Autofill stopped working in Firefox on iPhone?

mtoboll

I normally use Firefox on my iPhone, but also have Edge and Safari browsers installed.

Recently I noticed after updates that Firefox (and Edge) do not seem to "know" that I've got the 1Password app installed.

Firefox=98.2 / EDGE=99.0.1150.52 / iOS=15.4 / 1Password=7.9.5

I tested in Safari, and Safari works great. - when I hit a login page it gives me the bar above the keyboard showing a suggested login and also the Key icon that I can use to open 1Password. Things are OK within the 1Password browser too.

I'm almost positive this worked fine in Firefox previously, but now I get NOTHING when I get to a login page. I'm not certain if this ever worked in EDGE, as I usually don't use it, but checked it when I noticed the Firefox issue. Edge also does not provide any sign of 1Password either.

I've checked all the settings in iOS and the browsers and 1Password, but nothing seems wrong, it looks correct for everything. I use 1Password extension in Firefox on PC and that works OK.

I'm presuming this is an iOS thing? (since Safari works?) or am I just missing something? Can anyone confirm that 1Password works for them in the Firefox browser on iPhone on iOS 15.4?

Might need to switch to Safari as default browser, but not something I prefer to do...

Any info on this would be appreciated. Thanks!

---

1Password Version: 7.9.5
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: iOS 15.4

vellum

my iphone is running ios 15.4 & the current 1password.
1password does work in the firefox browser.

The 1password key appears when username & password fields are on a page together.

On a site like amazon, which does username & password on separate pages,
I have to enter the username on that first page, the 1password key will pop up on the password page.

mtoboll

Thanks for the reply vellum.

Update: When I was trying this earlier, I was only testing with 4-5 sites I go to frequently (like Amazon where I first noticed this) and had the same experience on all 4-5 sites, both in FF and Edge, and assumed EVERYTHING was broken. -BUT- then later, I happened to go to another site I only use occasionally, and all of a sudden - 1Password in FF worked perfectly on that site! - went back to my original problem sites and those are all still broken! Checked more sites and found a lot of them work OK, but others do not.

Checked in Edge - and SAME there - some sites work fine - others do not. Even weirder is that the working sites/non working sites match exactly between Edge and FF. But Safari still works fine on ALL sites...

Thought maybe it is a browser cache issue and I tried uninstalling/reinstalling browsers, but same issue remains.

Totally confused. Not sure if this is a browser thing or iOS thing or what. - I'm not inclined to blame 1Password though since it works in Safari, and work fine in FF and Edge on PC. Think I'll install Chrome once to compare results.

Any other thoughts suggestions are appreciated!

vellum

I've been using the ios app for more than a year.
That autofill pattern has been consistent in both duckduckgo and firefox.

(I didn't know it worked differently in safari since I don't use that.)

For ios, third party browsers are built on the ios core webkit.
They're basically safari skins.
It seems there's a feature in safari that's not in the core webkit.
Be interesting to see if any of the third party browsers autofill like safari.

(In mac os, third party browsers are their own code.)

mtoboll

Yeah, so weird.

I tried Chrome now and same thing. Password option and key icon just missing on same exact sites as FF. But works fine on same sites that work ok in FF.

Lost interest in trying to figure this out. Just switching default browser to Safari on my phone. Not my first choice but at least it works 100% consistently on all sites with no fuss.

mtoboll

I stepped back and looked again with fresh eyes.

It does appear to be related to specific sites that "split" the login screen where only username comes up first, then goes to a second page with the password. Nothing happens on the username page, but if I type the username in and hit next, then 1Password comes up as expected on the password page and will fill that in.

So, seems to confirm vellums' comment; FF, Chrome and Edge fail at this while Safari succeeds suggesting Safari being a "native" iOS app has some advantage to recognize only username fields.

Just gonna hope either 1P or the browser app developers find a way to get this synced up somehow, someday.

Dave_1P

@mtoboll

Thank you for sharing your findings! You're correct that two-page login pages (where the username and password are split across two different pages) seem to cause iOS Password AutoFill some trouble when it comes to detecting username fields. Password AutoFill is the iOS feature that 1Password relies on to detect and fill logins in browsers and other iOS apps. Since 1Password only provides the data for the Password AutoFill experience this isn't something that we can directly improve and the behaviour will be common to all password managers that use Password AutoFill.

I've personally noticed that Password AutoFill works best with Safari. But if you are going to give Safari a try then I'd recommend checking out our new 1Password for Safari web extension. 1Password for Safari features greatly improved filling capabilities and offers an experience that is similar to what you're already used to with 1Password for the browser on the desktop. Here is a guide on how to enable 1Password for Safari on devices running iOS and iPadOS 15: Get to know 1Password for Safari on your iPhone or iPad

Let me know if you have any questions. 😊

mtoboll

Thanks Dave! I’ll take a look.

I’m curious to know what you think about something. I did web development a while back, but been away from it for a bit now.

I know that the password input field is a specific form PASSWORD TYPE (which is one reason you get stars or dots by default when typing in it). But username/login fields are generally a TEXT TYPE which are used for all manner of things. So guessing it relies more on the field’s LABEL or other attribute which can be whatever the web guy wants to make it.

This makes me wonder if there was a specific USERNAME or LOGIN TYPE field if that would help everyone across the board to identify these more easily, reliably and consistently. (thinking it could also default dots/stars for additional security measure).

Not sure who exactly “governs” this in HTML Standards World, but if it would benefit password management in this way, I wonder if that’s something you can somehow pitch up to the powers that be as a future standard. (?)

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth :)

Dave_1P

@mtoboll

I'm so sorry for the delay in responding, it appears that I overlooked your response initially.

You've posed a great question and the answer is: there are indeed standards that, among other things, include the autocomplete attribute in HTML to help password managers work efficiently and consistently. In fact, Apple publishes documentation describing what developers need to include for their webpage or app to work well with Password AutoFill:

• Enabling Password AutoFill on a Text Input View | Apple Developer Documentation
• Enabling Password AutoFill on an HTML Input Element | Apple Developer Documentation

We also publish a resource for developers here: Design your website to work best with 1Password

There are certainly a lot of edge cases and our own developers put in a lot of work to constantly update 1Password's filling "brain" so that 1Password in the browser "just works" even on tricky webpages: 1Password Browser Extension Release Notes

Hopefully the passwords landscape will just get better and better in the future. And, as I mentioned, we're now able to offer the same filling experience on the iPhone/iPad as on the desktop with 1Password in Safari. I'm definitely excited about what the future holds as iOS and 1Password both continue to develop and improve in the years to come.

I hope that my thoughts here help. Let me know if you have any questions. 😊

mtoboll

Thanks for this detailed reply Dave! Things have gotten more complex since I left web development in 2011. I can see why I was having some issues, but knowing the real issues now, I have no problems getting around them when they pop up.

I've been really happy with 1Password and feel good that you guys are on top of things and working to improve!

Much appreciated!

Dave_1P

@mtoboll

It's my pleasure. I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying 1Password. 😊