Data interchange between 1Password 3 for Mac and 1Password 4 for iOS

epo

With hindsight I made the idiotic purchase of iOS version 4.1.2 for my iphone and ipad. Not only has wifi syncing been ceased but it seems that the two versions do not support the same item categories, nor does iOS support tags.

On OS X I have items in both Logins and Accounts, when synced to iOS these all become Logins (the categories were preserved on iOS v3.x), while on iOS I have a host of new categories which are not present on OS X, I have little faith these new categories will be visible on OS X and would therefore frankly be astonished if they survived the round trip. Also the OS X items are tagged but these tags are not carried over, unsurprisingly perhaps, the iOS version does not support searching.

So, when will data be fully interchangeable between OS X and iOS with equivalent support for categories and tags?

khad

Hi epo,

Thanks for taking the time to contact us. I'm sorry for any confusion. Let me address each of your concerns in order. Please let me know if I leave anything out. You packed a lot into those short paragraphs, and I want to make sure to cover it all as completely as possible. :)

Not only has wifi syncing been ceased…

Wi-Fi syncing never made it into version 4 since it was very brittle. You can review the Wi-Fi Sync Troubleshooting Guide yourself to see just how many things could go wrong.

And this list didn't cover everything as we still have customers with unusual network configurations and have never been able to sync via the old Wi-Fi method. It's very frustrating to the users and for us.

There are some valid use cases at the moment where direct sync is needed, though. For example, a really nice fellow from China emailed us explaining that the Great Firewall prevents all Dropbox access and he's been using Wi-Fi syncing as a workaround until iCloud syncing is available for Mac. We told him to keep using version 3 for now until iCloud support is available for Mac.

Then there's the user experience itself: even when Wi-Fi worked it was cumbersome. You had to start 1Password on each device and trigger the sync. If you added new accounts and forgot to sync (or remembered to sync one device but not the other), you'd be without your data.

For 4 years, all we heard about Wi-Fi sync was that it is a huge source of problems and disappointment for our customers. We rewrote 1Password from the ground up for version 4. There is no code shared with version 3. Re-implementing Wi-Fi sync again was never on the list.

The iTunes File Sharing is more secure than Wi-Fi sync and does not have any of its connectivity issues. It is less convenient though. So we looked at ways to make things easier and have now rolled out USB syncing in beta form.

If you cannot use Dropbox, you will be able to use iCloud in the new year when it's available on Mac. If you are unable to use iCloud and Dropbox and the iTunes File Sharing doesn't suit your needs, USB syncing is a great option.

We're always evaluating new sync options, and we are very pleased to continue to offer a solution via USB where you can sync without relying on a central server but without all the heartache that Wi-Fi caused.

All that said, Dropbox syncing is extremely secure.

From the moment we designed the Agile Keychain data format we ensured that it was able to withstand an attack should your data fall into the wrong hands, either as a result of a Dropbox breach or if someone physically stole your computer. As such, we use AES encryption with PBKDF2 key strengthening to protect your sensitive 1Password data as well as many other mechanisms to stop an attacker from ever accessing your information and we detail this here:

Security of storing 1Password data in the cloud

So, as long as you use a secure master password that you don't use elsewhere, your 1Password data is incredibly safe even when stored on a service like Dropbox. If you're not sure about the strength of your master password, please do take a look at our recent blog post on this:

Toward Better Master Passwords

I can't think of many better ways to show just how strongly 1Password protects your data than by pitting it against the pre-eminent password cracking tool John the Ripper. We did exactly that:

1Password is Ready for John the Ripper

But the choice is yours to make. You can sync via USB if you are cloud averse. :)

1Password USB Syncing

…the two versions do not support the same item categories…

The categories have been redone in 1Password 4 to eliminate many points of confusion that users have told us about. The new categories are a version 4 feature, so while they are available on iOS already (since 1Password 4 for iOS was released in December) they are not yet shown on the Mac in the same way since 1Password 4 for Mac is still in progress. They will be the same in 1Password 4 on all platforms, though. Please "pardon our dust" in this interim while 1Password 4 for Mac is still being worked on. All the data is there, though, no matter which platforms and versions you sync with. It's merely displayed differently in 1Password 3 and 1Password 4. That's all.

…nor does iOS support tags.

It never has. This is not a change in version 4. This is something that I agree would be nice to have, though. I'll pass your vote along to the developers. For now, folders are supported in both 1Password 4 for iOS and 1Password 3 for Mac. I use them myself because of this, but I do personally prefer tags. :)

…I have little faith these new categories will be visible on OS X and would therefore frankly be astonished if they survived the round trip.

I covered this above, but I'll repeat it again so you can sync with confidence. :) "All the data is there, though, no matter which platforms and versions you sync with. It's merely displayed differently in 1Password 3 and 1Password 4. That's all."

…the iOS version does not support searching.

At the top of every category is a search field just like in the built-in iOS Contacts app. Let me know if you still can't find it. I can post a screenshot or two.

So, when will data be fully interchangeable between OS X and iOS with equivalent support for categories and tags?

As I mentioned a couple times, the data is already fully interchangeable. We don't give release dates for new products or features, though, so I can't say anything more about 1Password 4 for Mac coming out with the new display of the categories or tags being added to 1Password 4 for iOS. Your votes have certainly been counted. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with in the meantime or if I missed anything from your original post.

Cheers!