Google's Advanced Protection Program, its strongest level of account security, is getting a little more iOS-friendly.
The program now works over native iOS apps including Apple Mail, Calendar, and Contacts. "This allows iOS users to enroll in the program without having to adjust how they use Google services on their Apple devices," Google said in a blog post.
For the uninitiated, the Advanced Protection Program is Google's answer to stopping the most persistent hackers from accessing your account. It's specifically designed for "high-risk" users including journalists, election campaign staffers, and business leaders, but anyone can enroll.
To provide the extra level of account protection, Google secures your account with a password and a physical security key—a device you have to buy and generally connects to a computer over USB or Bluetooth.
As an added precaution, the Advanced Protection Program also denies third-party apps from connecting to your Google account. The company did this to prevent users from accidentally sharing access to their Google account with fake apps actually under the control of hackers. But the decision came at the cost of some convenience; to access your Gmail for instance, you could only do so through Google's official Gmail app and not through a third-party service like Apple Mail.
But with today's update, Advanced Protection users can now choose to allow Apple's native iOS applications to access your Gmail, Google Calendar, and contacts data, the company said.
"We'll continue to expand the list of trusted applications that can access Google data in the future," the tech giant added.
PCMag has a how-to guide on signing up for the program. Apple users are advised to buy a security key with Bluetooth connectivity such as the VASCO Digipass SecureClick or the Feitian Multipass, which work on an iPhone and iPad.