iOS 16 has a new auto-verification feature that can bypass CAPTCHA prompts by automatically and privately verifying a user’s device and Apple ID account through iCloud. The feature was designed to eliminate the need to tap images of traffic lights or decipher squiggly text to prove you’re a real human and not a robot.


Automated verification is limited to sites and apps that support Private Access Tokens, but adoption of the feature should be one thanks to Cloudflare, which announced today that it is making a free API called Turnstile available to any site that wants to eliminate CAPTCHAs get a big boost – even if the site isn’t a Cloudflare customer.

Cloudflare explains how the technology works in a blog post:

Private Access Tokens are built right into Turnstile. While Turnstile needs to look at some session data (like headers, user agents, and browser properties) to validate users without challenging them, Private Access Tokens allow us to minimize data collection by asking Apple to validate the device for us. In addition, Turnstile never looks for cookies (like a login cookie) or uses cookies to collect or store information of any kind. Cloudflare has a long track record of investing in user privacy, which we will continue with Turnstile.

Turnstile is available in beta starting today via the Cloudflare dashboard or a sign-up form. As websites begin to implement turn styles, the prevalence of annoying CAPTCHAs on websites and apps will decrease over time.

Auto verification is enabled by default on iPhones running iOS 16 and can be found in the Settings app under Apple ID → Password & Security → Auto Verification. The feature is also supported by iPadOS 16.1 and macOS Ventura, both of which are still in beta testing and will be released in October, according to Apple.

(Many Thanks, Scott Buscemi!)

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