iOS Auto-Fill is Unreliable

wavesound

I'm finding that auto-fill on iOS is unreliable. Frequently I have switch fields or restart an app to get the auto-fill service working. Is this a bug on iOS? I don't remember it happening when iOS 12 first came out.

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1Password Version: 7.3.6
Extension Version: N/A
OS Version: iOS 12.4.1
Sync Type: 1Password

Ben

Hi @wavesound

We're a data provider for the iOS autofill feature, so if there is a problem with the data being provided we may be able to assist with that, but the actual function of the autofill feature is determined by Apple. Is the problem that the items you expect to be available aren't available? Or could you please provide an example?

Ben

wavesound

Hi @Ben,

In my case, the issue is with PayPal and a few other apps that I have. I have had the PayPal app open for a while, I cannot login without manually copy/pasting the password. I have to reboot the app to get it to auto-fill correctly. It seems to happen with other apps that I use as well.

AGAlumB

@wavesound: If you're having trouble with filling in general, do you maybe not have iOS Password Autofill enabled?

Use 1Password to fill and save on your iPhone and iPad

I didn't have trouble filling my username and password into the PayPal app myself (though Autofill doesn't support filling one-time passwords, so I had to grab that from 1Password manually).

wavesound

@brenty,

I think you misunderstood. I’m not sure how you would arrive that conclusion based on what I wrote.

I open PayPal and when I select the password to auto-fill that iOS pulls from 1Password for PayPal, enter my PIN Code and then nothing happens. If I restar PayPal or sometimes navigate to a different text box the account may auto fill. But on PayPal, there is no other field so I have to force quit PayPal and reload it.

If you have just opened PayPal for the first time, you won’t experience the issue. You’ll need to login, perhaps use the app, then put it in the background and come back to it later and try yet login using 1Password’s auto-fill integration with iOS.

Ben

Thanks for the additional explanation @wavesound. I can't say I've noticed that on my own devices, but I'll certainly keep a closer eye out now. If we can find a way to reproduce the problem we can dig deeper.

Ben

AGAlumB

@wavesound: I'm not sure what you mean by "PIN Code", so I wonder if we're just describing different parts of the same animal. The two-factor authentication prompt I get when opening the PayPal app has only a single field which they have not set to support iOS Password Autofill. Frustrating, but since Password Autofill doesn't support filling those codes anyway, just usernames and passwords, it wouldn't really help anyway.

wavesound

@brenty

I’m referring to the PIN code in 1Password for iOS under Settings -> Security -> PIN Code.

@Ben

I just reproduced it the other day. Should I do something specifically when it occurs?

AGAlumB

@wavesound: Thanks for clarifying. I thought you were talking about something with the PayPal app/service, not 1Password itself. Would you be able to provide a screenshot or video of the screen/behaviour you're seeing next time? That may help us reproduce it here and understand what's going on.

wavesound

@brenty,

I'll need to see if I can blur out certain parts of a video. Do you have any suggestions?

AGAlumB

@wavesound: The PayPal app signin screen shouldn't show anything sensitive, at least it doesn't here, as the password is obscured even when filled. You could email it to support@1password.com if that helps. If there is something in the video that needs to be censored, I don't have a recommendation off the top of my head. I guess a simpler approach would be to take a screenshot at each step, as the iOS screenshot tool makes it easy to crop and cover parts of the image. I see others post partially blurred videos from iPhones, but I'm not certain what software they use to do that.

Snuffy

@wavesound 1Password autofill is doing the same thing to me since I upgraded my iPhone from 8 Plus to XS Max about a month ago and I’m in this forum for that exact reason. I’ve noticed the exact same thing with certain apps or web pages (other than PayPal). Thought about deleting and reinstalling to fix the problem. I’ll let you know if that works.

AGAlumB

@Snuffy: Thanks for chiming in! I'm curious what might be going on there, as it sounds like something I haven't experienced with Autofill myself.

Snuffy

@brenty I really don’t know for sure as it seems to be random. However, it only seems to happen with app logins (like banks for example) rather than websites (but not 100% sure about that). Sometimes it’s like 1Password doesn’t recognize that I’m trying to log in to an app (there are no login suggestions even though I have it saved in 1Password. I’ll have to type in the search bar to bring it up). Other times, it will bring up the correct login information but fails to input that info when I select it.

I had second thoughts about deleting the app and reinstalling so I’m not sure if I’ll take that route.

AGAlumB

@Snuffy: That's useful. It may be something with how those apps are designed then. I've definitely seen some odd behavior with a few. For example, in one, Autofill will work, but if I just tap "login" or whatever after filling, it complains that I need to enter my credentials. They're apparently there, but the app does not recognize that unless I manually tap in the password field after it's been filled. Others don't match any logins because they don't have associated domains, so you've got to search through everything to find the right one (as you noted: "there are no login suggestions even though I have it saved in 1Password. I’ll have to type in the search bar to bring it up"). These are generally indications that they need to be updated to follow Apple's guidelines. For example:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/security/password_autofill/setting_up_an_app_s_associated_domains

wavesound

@brenty, that's the behavior that I and several other users I know have been seeing for a while. You have to tap login and then go back and tap a different field if one is available and then tap back into the username/password field.

I've definitely seen some odd behavior with a few. For example, in one, Autofill will work, but if I just tap "login" or whatever after filling, it complains that I need to enter my credentials. They're apparently there, but the app does not recognize that unless I manually tap in the password field after it's been filled.

AGAlumB

Right. I see that too in apps that still haven't been updated for technologies that Apple originally introduced more than two years ago, with iOS 11, where they initially added Autofill for iCloud Keychain. I'm not sure we can blame iOS Password Autofill for that. :)

wavesound

@brenty,

Can you let Apple know about this issue? It's a pretty important feature for everyone we now that uses 1Password.

AGAlumB

I don't think anyone has time to report every poorly maintained 3rd party app out there to Apple. And it would be futile anyway since it's not as if Apple is going to do 3rd party developers' work for them in that regard. They've already done a ton to make this feature exist in the OS, made it easy for app developers to support it for filling, and to open it up for 1Password and others who want to serve as providers for that as well. But developers need to use the tools available to them. It really just comes down to that.

wavesound

@brenty, I completely disagree. This used to work fine when iOS 12 was first released on all of these apps and only in the last few months it has become more problematic. This failure to function affects your app and I think its incumbent upon AgileBits to express this concern to Apple since affects so many apps now that were not affected previously.

AGAlumB

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree then. We can't fix other companies' software. Sorry. As someone who uses those apps and is, at least in some sense, their customer, I'd encourage you to direct them to Apple's documentation, which I linked for you above, and ask them to improve their apps. That's a change only they can effect, not us, and not Apple.