For a while now – okay, years – I've been meaning to compile a list of all my online accounts with user names, passwords, Web address, et al, and put them in our safe in case of, you know, emergency. But maybe the admission of such an emergency circumstance being within the realm of possibility psychologically blocked me from preparing such a list.
What I needed was a positive reason for compiling such a list and I think I found one – an app called SplashID for all mobile platforms (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, HP WebOS) called SplashID ($9.99).
This is an app that lets you store all your user names and passwords in one place, all protected by a single password.
Yes, there are a multitude of these password-storing sites available in the varying mobile application stores. What seems to set SplashID apart is a function called Auto-Fill that alleviates you having to enter user name and passwords for each Web site you list on the SplashID list.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
How it works
Once the SplashID app is downloaded, you get a list of sample records for things like credit cards, insurance, your driver's license, shopping such as Amazon – anything that requires an account number, user name, password.
Each record has 10 customizable fields – spaces to input your name, account number, whatever, that you can label any way you'd like. You can even "mask" any field – turn your account number or password or user name into a string of asterisks for further protection (although your not required to input your password again to unmask them).
The app also performs some cute little services, such as reminding you when a credit card is about to expire – assuming you've input the expiration date of your credit card.
SplashID does more than just store your account numbers, user names and passwords, though. You can create records for any info you want quick access to such as friends' or relatives' personal info.
Like most of these ID storage locker apps, SplashID is protected by strong levels of encryption – the masking option is primarily to stop people from finding out your info by furtively glancing at your screen.
Toughen up your passwords
Also like many of these password/ID locker apps, SplashID has a password generator to create new, stronger, passwords (not just your birthday, which, by the way, should NEVER be your password for anything).
SplashID's generated passwords can include a combination of random upper and/or lower case letters, numbers, symbols or even mathematic or foreign characters such as Ï, Æ’ or ø. If you don't like a particular configuration, you can ask the app to generate another one. It's actually kind of goofy fun to see the kinds of passwords the app comes up with.
Why would you need a password generator if you're using an app designed to store passwords you've already created? Many security-conscious (or paranoid) folks change their passwords frequently, like every month, and some websites actually force you to change your passwords every so often.
SplashID's generator helps eliminate the tedium of coming up with memorable passwords for multiple sites on a regular basis.
Since you're storing these passwords in SplashID, you'll always have access to them if you forget them (which, if you change them frequently, you will).
And SplashID has made it unnecessary to remember them all, regardless of how tangled a password web it weaves.
Let's say you've input a Web address (URL), user name and password for a particular site into an SplashID entry. Now when you go to that Web site through the SplashID app entry you've created (where's a tappable "Go" icon next to the Web address in your SplashID entry), your user name and password will automatically fill-in – as long as you've given the app the precise page on the Web site where that information needs to be put in (including the "http://" bit).
This feature is called Auto-Fill.
Desktop and Auto-Fill
In addition to the varying smart phone apps, there is a desktop version of Splash ID, SplashID Safe Desktop ($19.95; existing users can upgrade to the latest version for $9.95), for both Windows and Mac that lets you create entries and sync everything with your mobile phone.
This desktop app includes a Web browser plug-in (small applications that let your Web browser perform certain specialty tasks automatically, such as play video or audio files), which enables SplashID's Auto-Fill on your desktop Web browser.
Once you've synced all the entries on your smart phone with the desktop application, your Web browser – Internet Explorer on Windows, Safari on Mac; they're working on Firefox – now knows all the Web address, user name and password information for each account you've stored.
Now, when you go to the Web pages associated with those user names and passwords – accessed through the pull down SplashID menu installed in the top area of your Web browser – that account information is automatically filled in. Just remember to label the record "Web Logins." (Why you have to label an entry specifically for Auto-Fill instead of every record automatically being able to use Auto-Fill is unclear to me.)
This is a good reason to finally compile all my account data in one place in case of…you know.
As to pricing, yes, it'd cost you $30 to take advantage of all SplashID's features – a mite steep, it seems to me. But existing users pay just $10 to upgrade to both the smart phone and desktop apps.
For the uninitiated, the app's logic can be a bit confusing, and step-by-step instructions would be nice. But once you get a handle on the app's internal logic, you'll feel a lot more secure about remembering and accessing your pass