Gnarlodious

Q: What is “App specific password”?

I got a window that looks like this:

Screen Shot 2015-07-11 at 9.41.38 AM.png

Problem is there is no instructions what to do with this password or where to paste it into. There is no such app as iMessage on my computer and Facetime has nowhere to enter a password. This is all part of an ongoing attempt to stop these windows from popping up:

Screen Shot 2015-07-11 at 8.30.49 AM.png

This has been going on for MONTHS and I think I have tried everything.

Posted on Jul 11, 2015 9:00 AM

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Q: What is “App specific password”?

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  • by Philly_Phan,

    Philly_Phan Philly_Phan Jul 11, 2015 9:05 AM in response to Gnarlodious
    Level 6 (13,576 points)
    iPhone
    Jul 11, 2015 9:05 AM in response to Gnarlodious

    For some reason your screen shots have not been showing up.  I have no clue what is the issue.

  • by ssschmidt,Solvedanswer

    ssschmidt ssschmidt Jul 11, 2015 9:07 AM in response to Gnarlodious
    Level 5 (4,798 points)
    Jul 11, 2015 9:07 AM in response to Gnarlodious
  • by Drew Reece,

    Drew Reece Drew Reece Jul 11, 2015 9:07 AM in response to Gnarlodious
    Level 5 (7,669 points)
    Notebooks
    Jul 11, 2015 9:07 AM in response to Gnarlodious

    You need to repost those images or describe what is in them - I can't see them for some reason.

     

    Apple have this info…

    Using app-specific passwords - Apple Support

     

    The basic idea is to use a unique password per application, that way you can revoke them without breaking your access on every single device should one device be lost/ stolen/ compromised.

  • by Gnarlodious,

    Gnarlodious Gnarlodious Jul 13, 2015 10:22 AM in response to ssschmidt
    Level 4 (3,243 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 13, 2015 10:22 AM in response to ssschmidt

    Kind of stupid that Apple keeps this information such a mystery. I have been dealing with multiple stray login windows for months and had never even heard of an “App specific password”. You would think a window could pop up with at least some descriptive keywords.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Jul 13, 2015 10:27 AM in response to Gnarlodious
    Level 8 (38,076 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 13, 2015 10:27 AM in response to Gnarlodious

    Gnarlodious wrote:

     

    Kind of stupid that Apple keeps this information such a mystery. I have been dealing with multiple stray login windows for months and had never even heard of an “App specific password”. You would think a window could pop up with at least some descriptive keywords.

    It's not a mystery at all. When you enabled 2 step authentication the page where you did it explained that for apps that do not "understand" 2 step you must create a strong password for those applications. You probably also got an email later on reminding you of this.

  • by Gnarlodious,

    Gnarlodious Gnarlodious Jul 13, 2015 10:48 AM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 4 (3,243 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 13, 2015 10:48 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

    I have been dealing with these damned login windows for months and no mention was ever made of any such thing. In some cases I would have to dismiss 5 duplicate login dialogs, and no clue was ever given as to why they kept on popping up.

     

    I’m not sure what Apple thinks they are doing, but this OS has gotten progressively more cryptic and troublesome.

     

    I would report this as a bug, but in all the years I have been bug reporting none have ever been fixed.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Jul 13, 2015 10:53 AM in response to Gnarlodious
    Level 8 (38,076 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 13, 2015 10:53 AM in response to Gnarlodious

    Turn off 2 factor authentication and they will go away. They are a security measure to protect your identity, but if it is too much trouble to learn how it works then don't use it. I know this has been posted twice already, but I suggest you actually read it: Using app-specific passwords - Apple Support. And in case it's too much trouble to click a link, this is what it says:

     

    Using app-specific passwords

    App-specific passwords are a feature of two-step verification for Apple ID. They allow you to sign in to your account securely when using apps that don't natively support two-step verification.

    When your Apple ID is protected with two-step verification, you'll need to use an app-specific password to sign in to your account using any apps or services that don't support entering two-step verification codes. This maintains a high level of security and ensures that your primary Apple ID password won’t be collected or stored by any third-party apps you might use.

    Generate an app-specific password

    1. Go to My Apple ID.
    2. Select Manage your Apple ID and sign in.
    3. Select Password and Security.
    4. Click Generate an App-Specific Password and follow the steps on your screen.

    After you generate your app-specific password, enter or paste it into the password field of the app as you would normally.

    Manage app-specific passwords

    You can have up to 25 active app-specific passwords at any given time. If you need to, you can revoke passwords individually or all at once.To revoke app-specific passwords:

    1. Go to My Apple ID.
    2. Select Manage your Apple ID and sign in.
    3. Select Password and Security.
    4. Select View History.
    5. Select Revoke next to a password, or select Revoke All.

    After you revoke a password, the app using that password will be signed out of your account until you generate a new password and sign in again.

    Any time you change or reset your primary Apple ID password, all of your app-specific passwords will be revoked automatically to protect the security of your account. You'll need to generate new app-specific passwords for any apps you would like to continue using.