iCloud syncing with spouse.

GFellow

Hello,

I am relatively new to using 1password. My spouse and I are trying to share 1 account across various mac / iOS devices. I thought we were syncing successfully over iCloud, but the difference in number of saved logins on our respective devices suggests otherwise. Today I had to sync her phone with our iMac over wifi. Is there a way to sync a single database of logins between all devices by using just iCloud? My wife's iphone has a different iCloud identity than mine. So, how do we sync between the devices? I am not using vaults at this time. Thank you for your help.

hawkmoth

I am almost 100% sure that there isn't anyway to share information on iCloud between users with different AppleIDs. You and your spouse won't be able to sync to the same data unless you both use the same identity. This is an Apple limitation.

If you're willing to switch to Dropbox, you would be able to share data between you, regardless of your AppleID difference.

GFellow

OK. I use dropbox, but I prefer to not upload any sensitive files there. I might consider using it, but I would need to know more about how the sync file is handled. Does it reside only temporarily in Dropbox or does it need to stay there? I will use dropbox on occasion for sharing sensitive files, but I encrypt them locally and I delete them as soon as the other party has accessed them. I may just have to periodically sync her iphone over local wifi. Thanks for the input.

hawkmoth

The reason I don't hesitate to use Dropbox is that the real protection for my data is the encryption provided by 1Password and the strong master password I created to protect the data. I don't regard the location in the cloud as any large part of the protection of my data. If I'm confident that my database can't be broken into by brute force in thousands of years, I stop worrying about it.

I realize others find this confidence to be naive. But this is the attitude of the AgileBits folks too. This blog post was key for me.

hawkmoth

I had forgotten about that. Apple just recently added the capability to share iWorks documents over iCloud. I don't know if it is confined only to Apple's own applications or not.

Jasper

Hi @GFellow,

Like mentioned above, you can't sync via iCloud if you each use a separate Apple ID for iCloud. You'll need to use Dropbox sync if you want automatic syncing between your devices.

I wouldn't worry about any difference in security between Dropbox and iCloud — I think they're pretty equal in terms of security. Anyway, 1Password does not rely on Dropbox (or any sync provider) to secure your 1Password data. From the moment we designed our 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

We 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. If you are still not comfortable with Dropbox sync, you can use local wi-fi sync.

Please let us know if you have any other questions. :)

jdhayes117

I also would like to be able to sync with my family via a share iCloud solution. Now that Apple has taken the wraps off their updated iCloud solutions at the WWDC, any chance that 1PW will be supporting shared sync via iCloud in the near future?

Megan

Hi @jdhayes117‌

In order to sync your 1Password data with your family via iCloud, you will need to share an AppleID. Our developers are quite excited about many of the things that Apple released at WWDC, and we're exploring how to best use these new tools to make 1Password the best that it can be, but I can't say much more than that at this time. :)

joabraun

Hi @JasperP‌

The OP mentioned that he and his spouse share **multiple mac ** and iOS devices. Your suggestion of using wi-fi sync will only work btw a single mac and multiple iOS devices.

As a new user I find it to be somewhat frustrating that I would need to use a dropbox to sync data btw devices that are on my home network.

Call me paranoid but I rather keep my data local if possible.

Megan

Hi @joabraun,

To sync your data locally across multiple Macs, please look into Folder Sync. This will allow you to store your 1Password data on a local folder and then use a secondary sync solution to sync your data to your other computers. You can then use Wi-Fi to sync to your iOS devices.

We know that sync is an important issue for many of our users, and we're always exploring options to make sync an even better experience for you all.