Password Generator Controls

lloydstein

Hey guys, so long time lover of 1Password, recently updated to the subscription and I'm still getting used to it (I liked it the way it was). Regardless, I'm trying to generate a password and in the past the generator would allow me to choose how many special characters were in my password, but now it's just a toggle on and off button. Which I suppose for some sites is fine, but the site I'm at will ONLY allow one special character. Yes, I can work around it, but why can't I control the password generator like I could before? Am I missing something here? Did you update it and take away features?
Thanks.

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1Password Version: 7.4.3
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: OS 10.15.3
Sync Type: iCloud

ag_tommy

@lloydstein

Are you using the Mac app to generate the password or a browser extension? if it's the browser extension which extension are you using?

lloydstein

Thanks for responding. I'm using a chrome extension...but there are not controls in the app either.

ag_tommy

The best option for granular controls is to create the password within the app itself, not the traditional browser extension. If you're using the traditional Chrome extension and not 1Password X. In 1Password X, you can generate a password just as you can within the application. You may wish to give 1Password X a look to see if it fits your needs better. https://support.1password.com/getting-started-1password-x/

• Note that 1Password X has a suggestion feature, those passwords are not configurable. Instead, you will need to manually create a login by clicking the "+" within the 1Password X interface, which will expose the desired controls/options.

Screenshot from Mac, not 1Password X.

ag_tommy

One other note, if you decide to try 1Password X, do not have more than 1 version of the extension (traditional or 1Password X) enabled at any one time.

jpgoldberg

@lloydstein said,

the site I'm at will only allow one special character.

Oh. That is sad to hear. I've been hoping that such things are largely a thing of the past. Would you mind sharing what site this is? Obviously, don't share that information here is that is something you'd prefer to keep private.

Our decisions about what sorts of controls we expose in the password generator depend on getting a sense of how frequently people are going to be running into sites that care about the number of digits or special characters.

lloydstein

Tommy, I'm a little confused by the 1PasswordX thing. Is that the app? I'm running the newest version of the 1Password7 and I can't see how to generate a password in the app, where I can get granular control.

And jpgoldberg,

This is a CA government site.
Very specific with their special character requirements.

Password Requirements:
Minimum of 8 characters
Uppercase letter
Lowercase letter
Number
One of the following: ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( )__

Thanks guys!

ag_tommy

1Password X is the newest shiniest version of the extension. It only works with Membership accounts. It can work directly with your account and without the need of the Application to be installed.

In the Mac app:

1. Click the "+" next to search box.
2. Select Password.
3. Click the gear icon to the far fight on the password selection area. * Until you click the gear the box is empty.

rlgleason51

I, also, want more flexibility in creating passwords. Using latest extension for Safari with the latest apps via iOS, pads and macOS, I very often have to modify generate passwords.

For example. Using the option to generate words, the minimum I can the generator to is 3 words with separators. Greensky.com requires 8 chars max, with one number, and 1 uppercase letter.

Many other sites also have to one number, one u/c letter requirement, which requires editing on my part.

Ben

Thanks for the feedback @rlgleason51. We'll continue to evaluate how we can best expose the power of the password generator in the UI.

As for sites allowing a maximum of 8 characters for passwords in 2020... well... I guess you won't be surprised to hear we don't feel that is a very sound decision. There are words in the word list longer than that, so even if we allowed single word passwords to be generated you'd still have problems there.

i'd suggest using words based passwords for things you frequently have to type or say (e.g. over the phone) but otherwise stick to the character based generator which is going to be more likely to produce compliant passwords for most sites.

Ben

danielwagn3r

I like the passphrases feature, although I'd like it more if a litte bit more control is possible. E.g.

• Capitalize words of the passphrase
• Include numbers and/or special characters

Here's what Bitwarden offers:

ag_ana

Thank you for the suggestion @danielwagn3r :+1: :)

danielwagn3r

I've seen the password generator you provide on your website, https://1password.com/de/password-generator/

This is another different variant from 1Password, would be great if you just rethink this capability in all their existing variants you have, combine the pros and bring those features to your users no matter what client they use.

What I like in this variation:

• Capitalize provides Camel cased password

What I don't like in this variant:

• Length only controls the number of words, not the number of characters
• No possibility to inject numbers, e.g. like leet code.
• No possibility to choose a wordbook from different languages

Ben

@danielwagn3r

The https://1password.com/password-generator/ page is intended more as marketing vs an actual practical tool for customers to use. That said, your points, especially those about consistency, are well taken. While many of the choices we've made regarding the options available (or explicitly unavailable) in the generator have good reasoning behind them, it is more difficult to justify which options are present when it isn't consistent. We'll continue to evaluate how to best move this feature forward. Thanks for your efforts to continue to push us to do this right.

Ben