I once had in my possession an envelope with an ancient, well-worn print out of a spreadsheet covered with usernames and passwords, endlessly scribbled upon, and stuffed with post-its signifying every password change. It made some people cringe to see it. It was a source of anxiety for me, not comfort. Paying bills meant I had to be home on the laptop with that list in hand. Thankfully, this was no longer the case once I started using LastPass.
Then I started using LastPass on my mobile phone. At first, it couldn’t autofill usernames and passwords inside apps, but copying and pasting was still simple enough.
But now it’s even simpler.
With Apple’s release of iOS 12 last month LastPass can autofill on my iPhone the same exact way it does on my laptop. (For you Android users, this feature became available last March.)
Thinking about how my use of LastPass has evolved over the past year, especially with this move forward by Apple, today I bring you the top three reasons why it has become my most important mobile partner:
Usernames and passwords autofill within my apps. As noted, this works on both iOS and Android devices. I now pay every bill through my phone and my payments are now almost always early. I more frequently access my accounts to check statements and balances and as a result am more consistently informed. And for those pesky apps that wouldn’t autofill before, they do now.
It’s always with me. With LastPass, I can access anything within my digital vault anywhere I am – since I always have my phone with me. On those days where I need to enter credentials on a difference machine than my own, or over the phone to someone else, LastPass gives me what I need.
My “mobile vault” is more useful than ever. Using LastPass on my phone goes beyond getting me securely into my online accounts. Here are some of the things I’ve added to my vault that have all come in handy at one time or another:
- Credit card information. Every single credit and debit card I possess is securely saved into LastPass.I can make a quick online purchase without my physical wallet nearby. I even find myself donating to charities more often. When I see friends, family or colleagues on a fundraising mission via email or Facebook, I’ve been able to make a donation on the spot.
- License plate number. When the department of motor vehicles here in Massachusetts made me give up my super-easy-to-remember license plate number I first got in high school, I could never remember it again. When I needed it, I would typically walk outside, jot it down or take its picture, only to need to do so the next time. With my license plate number in my LastPass vault, I have filled out insurance paperwork, new employer paperwork, and paid parking tickets online a lot faster!
- Social security numbers. I save my family’s social security numbers securely in LastPass, making it easy to fill out financial forms or enroll in a benefit program at work.
- Birthdays. I have a list of friends and family birthdays in my LastPass vault which has come in handy when passing near the greeting card aisle at CVS. Sure, I could have this list in any number of apps but LastPass is the first place I think to look.
- Travel information. I took a once-in-a-lifetime vacation earlier this year that had me in four countries over three weeks. I considered what I would need if I lost my wallet and/or passport. Adding the following to my vault brought me more inner peace than you could imagine:
- Passport numbers and dates issued
- Hotel and flight confirmation and telephone numbers
- Family’s phone numbers
- Blood types (don’t always expect to remember in an emergency)
- And that credit card information I mentioned earlier
