[macOS] 1Password 8 and Menu Bar bug

xazac

Since I installed 1Password 8 (beta version and then nightly version), I have a very frustrating issue: the icon on the Menu Bar doesn't remember its position anytime I start/restart the app.

I always have to relocate the menu bar icon by holding ⌘ and dragging to my desired position.
You really need to fix this frustrating issue I'm have since the very first release of 1Password 8 beta.

Thanks.!

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1Password Version: 8.5.0 (80500086)
Extension Version: 2.1.4
OS Version: macOS 12.1

Ben

Hi @xazac

Thanks for pointing this out. I don't believe this is on the radar, but I've added your voice to the tracking issue for it. Hopefully it's something we'll be able to implement in the future. As it stands, it is expected behavior that the icon does not remember its position in the menu bar.

Ben

ref: dev/core/core#7325

xazac

1Password 7 has no issue at all, it always get placed where I moved it.

Ben

Thanks @xazac. I understand that. 1Password 8 is a new app; It isn't built on top of 1Password 7.

Ben

xazac

I know @Ben, you chosen to switch to Electron instead of continue to develop the Mac version as native app. And that's the result.

viswiz

It's another drawback of the non native macOS UI. Although 1PW8 for macOS is still in beta I've lost hope and trust in Agilebits that they are serious about a good macOS UI.
I would like to hear how one of the original UI designers of the Mac version thinks about this topic... if any of them still works for AgileBits.

xazac

@viswiz I agree with you, they lost their vision long time ago and switching to Electron was just the tip of the iceberg.

viswiz

Just read that Agilebits got additional 620 million $ venture capital. Maybe a part of it could be used to hire macOS designers and developers to create a native application/UI.

snozdop

Unfortunately us long-term Mac users are no longer the target market, or even any significant portion of their market to invest in fully no matter how many VC $millions they get. As browsers and operating systems get more password storage features, so 1Password's necessity becomes less for their original customer base. Many people can now 'make do' with Safari autofill and the Keychain - they're less likely to see the value in 1Password.

AgileBits are going where the money is - they've got to for the investors to recoup their outlay, and that's enterprise. I read the 1Password future page and it's all aimed at businesses. The $$$ have changed their focus, and macOS is no longer it.

Reading all the feedback on 1Password 8 for macOS and the overall tone of replies, it's starting to feel like they see Mac users as a burden. Our higher expectations and constant demands for perfection are holding them back from getting the Mac version out the door. They released v8 for Windows and Linux months ago - and it was well received - but v8 was a huge improvement over previous releases for those platforms. Not so much for Mac, we already had an excellent app.

I am feeling some of the (back-end) improvements in 1Password 8, but the front-end Mac user experience is a step backwards in so many areas, some of which they don't care enough about fixing, and some of which they can't fix due to the choice of Electron. Unfortunately, the Mac users who care about the Mac 'experience', UI consistency and the 'feel' of a Mac app, will never be satisfied.

xazac

@snozdop I totally agree with your statement and that's the reason I'm abandoning 1Password.

Jack.P_1P

Hey @xazac and @snozdop:

There are a list of asks, this one included, we'd ultimately like to include in 1Password 8. We're approaching the first public stable version of 1Password 8 for Mac, but that first public version will not be where development, iteration, and improvement ends. This is a new approach for us, and we appreciate your patience as we learn how and where we can make 1Password the best solution for the most people, irrespective of which platform they choose to use. That isn't to say we're moving forward without any respect for the platforms we're running on, but that we're focused on making the best app for everyone, instead of focusing a disproportionate effort on one niche.

Jack

xazac

@jack.platten Are you really calling Mac users a niche?

I’m sorry, but you are just “clutching at straws”.

Ben

Not at all. The Mac is still where we got our start and it's incredibly important to us. But that doesn't make any of the other platforms less important, and we'll be focusing our efforts where we can make the biggest impacts, regardless of platform.

@viswiz Dave wrote about that choice in a Medium post:

Behind the scenes of 1Password for Linux | by Dave Teare | Medium

I realize the title is Linux, but the technology decisions he covers apply to Mac and Windows as well. Dave covers the architecture in detail and will be having a follow-up post in the future specific to Mac.

Ben

viswiz

@ben I've read Dave's article and the developer in me loves the detailed information about the technology used to recreate the backend or as Dave calls it:

After some iteration we decide that core should basically be a full client app with no UI. A headless client if you will.

But I have to disagree about:

Finally we bundled everything using Electron to allow us to integrate deeply with the operating system.

I use Electron apps like Teams and VS Code. Especially the last one became my favorite editor. Not because it has beautiful UI an macOS or any other platform. It works really well across different platform and even remote on servers and its extensions make it extremely flexible. But I would never call it deeply integrated with the operating system. Furthermore I use it as an editor in fullscreen mode for coding. The only thing is see is more or less source code.

I hope that Dave remembers the next one when we talk again about 1PW8's macOS UI:

The majority of state is kept completely internal to ensure keys and other secrets are handled properly, as well as enabling each client UI to focus on their strengths rather than business logic.

If each client UI focuses on it's strengths you have to care of the strengths of each clients target platform/OS as well. There is no strength in ignoring even the most basic concepts of the OS' UI like stop lights top left of a window, or use your own accent color instead of OS' accent color. It's only the easiest way.
Pretty much all cross platform UI toolkits I know have a large common UI part across all platforms and a much smaller platform specific part used to integrate nicely. 1PW8 seems to have reduced the platform specific part to almost zero.
You now have more developers than ever, you have a common core or headless client like Dave calls it. So you should have enough resources to create UI's that match the OS and integrate nicely instead of emulating it with a "fake hollywood" UI.

xazac

3 months later and hundreds of beta versions later I'm still waiting for this issue to be fixed.

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