjoying the well-designed interface of Keychain (and the gorgeous icon!). The sounds remind me a lot of Tapbots apps, but I'm glad that there's an option to turn them off.
The only thing missing is a complimentary desktop app. While the current method of iTunes File Sharing works, some people may not like this method and would rather see a companion desktop app. Hopefully we can see this sometime in the future.
If you need an app to help you carry around your priceless information, then check out Keychain. It's a good app that will only get better over time.
