Apple's Digital Legacy vs. Dedicated Services: What You're Missing
Apple's Legacy Contact feature is a good start, but it only covers your Apple world. Here's what it does, what it doesn't, and why you probably need more.
Apple launched Digital Legacy in iOS 15.2, letting you designate someone to access your iCloud data after you die. It was a big step forward - finally, a major tech company acknowledging that people die and their data matters. But if you think setting up a Legacy Contact means your digital inheritance is handled, you're missing most of the picture.
Apple's solution is elegant, well-designed, and solves exactly one problem: accessing your Apple ecosystem after death. The other 90% of your digital life? Still locked away.
What Apple Digital Legacy Actually Does
Let's give credit where it's due. Apple's Digital Legacy is thoughtfully implemented:
✓ What It Provides
- iCloud Photos: Your entire photo library
- Messages: iMessage and SMS history
- Notes: All notes (except password-locked)
- Mail: Your iCloud email
- Contacts & Calendar: Full access
- Files: iCloud Drive contents
- Health data: Medical records and activity
- Voice Memos: All recordings
- Safari: Bookmarks and reading list
- Device backups: iPhone/iPad backups
✗ What It Doesn't Provide
- Keychain passwords: No access to saved passwords
- Payment info: No Apple Pay or cards
- Subscriptions: Can't manage or cancel
- Licensed media: Movies, music, books
- Password-locked notes: Remain locked
- Third-party app data: Apps that use iCloud
- Apple ID itself: No login access
- Device unlock: Can't unlock devices
- Apple Cash: No access to balance
- Non-Apple accounts: Gmail, Facebook, banks, etc.
How Apple's Process Works
The setup and access process is straightforward, but comes with important limitations:
Step 1: You Set Up Legacy Contacts
Go to Settings → [Your Name] → Sign-In & Security → Legacy Contact. Add up to 5 people. They receive an access key (QR code or saved to their device).
Step 2: After Death, They Request Access
Your Legacy Contact goes to digital-legacy.apple.com, provides their access key, and uploads a death certificate.
Step 3: Apple Reviews the Request
Apple verifies the death certificate. This typically takes a few days but can take longer for international documents.
Step 4: Access Granted (Temporarily)
They get a special Apple ID to access the data. Access expires after 3 years, and data is permanently deleted after that.
Key Limitation
Your Legacy Contact must actively request access and provide a death certificate. If they don't know they were designated, lose the access key, or can't obtain the certificate quickly, the process stalls. There's no automatic delivery.
The Apple-Only Problem
Here's the fundamental issue: Apple's Digital Legacy only covers Apple services. Unless you live entirely within the Apple ecosystem (and no one does), most of your digital life is somewhere else.
| Category | Apple Covers | Still Locked Out |
|---|---|---|
| iCloud Mail | Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, work email | |
| Photos | iCloud Photos | Google Photos, Dropbox, Amazon Photos |
| Passwords | None (Keychain excluded) | All passwords everywhere |
| Social Media | None | Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok |
| Financial | None | Banks, investments, PayPal, Venmo, crypto |
| Documents | iCloud Drive only | Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, local files |
| Subscriptions | None (can't cancel) | Netflix, Spotify, all recurring charges |
| Cryptocurrency | None | Wallets, exchanges, seed phrases |
Five Critical Gaps in Apple's Approach
Gap 1: No Password Access
This is the biggest limitation. Apple explicitly excludes Keychain passwords from Digital Legacy. Your Legacy Contact can see your emails and photos, but they can't log into any of your accounts. They can't access your bank. They can't get into your other email accounts. They can't manage subscriptions.
Apple's reasoning is security - they don't want to hand over all your passwords. But the practical result is that the most useful thing for your family (actually being able to access accounts) isn't provided.
Gap 2: Death Certificate Required
Apple requires a death certificate to grant access. This sounds reasonable, but creates real delays:
1-2 weeks
Typical wait for a death certificate in the US
4-8 weeks
International deaths or complex circumstances
Months
Missing persons or unconfirmed deaths
During this waiting period, subscriptions keep charging. Time-sensitive messages go unread. Memories aren't accessible when grief is fresh and people need them most.
Gap 3: No Automatic Delivery
Apple's system is reactive, not proactive. Your Legacy Contact has to:
- Know they were designated
- Still have access to their access key
- Know to go to Apple's legacy website
- Successfully upload a death certificate
- Wait for Apple's verification
If any step fails, access doesn't happen. There's no "dead man's switch" that automatically delivers information when you stop responding.
Gap 4: 3-Year Expiration
Apple permanently deletes all data 3 years after access is granted. Your Legacy Contact needs to download everything they want to keep. For large photo libraries, this can be a significant undertaking. If they don't complete the download in time, or don't realize the deadline is approaching, the data is gone forever.
Gap 5: No Selective Sharing
With Apple Digital Legacy, it's all or nothing. You can't say "give my spouse my photos but not my messages" or "give my business partner just my work files." Every Legacy Contact gets access to everything (that Apple provides).
This might not match your actual wishes. Some things are meant for family. Some things are meant for business partners. Some things maybe shouldn't be seen by anyone.
Dedicated Services: What's Different
Dedicated digital inheritance services take a fundamentally different approach. Here's how they compare:
| Feature | Apple Digital Legacy | Dedicated Service |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Apple services only | Anything you upload |
| Password storage | Excluded | Primary use case |
| Trigger mechanism | Death certificate required | Dead man's switch + trustee verification |
| Delivery | Recipient must request | Automatic when triggered |
| Selective access | No - all or nothing | Yes - different packages for different people |
| Data expiration | Deleted after 3 years | Recipient keeps downloaded files |
| Encryption options | Apple-controlled | Zero-knowledge options available |
| Cost | Free (included with iCloud) | Subscription ($4-20/month) |
The Best Approach: Use Both
Apple Digital Legacy isn't bad - it's just incomplete. The smart approach is layered:
Layer 1: Apple Digital Legacy
Set it up. It's free, it's already on your phone, and it covers your Apple data. Even if you do nothing else, this is better than nothing. Your photos and messages will be accessible.
Layer 2: Google Inactive Account Manager
If you use Google services, set up Inactive Account Manager. It covers Gmail, Google Photos, Drive, and YouTube. It's also free and has automatic triggers (no death certificate needed).
Layer 3: Dedicated Inheritance Service
For everything else: passwords, financial accounts, crypto wallets, instructions, and anything you want delivered automatically without bureaucracy. This is the catch-all that ties everything together.
What to Include in Your Dedicated Service
Since Apple covers your iCloud data, focus your dedicated inheritance service on everything Apple misses:
Critical Access
- • Password manager master password
- • Device passcodes (iPhone, Mac, iPad)
- • Non-Apple email accounts (Gmail, work)
- • 2FA backup codes for everything
- • Social media logins
Financial
- • Bank account credentials
- • Investment account access
- • Cryptocurrency seed phrases
- • Payment services (PayPal, Venmo)
- • Subscription list with cancellation instructions
Documents
- • Insurance policies
- • Property documents
- • Tax records
- • Legal documents
- • Important contracts
Instructions
- • What to do first (priority list)
- • Who to contact
- • Account-specific recovery steps
- • Crypto wallet instructions
- • Business continuity info
Setting Up Apple Digital Legacy (Do This Now)
If you haven't set up Apple Digital Legacy yet, here's how:
On iPhone or iPad (iOS 15.2+)
- Open Settings
- Tap your name at the top
- Tap Sign-In & Security
- Tap Legacy Contact
- Tap Add Legacy Contact
- Choose someone from your contacts (they don't need an Apple device)
- Send them the access key via Messages, print it, or save to their device
- Repeat for up to 5 Legacy Contacts
Takes about 5 minutes. Do it now while you're thinking about it.
The Bottom Line
Apple Digital Legacy is a useful feature that solves one piece of the digital inheritance puzzle. But it's not a complete solution:
- It only covers Apple services - your other accounts are still locked
- It excludes passwords - the thing your family needs most
- It requires a death certificate - adding delays when time matters
- It's not automatic - someone has to know to request access
- It expires - data is deleted after 3 years
Use Apple Digital Legacy - it's free and it helps. But don't stop there. For complete coverage, you need a dedicated service that handles passwords, non-Apple accounts, documents, and automatic delivery when you stop responding.
Complete Your Digital Legacy
Apple Digital Legacy covers your Apple world. Inheritfy covers everything else - passwords, financial accounts, crypto, documents, and instructions - with automatic delivery when verified trustees confirm you're gone. No death certificate. No waiting. No gaps.
Start Your Free TrialRelated Articles
Emergency Access: How We Share Your Encryption Keys Without Ever Seeing Them
What happens to your encrypted vault if you become incapacitated or pass away? We built Emergency Access - a way to securely share your encryption keys with loved ones, without Inheritfy ever having access to them.
What Happens to Your Social Media When You Die?
Your Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts don't disappear when you do. Here's what actually happens to your digital presence - and how to control it.
Password Managers Aren't Enough: The Digital Inheritance Gap
You use 1Password, Bitwarden, or LastPass religiously. Great for security. But when you die, your family still can't access anything. Here's the gap no one talks about.