[4.2b22] Disabling password/code prompt

bleepnik

This isn't really a bug, more a request for clarification. If you'll indulge me for a moment, please go ahead and disable all of 1Password's security features. Set an unlock code, but then tell 1Password never to prompt you for it. Change your settings so that they look like this:

I know, I know, why would you ever do that, etc. etc. But that's not the point. =) So you've got these settings, right? Now, I dunno about you, but my expectation is that with these settings, 1Password's not going to prompt me for my master password or my unlock code. Except that's not what happens. Now, I would understand that if you quit the application completely, you'd need to unlock it the next time you open it. But even when it's running in the background, there seems to be some built-in expiry after which I'm prompted to unlock it again. And I'm never prompted for the unlock code, always the master password.

So now, if you made an executive decision not to allow this particular configuration, that's fine. But it's confusing and irksome to be able to select the options and then not have it work as expected. So maybe you could disallow turning everything off like this, or display a message saying hey, you can't permanently unlock 1Password, sorry; please enable either master password or unlock code protection. At least then I wouldn't my friend wouldn't get annoyed when this configuration doesn't work.

Thanks!

khad

At least then I wouldn't my friend wouldn't get annoyed when this configuration doesn't work.

LOL I love it. Good to see you, @bleepnik. :D

My guess is — if it is happening after a bit of time rather than immediately — that iOS is "managing 1Password out of memory". You may recall the big kerfuffle a while ago with people being told they needed to manually manage the "list of running apps" but quitting them each one by one. But the apps aren't actually running, so there is no need to do that. Rather iOS automatically manages memory in the background and will move apps from a "background" state to "suspended" to "not running". You can read more about this in Fraser Spiers' great article on Macworld:

How iOS multitasking really works

There isn't a way to manually control exactly how iOS decides what state an app is in if it is not the active foreground app. It depends on how much memory is available. Eventually every app will become "not running" if not active for long enough.

Could that explain it?

bleepnik

Sure, that could explain the behaviour I'm seeing. So building on that, then, let's say iOS boots 1Password out of memory after some time. If I have the unlock code enabled, shouldn't 1Password prompt me for that when I switch to it, rather than for the master password?

Thanks, @khad, good to see you, too. =)

MikeT

Hi Nik,

No, once the iOS app is terminated by iOS, it reverts to the master password automatically, regardless of the settings you have.

This is because in 1Password 4, the entire database is encrypted by the master password (thus no more *low/high* security levels) and the Quick Unlock Code is simply an authentication method to access the database while it is still open. So, the only way to ever see the Quick Unlock code is after the database is unlocked already with the master password.

By never locking the database down again, you will only see the Quick Unlock code as long as the database remains open in the background. Naturally, if iOS terminates it, the database closed down and you need to enter the master password to open up the database.

There are some things we're looking to make it more flexible but it's going to take some research to ensure it's safe to do it.

Of course, this also depends on the age of your iOS device. The newer the iOS device, the more memory it has to keep the app running in the background.

bleepnik

Hey, @MikeT, I'm not sure what you mean. We're talking about 1Password running in the background, not quit. Obviously after the application's quit, the master password will be required. If by "terminated by iOS" you mean that the application is still running as far as the user can see, but that the session has expired, yes, I get that.

My point is, basically, that based on my current settings, I never see the unlock code prompt in spite of enabling the unlock code. This is really confusing.

(Sorry for the delayed reply, I didn't get a notification that this thread had been updated.)