![]() On your iPhone or iPad, you can turn it off under ‘Settings’ > ‘General’ > ‘Handoff.’įinally, if you use a password manager app, avoid copying and pasting your passwords when possible. If you don’t use this feature, you can turn it off by going to ‘System Preferences’ > ‘General’ > ‘Allow Handoff between this Mac and your iCloud devices’ and deselecting that option. Apps snooping on the clipboard can get data from your laptop or tablet too. It’s also worth noting that Apple offers a cloud clipboard feature that enables users to copy and paste across iOS, iPadOS and Mac devices. Hopefully this will prevent leaking sensitive data to apps that misuse the clipboard. ![]() If you do have to copy something, take steps to replace it with other information after. So, the other active step you can take is avoiding copying any sensitive data to your clipboard. Plus, some people will have apps they need to use that still snoop on the clipboard. Those running the iOS 14 beta likely haven’t caught every app engaged in clipboard espionage yet. Alternatively, access them through a trusted web browser instead of the native iOS app, as native apps have full clipboard access. If possible, stop using apps caught snooping on clipboard data. First up, keep an eye out for the apps that have been caught accessing the clipboard. Thankfully, there are a few steps people can take to protect themselves. iOS 13 doesn’t offer the same clipboard protections as iOS 14 will and it also doesn’t notify users when apps access the clipboard. Unfortunately, for many users, apps will still have free rein for the next few months. While on the surface it’s a simple change that will hopefully prevent apps from snooping on users’ clipboard, it may also take time for developers to implement proper support in their apps. If there isn’t a URL, the app doesn’t access the clipboard data, the user’s information remains secure and iOS doesn’t notify the user. If iOS says a URL is available, the browser can paste it from the clipboard, triggering the notification and letting the user know what transpired. Plus, the software can do this without revealing what’s in the clipboard. IOS can then tell the browser whether it has a URL, text, a picture, or something else. Going back to the browser example used above, apps can use the new API to ask iOS what’s in the clipboard. When iOS 14 officially arrives later this year, it will allow apps to query the clipboard without seeing its data. We’ve compiled a list of these apps, which you can view at the bottom of this story.Īlong with naming and shaming the apps that aren’t using the clipboard properly, Apple has updated its clipboard APIs in iOS 14 to protect user privacy better. Some developers pushed updates to stop accessing the clipboard, claiming the issues were bugs. This can come in many forms, from some apps accessing the clipboard without user interaction to others that constantly checked the clipboard for no good reason. Since late June, people have caught over 50 apps abusing clipboard access. Still, for all the apps doing this properly, many arguably don’t. Users can tap a button and navigate to the copied URL instead of needing to open a new tab, tap the address bar and press-and-hold to paste the URL. For example, some browser apps on iOS check the clipboard for URLs and offer a quick ‘paste-and-go’ shortcut. Further, many apps use the clipboard with good intentions. It’s important, however, to note that many apps do use the clipboard properly. Thanks to the coverage, it also lead to the ‘shame’ aspect with many developers walking back clipboard features. That first change was the catalyst for all the recent stories naming apps that misused the clipboard. For example, if someone copied a picture they took to their iPhone’s clipboard, any app that accessed the clipboard could obtain the image and the GPS coordinates embedded in the photo when it was taken.įurther, based on how people often use their smartphone, other essential data like passwords, addresses or other information copied to the clipboard could be vacuumed up by apps without user consent. The duo highlighted how this access could lead to security vulnerabilities, such as exposing users’ precise location. In February 2020, German-based developer Tommy Mysk and Toronto-based developer Talal Haj Bakry shared a blog post explaining how iOS and iPadOS apps have unrestricted access to the clipboard. Most of the recent iOS clipboard coverage traces back to two things: iOS 14 and app developer Mysk. Unfortunately, not all apps use the clipboard as they should. After all, apps access your clipboard for copy and paste, a tool many of us use regularly. Some probably wonder what the big deal is. Over the last few weeks, you’ve likely seen many stories - both from MobileSyrup and others - about apps accessing the iOS clipboard.
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