Whether I go to Google Docs, or Editgrid, I can't seem to get it to enter the password securely. Instead of the bullets in the password field, I get the actual password showing up. Is there a setting somewhere to force secure password entry in secure fields?
I didn't test with those sites, but did with Facebook and excite.com. Although it momentarily shows the character as I type it, it does change to a bullet as I type it in. I'm guessing it shows me the character for a bit so I know I hit the right one, especially important with passwords.
I didn't find a setting for this. Does that happen with all sites you visit? or just Google Docs and Editgrid?
It works as Ivan described for me at Google Docs. I looked for a possible setting but can't find one anywhere. Don't know what could be causing that behavior.
The genius bar in Annapolis confirmed this behavior is how it should work. You briefly see the password in the clear, followed by bullets replacing it. IMHO this is a bug, which anyone who agrees should post to
http://feedback.apple.com/
under the iPad.
There are occasions you are entering in a password touching typing quickly to avoid being seen what you are entering in a public place, and if the actual characters show up, it will be easier for anyone watching to transcribe them.
I can't see how people mistakenly enter the wrong character though, all you have to do is hold your finger on the letter a little longer to verify it's the one you want.
Well the way you work around that in the operating system for desktop and notebook machines from Apple is set the keyboard repeat rate to zero, so you can count the characters you are typing in. For anyone with a security mind, bringing the machine out into the public for any display purpose this is going to be a surprise to say the least.
I was reading a brody as saying that the bullets never came up in his password boxes. That would have been an anomaly. However, the initial character followed by the bullet is Apple's intention. You may not like it, but it's not a bug which is a mistake in programming. I guess they figured that there had to be some way to confirm what character you were typing, since the thing was originally intended for the iPhone's small screen. With the iPad's much larger screen, there is, it's true, more of a question as to the necessity for this behavior that does mitigate against security. But that's definitely the way Apple intended password entry boxes to work under the iPhone OS.
My error. I didn't give it a chance to change to a bullet. Still this design is hardly secure for pubic areas. Yes, I see this feature has been in the iPhone OS. Wish I could have afforded an iPhone to have noted the issue earlier. At least now I'm getting closer to afford an iPad, and now I've submitted a bug report.
I've marked this solved not because it works as I desire, but because it works as intended. I've submitted a bug report to the appropriate authorities.
