Unlock multiple accounts at once

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ilsaloving
ilsaloving
Community Member
edited April 2023 in iOS

I don't know what has happened in the last few years, but the iOS app has become virtually useless!

If I need to check something on my phone, it means I need that information NOW. Not 5 minutes from now. Not "let me troubleshoot why my data isn't showing up". I mean I need this information NOW. And for reasons I cannot fathom, Agilebits has taken that away!

I have multiple accounts on my phone. It used to be that when I unlocked an account, it would unlock all of them. Now, it only unlocks the account corresponding to the password I last put in! Worse still, the other account may or may not get silently locked, and there IS NO WARNING WHATSOEVER that has happened. I just end up missing my records, and I end up going through a frustrating gaslighting session where I think I typed my search terms wrong, and I spend several minutes trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

Considering how much much 1Password charges for it's product compared to everyone else in the industry, I am furious and incredulous that 1Password handles such an obvious use case so phenomenally badly.

I have complained about this to support repeatedly in the past and 1Password has so far refused to restore this functionality, so it looks like I'm going to have to start exploring alternatives.

[Removed reference to profanity, please remember that this is a family-friendly community -Moderator]


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Comments

  • Hello @ilsaloving! 👋

    I'm sorry for the frustration. You can unlock multiple accounts at the same time by using the same account password for each of your accounts: How to use multiple accounts

    Your account password never leaves your device and each account is also protected by its own unique Secret Key.

    Another option is to enable biometric unlock for the 1Password app, unlocking the app using either your face or your fingerprint will unlock all of your accounts at once:

    Let me know if you have any questions. 🙂

    -Dave

  • ilsaloving
    ilsaloving
    Community Member
    edited April 2023
    Options

    I am already using the biometric lock, but it doesn't matter when the account gets locked. I am not having issues managing multiple accounts. I am having issues with 1Password selectively locking/unlocking one account but not the rest.

    Despite what you say, 1Password/iOS does not automatically unlock all the accounts. If it did, I wouldn't have written this post in the first place! I have gone through all the non-account-specific settings and can find nothing appropriate to correct this behaviour.

    Because of the issues I'm currently facing, I have now been forced to disable account auto-lock completely since I cannot trust 1Password to manage this basic workflow properly.

  • @ilsaloving

    Thank you for the reply. In your initial post you wrote:

    Now, it only unlocks the account corresponding to the password I last put in!

    Can you clarify if you're using biometric unlock or your account password to unlock 1Password for iOS when this issue occurs?

    Even if you're using biometric unlock you'll still need to periodically enter your account password for each of your accounts if you have "Require password" set to anything other than "Never":

    1. Open and unlock 1Password.
    2. Tap the icon for your account or collection at the top left and choose Settings. (If you’re using an iPad, tap your account or collection at the top of the sidebar.)
    3. Tap Security.
    4. What is "Require password" set to?

    I look forward to hearing from you. 🙂

    -Dave

  • ilsaloving
    ilsaloving
    Community Member
    Options

    Before I changed it, "Require Password" was set to 2 weeks, which I believe is the default and I hadn't changed. That part was fine and understood.

    The problem is if I unlock my families account, my corporate account is not unlocked, and vis versa. I don't use 1Password on my phone very often as I'm usually at my computer when I need it. When I do use it on my phone, It's almost always in a time-constrained/high-stress situation where I do not have the presence of mind nor the time to follow up with additional troubleshooting, so I have not taken any steps to troubleshoot further and more specifically determine the exact chain of events.

  • @ilsaloving

    Thank you for the reply. If "Require Password" is set to 2 weeks then you'll need to enter the account password of each account at least every 2 weeks even if you're using biometric unlock. This is necessary so that the secret that is used to unlock each account is saved in the Secure Enclave and is made available to biometric unlock for subsequent unlocks.

    The best option is to use the same account password for both your family account and your work account. Then, when you enter that one account password, both accounts will unlock at the same time.

    -Dave

  • ilsaloving
    ilsaloving
    Community Member
    Options

    Yes, and we're now completely full circle to my original post and complaint.

    1) It didn't used to be that way. It used to be that the first account setup was the "master" account, and if I unlocked 1password with the master account's password, all other accounts would also be unlocked. Reusing passwords across different 1Password accounts is an unacceptable workaround because that means my personal account is now subject to the whims of the most restrictive organizational policies amongst your accounts.
    2) If it is not possible to restore #1's functionality, then the workflow for unlocking multiple accounts needs to be revised. When you unlock 1Password, you only get one single password prompt. If that doesn't unlock all the accounts, then too bad so sad, sucks to be you. 1Password needs to either either provide multiple password prompts, or at least put up a big red warning saying, "Not all accounts were unlocked" right up front or maybe as a persistent banner on top of the screen. Otherwise what happens is the user immediately starts searching, only to become frustrated because their data isn't showing up.

    As a specific example, I got into the office early yesterday and accidentally triggered the alarm. I had 30 seconds to enter the code to shut off the alarm. I was unable to get the code in time because the unlock process was too burdensome.

  • @ilsaloving

    I personally agree about point #2, I can see us doing a better job in surfacing to a user that not all accounts are unlocked after a user enters their account password to unlock one of the accounts. Our developers have an internal work item open to look into how we can improve this and I've added your comments there to move the conversation forward.

    It didn't used to be that way. It used to be that the first account setup was the "master" account, and if I unlocked 1password with the master account's password, all other accounts would also be unlocked.

    This is indeed how 1Password 7 worked and we received quite a lot of requests to change this since it made controls that organizations placed on user account passwords completely irrelevant because a user could just unlock their company vaults using another account's weaker password that didn't meet the organization's requirements. The previous behaviour also caused a lot of confusion for users who didn't understand why they were being asked to unlock 1Password using different passwords on different devices (due to adding accounts in different orders in different places). Sometimes it even led to users forgetting their account password for a certain account, and being permanently locked out, since they hadn't used that account password in quite some time.

    Our Principle Security Architect posted a longer explainer here if you're interested in reading more: https://1password.community/discussion/comment/608291/#Comment_608291

    -Dave

    ref: dev/core/core#12642

This discussion has been closed.