Just Curious About The Version Numbering For The Early Access Apps
I love being able to test out the latest and greatest, and it just had me wondering about the versioning of the pre-pre-release software. It's all the way up to 8.5.0!
1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
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I'm also confused about this. Won't you run out of numbers before the release?
Or will the release be v9 and will you entirely skip v8?
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Great question! The version numbering used for 1Password 8, similar to many other software version numbers, is not a decimal number, even though it may look like one. For example,
8.10.0would be an entirely valid (though currently hypothetical :smile:) version number for 1Password 8.Jack
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Hi folks,
TLDR: The Early Access program is about the new 1Password experience/ecosystem as we continue to add more platforms to it; not really about the "first 8.0 version" for each platform. We're continuously iterating and improving 1Password on all platforms at the same time while focusing on 1Password for macOS next to graduate from the Early Access program with iOS/Android platforms next on our list.
The Early Access program is more about introducing our new Rust-based unified core-based versions of 1Password for all platforms. A unified codebase is awesome for being able to ship features across all platforms at the same time; we already see that in action with our desktop beta builds being released at the same time across Linux, macOS and Windows platforms as well as stable updates are being shipped on Windows and Linux at the same time.
However, to ensure each platform is getting the best possible experience such as integration with the OS on a deeper level; we stagger the first platform stable releases, so we can focus on the platform one at a time such as making sure to optimize and add platform-specific features that customers expect from us on each platform.
To expand on this; 1Password for Linux was the first to graduate from the Early Access program back in May with the first 8.0 stable release. 1Password for Windows was the next platform for us to focus on and now it has now graduated a few weeks ago with the first 8.4 stable release (alongside 1Password 8.4 for Linux stable update as well). Both 1Password for Linux and Windows were being iterated and improved together because they share the same core and thus the versions were incrementing. That means we can expect the same for the rest of the platforms as they join and graduate from the program.
Now, the current platform we're focusing on is macOS and it is the only app that's in the Early Access program. It may be pointed out that we've already started to move away from the Early Access labeling in the forum as we continue to mature the ecosystem and releasing more platforms and using the regular beta updates for the stable platforms.
The Early Access program may end (or evolve) when we release the stable update for the last platform; either Android, iOS or maybe something else as well.
In other words, the version numbering system itself doesn't mean anything, we could do 1Password 8.100 for macOS and maybe even jump to 1Password 9 for iOS/Android if we want. What's more interesting is when we start to do all platforms altogether and shipping new features more quickly to everyone.
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Understood.
I guess version numbers became way less important anyway after changing the business model from offering a product to software-as-a-service (subscriptions)?
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In general, not always because there are various types of SaaS business model companies can go with. Some can still offer SaaS with major versions tying; like offering support/maintenance subscription tied to specific versions only.
SaaS can definitely help some companies as they wouldn't need to worry about pricing, licensing, etc that they have to tie for each major versions as all of that is simply handled by having an account instead. They can just ship updates continuously and in this case, versioning isn't as vital as it is in other cases.
In our case, it's a combination of a lot of things but the main reason is the move to the unified core that allows us to build multiple platforms together but this can happen without SaaS as well; it's just more difficult and more time-consuming.
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Thank you @MikeT and @jack.platten for your responses. @MikeT, your response was well written and very detailed. I appreciate it! Much clearer now.
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