iOS Share Sheet Extension removal

[Deleted User]
[Deleted User]
Community Member
in iOS

It appears that the previous topic "1Password for Safari does not work with standalone vaults [iOS Password AutoFill is available]" has been closed by moderators, and it was in this topic where the discussion of the removal of the share sheet extension was being discussed. As such, I felt compelled to start a new topic specifically for this discussion, as I still have a lot to say on the matter.

I've actually messaged @dteare directly on both Reddit and Twitter, and haven't received a reply (though I'm not exactly surprised by that) with a very direct question:

Why can't the iOS Share Sheet extension be brought back?

I've been thinking about this a lot, as it has become very clear that a number of people (including myself) use the share sheet quite a bit and are really upset by its removal. Some are upset because it particularly affects local vault users, others are upset because they are on previous version of iOS that doesn't support the new Safari extension, and still others are upset because they prefer the share sheet to the new Safari extension. I've been trying to figure out the reasoning behind the refusal to bring it back (NOT the reasoning behind its removal, @dteare did at least explain that by stating that neither he, nor most of the dev team, uses the share sheet extension - as if that somehow precludes others from using it), and I've come up with three possible reasons, though none of them are good.

  1. In @dteare's post regarding its removal, one of the thing he mentioned is that it hadn't been actively maintained since about 2014, and it would be cumbersome to maintain 3 separate features with similar functions - iOS's built-in Safari autofill, the new iOS Safari extension, and obviously the share sheet. While this reason would hold water if the share sheet extension was malfunctioning or simply not performing in an efficient manner, for something that hadn't been maintained in 6 years, it had been (up until 7.8) working flawlessly. In addition, being that the share sheet is simply an API that any app can tap into, it shouldn't actually require much maintenance if any at all. Finally, and to me this the rather alarming, there is an insinuation that maintaining the share sheet would require too many resources for AgileBits to spare. If that is truly the case, that is both absurd and disturbing. One of the main reasons AgileBits accepted the VC money from Accel a couple of years ago was to bring an influx of cash and talent to AgileBits. If after all of that, maintaining a simple low-maintenance feature is too much for the AB team to handle there is something very wrong going on behind the scenes, and every 1Password user should be concerned by this.
  2. As stated above, @dteare did mention directly in his post that neither he nor the dev team used the share sheet extension. I actually don't doubt that, and perhaps that lack of use is truly what lead to its deprecation. If that is truly the case, it would seem that now that it has become abundantly clear that a decent percentage of users do use the share sheet, miss the share sheet, and are outright angry at its removal, that the developers would recognize their mistake and bring it back. In this instance, the refusal to do so is truly baffling and reeks of developer indifference and arrogance.
  3. While I doubt any of us will ever really know, I believe the true reason for the share sheet's removal has nothing to do with lack of maintenance or lack of developer use, but is a direct attack on local vault users. Of all the users that are affected the most by this removal, it is local vault users who cannot take advantage of the new Safari extension. If this is indeed the true reason, it is sickening. On multiple occasions, AgileBits promised long-term and local-vault users that 1Password 7 (on ALL platforms) would continue to support local vaults. These users were also promised that while local-vault support would be dropped in an upcoming release of 1Password (i.e. 1Password 8), this version would be a completely new version. Specifically, on iOS, a new SKU would be introduced allowing users of 1Password 7 to stay on it, while other users could download the brand new 1Password 8. The update to 1Password 7 on iOS is in direct violation of this promise. In a somewhat damning admission, @dteare mentioned in his post that the developers even thought of releasing v. 7.8 as the new 1Password 8 on the App Store, but didn't feel they were quite ready for that. Instead, they went back on their previous promise, released 7.8 with a cloud-vault only feature and removed a feature directly affecting local-vault users. From a business perspective, this almost makes sense, as it begins to force the hands of local-vault users into paying for a subscription and uploading all of their password to AgileBit's cloud. From a user perspective, this behavior is disgusting.

To summarize
Reason 1 - too many resources to manager the share sheet extension, despite the massive influx of money and resources from Accel
Reason 2 - developers not realizing how many people actually used the share sheet, but refuse to reintroduce due to arrogance and/or indifference
Reason 3 - simply as a way to push users toward subscriptions and cloud-based vaults in direct violation of a promise made to local-vault users that 1Password 7 would continue to fully support local vaults.
As I stated above, NONE of these are good reason.

Finally, regardless of the true reason(s) for both the share sheet removal and the refusal to bring it back, the decision is 100% user-hostile. Good developers, when faced with a backlash as the result of a removed feature, will apologize for the removal, recognize the mistake, and promise to reintroduce the feature. In the best case scenario, the relationship between and a developer and their customers is a symbiotic one. Developers rely on customers business for their lively hood, and in turn customers rely on the developer for their lively hood. Up until very recently, this is the relationship I believed to exist between and AgileBits and its customers. However, with the recent changes and specifically the removal of the share sheet extension, the relationship has turned from a symbiotic one to a parasitic one. AgileBits now feeds off of its customers while giving nothing back.

At this point, I really don't expect anything from AgileBits or its developers. While I would love for the developers to take a moment and step back and recognize not only how many users used the share sheet extension, but to also recognize how angry and hurt you are making many of your users, I am sadly not expecting even that. Ultimately, AgileBits can do whatever they feel like doing with 1Password, and its users have little to no recourse. Given the change from a symbiotic to a parasitic relationship, no amount of negative reviews and social media posts will change anything. The only true recourse (one that is hardly ideal for anyone) is to move to a different product, hope enough people follow suit, and that AgileBits bottomline will be heavily affected forcing them to make changes.

What I find most maddening about this entire situation, is that it could be easily undone by AgileBits reintroducing the share sheet extension. This wouldn't eliminate the frustration and hurt around the major changes coming in 1Password 8, but it would go a long way in showing that AgileBits still does care about is longterm customers, even those who won't upgrade to 1Password 8. Sadly, I just don't think AgileBits does care about these customers, only the ones who are subscribing and actively giving AgileBits money. Perhaps this shouldn't be unexpected when it comes to a for-profit company, but it is certainly not a look good, especially for longterm stability and viability.

1Password Version: iOS 7.8
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: iOS 15

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