What's the difference between the “login” and “iCloud” keychain?

Question

Can anyone explain what the differences between the "login" and "iCloud" keychains are?

I presume based on the name that only the "iCloud" one is actually backed up in iCloud and sync'd across devices. If this is the case, is that the only difference or are there also implications for how/which applications can access the data stored in them?

Answer 1

Based on this article and the iCloud Keychain FAQs I think that the Mac uses the login keychain for its apps and then the iCloud Keychain is used to sync between iOS devices and the Mac. I assume that the iCloud service is responsible for keeping the keychains synchronised, but you would still need the items in your login keychain.