Chapter 15. Filling Out Forms Automatically in Safari
When visiting certain websites, you may need to fill out a username, password, or other contact information such as your email address, street address, and name. Typing this information may get annoying if you do this regularly, so to simplify your life, Safari offers an AutoFill feature, which can type in this information for you.
In this chapter, you’ll learn how to turn on and use the AutoFill feature in Safari.
Turning On the Autofill Feature
The AutoFill feature requires a bit of setup to use. If you just want to store your username and password for websites that ask for this information, such as when accessing email through a website such as Google’s Gmail or Yahoo! Mail, all you need to do is turn the AutoFill feature on for names and passwords.
But if you want Safari to automatically fill in information such as your address and phone number, you’ll need to give your iPad this information. This contact information is stored in the Contacts app, and this AutoFill feature is called Contact Info.
To turn both of these features of AutoFill on, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings screen appears.
Tap Safari. The Safari settings screen appears.
Tap AutoFill. The AutoFill settings screen appears.
Tap the Use Contact Info on/off switch to turn it ON (or OFF).
Tap My Info. A Contacts window appears, listing all the names stored in your Contacts app, as shown in Figure 15-1. If you don’t already have your own information in Contacts, go to the Home screen, tap Contacts, and add your name using the plus sign (+).
Tap a name that contains the contact information you want Safari to type in automatically. The AutoFill screen appears again.
Tap the Names and Passwords on/off switch so it reads ON (or OFF).
Using AutoFill in Safari
When you’re using Safari, the AutoFill feature will detect when you’re typing contact information (such as your name, street address, and so on) or when you’re typing a username and password.
When you’re typing contact information into a form, AutoFill will automatically type any information into the form automatically, such as your email address or phone number.
But when you’re typing a username and password, AutoFill displays a dialog, asking if you want it to remember the username and password for this particular website, as shown in Figure 15-2.
If you tap Yes, AutoFill will save your username and password for the currently displayed website. If you tap Never for this Website, you’ll always have to manually type your username and password. If you’re not sure what to do, just procrastinate by tapping Not Now instead.
Note
If you allow AutoFill to automatically type in your username and password, anyone who uses your iPad could log on to these same sites without knowing your password. Use this AutoFill password feature with caution. If you want to clear your previously saved usernames and passwords, you can do so in the Safari settings page in the AutoFill section.
Additional Ideas for Using AutoFill
AutoFill can be handy for helping you type less and browse more. Since many websites ask for your email address, create a second email account specifically for giving out to strangers, and store this second email account in the Contacts app. That way, each time a site asks for your email address, you can let AutoFill type in your second email account so you don’t accidentally type your main email account that’s reserved for your more crucial contacts.
If you’re going to use the AutoFill password feature, make sure you set your four-digit passcode (see Chapter 8), which can prevent strangers from accessing your iPad. If they can’t access Safari on your iPad, thieves or strangers can’t take advantage of the password AutoFill feature either.
AutoFill is a handy feature that can make your iPad browsing experience faster and less annoying, but use it carefully to make sure someone else can’t impersonate you over the Internet.