Losing access to your Apple ID password can be a harrowing experience, especially when you consider how much of your personal information is housed on personal devices like the iPhone. In light of that, Apple with iOS 15 is introducing a new account recovery feature designed to remove some of the frustration that can typically accompany efforts to regain access to your Apple ID.
The feature isn’t fully operational just yet. iOS 15 is still in beta, after all. Still, this is a sufficiently important tip that we wanted to highlight anyway. Put simply, iOS 15 will allow users to designate a trusted contact to help them regain access to their Apple ID.
What is Apple ID account recovery?
As Apple details, iOS 15 will let users pick one or more people to be a designated Account Recovery Contact. These trusted contacts will have the ability to help you reset your Apple ID password and regain access to your account without the headache and hassle of having to contact Apple customer support.
How to start the account recovery process
Open all of your iOS devices and make sure that they’re running the latest version of iOS or iPadOS.
How to select a recovery contact for when you forget your Apple ID password
Naturally, you’ll want to pick a trusted friend or family member to be your recovery contact. You can do this by opening up the Settings app. From there, select your Apple ID at the top of the page. Next, select “Password & Security” whereupon you’ll see an “Account Recovery” option.
Once you select that, tap the “Add Recovery Contact” option and verify your identity via Face ID. After your prompted to enter in your Apple ID password, follow the rest of the on-screen instructions.
When will the Account Recovery Contacts feature become operational
Again, the account recovery feature isn’t operational just yet. Still, you’ll want to be aware of it the moment it goes live. iOS 15 is still in beta, so it remains to be seen if the feature will become operational in a subsequent beta. It’s also possible that Apple is waiting until the shipping version of iOS 15 arrives later this September.
What iPhone and iPad models will support Account Recovery Contacts
Apple has historically done an impressive job of ensuring recent iOS updates can run on relatively older devices. iOS 15 is no different. According to Apple, iOS 15 will run on devices that date all the way back to 2015. You’ll therefore be able to take advantage of the Account Recovery Contacts feature if you have an iPhone 6s or any iPhone model released subsequently. It’s also worth noting that iOS 15 will run on the seventh-generation iPod Touch and the original iPhone SE.
