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What is SAMKeychain?

SAMKeychain is a simple wrapper for accessing accounts, getting passwords, setting passwords, and deleting passwords using the system Keychain on Mac OS X and iOS. It provides a clean, easy-to-use Objective-C interface that abstracts away the complexity of Apple’s C-based Keychain Services API. Originally inspired by EMKeychain and SDKeychain, SAMKeychain has evolved into a robust solution that handles the intricate details of keychain management, allowing you to focus on your application logic rather than wrestling with low-level C APIs.

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Key Features

Simple API

Clean class methods for common keychain operations - no complex C structures or error codes to manage

Cross-Platform

Works on macOS 10.8+, iOS 5.0+, tvOS 9.0+, and watchOS 2.0+

Modern Objective-C

Built with ARC support and includes nullability annotations for better Swift interoperability

Flexible Integration

Install via CocoaPods, Carthage, or manually - whatever fits your workflow

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When to Use SAMKeychain

Use SAMKeychain when you need to:
  • Store user credentials securely - Passwords, tokens, and authentication data
  • Persist sensitive data - API keys, encryption keys, or other secrets
  • Share data between apps - Using keychain access groups (iOS)
  • Sync data via iCloud - With keychain synchronization support
While SAMKeychain simplifies keychain access, it doesn’t make the keychain itself more stable. You should always check for errors and handle failures appropriately in your code.

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Core Concepts

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Service and Account

The keychain organizes data using two primary identifiers:
  • Service - Typically your app’s bundle identifier or a specific service name (e.g., com.yourcompany.yourapp)
  • Account - The username or account identifier (e.g., user@example.com)
Together, these form a unique key for storing and retrieving passwords.

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Two Usage Patterns

SAMKeychain offers two ways to interact with the keychain:
  1. Class Methods - Quick, one-line operations for common tasks: 
    [SAMKeychain setPassword:@"secret" forService:@"MyApp" account:@"user@example.com"];
  2. SAMKeychainQuery - Advanced interface with more control over attributes: 
    SAMKeychainQuery *query = [[SAMKeychainQuery alloc] init];
query.service = @"MyApp";
query.account = @"user@example.com";
[query fetch:&error];

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Platform Support

PlatformMinimum Version
macOS10.8
iOS5.0
tvOS9.0
watchOS2.0
SAMKeychain does not support Mac OS X 10.6. If you need to support older platforms, you’ll need to use a different solution or an older version of the library.

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Security Considerations

You should always set the accessibilityType rather than using the default. For most applications, use kSecAttrAccessibleWhenUnlocked. For background applications that need keychain access, use kSecAttrAccessibleAfterFirstUnlock.
The default accessibility setting is highly insecure. See Apple’s Keychain Item Accessibility Constants documentation for all available options.

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Next Steps

Installation

Get SAMKeychain integrated into your project

Quick Start

Write your first keychain operation in minutes