Feature request: change attachment limit

mia

https://app-updates.agilebits.com/product_history/OPW4

IMPROVEMENTS

Attachments are limited to 5MB.

Favorites are moved to the top of the 1Password menu (above "Show X more items").

This is really, really a disappointing change, one that I hope the users will appeal to change. One of the things I use 1PW for other than passwords is secure document retrieval from my mobile device (instead of using dropbox which is grossly insecure and spideroak which costs a monthly fee). Is there a specific reason why the change was made? Isn't it better to give the user a choice?

svondutch

On Mac, we have a 5MB attachment limit. This change brings Mac and Windows in line so that they're the same and therefore consistent.

mia

But why? What is the reasoning for this limit in the first place?
This really saddens/disappoints me and makes things difficult for those of us who use it the way I described above. :(

Instead of enhancing the user experience it severely limits it.

RichardPayne

It does seem like an odd restriction. I understand the desire to keep the keychain small, but surely that is a user choice, not something you should be enforcing.

mia

I agree wholeheartedly. Even with my keychain at 85MB with a 10 backup limit my Dropbox has entry of space, 1password runs incredibly fast

Who can we appeal this decision to?

AGKyle

Hi guys. We limit the size for a couple of reasons.

The first is because the encryption process is resource intensive, both on Windows and on iOS. The 5mb limit has been in play on Mac since at least version 3, it may have gone further back but that was before my time here.

It also plays a role with sync size. I had a user not too long ago who had somehow managed to attach a multi-gigabyte Windows 7 ISO image to his license in 1Password. He didn't seem to understand how it worked but in the same vein we really don't want this type of thing to happen. Particularly for users who are syncing over cellular connection as well.

Keep in mind that mobile versions play a big role here, with Apple still selling 16gb phones it makes sense to be aware of how our application can impact those users. I also had a user who was getting crashes because he was trying to add a larger attachment (15mb) but was running out of memory on his Windows computer in the process.

I'll pass your feedback along to the developers, but I don't believe this is going to change in the near future. I am sorry for the inconvenience but the reasons above are hopefully giving some perspective on why it exists, whether you agree or not, at least you have the reasons.

Thanks!
Kyle

RichardPayne

@AGkyle, by all means warn the user if a large file is added.

Depending on how little memory you have, it's possible to get out of memory errors by doing pretty much anything. I don't see how limiting attachment will stop these, although it will make it less likely.

AGKyle

@RichardPayne the fact that it can cause the Windows application to crash means we will see those errors and users will contact us asking us to fix it. By limiting to 5mb we are preventing a vast majority of those from even showing up in our support queue. Given the massive inflow of new users over the last year or two since 1Password 4 was released (iOS, Mac, Android and now Windows) means that we simply need to make sure we do our very best to not see crashes and issues coming into our inbox so that we can do our best to help people seeing things that are outside of our control or issues that are not easy to resolve themselves.

I am sorry but at this point we will likely not be changing this. Again, I'll pass your feedback along to our development team in my email to them tonight. If they change it they'll change it, however, we have much bigger fish to fry at the moment so this is very low on the totem pole of things to look into right now. It'll likely get filed as a feature request and someday we may get to it. Keep in mind this has to take place on ALL platforms. For consistency sake it only makes sense to try to be the same across all platforms.

Thanks for understanding. I realize the few of you are pretty passionate about this and we love that about our users, but there's often a reason for why things are done. Hopefully between the last message and this one you'll have a little insight into why this decision was made. I don't expect you all to agree with it, but at the same time hopefully we can all respect each others opinions on the matter and if we can change it for you in the future we'll see what we can do. I just cannot promise that change will happen, nor can I promise when.

Kyle

RichardPayne

Understanding why doesn't mean I agree with the logic. Memory allocation failure is not a hard thing to trap. It certainly should not cause the application to crash.

If they change it they'll change it, however, we have much bigger fish to fry at the moment so this is very low on the totem pole of things to look into right now.

which is an entirely different argument. There's little to no technical reason for not changing, but if it's not important to you then I guess it's up to people to badger you until you do see it so. :smiley:

For consistency sake it only makes sense to try to be the same across all platforms.

That's never stopped you before! :p

mia

AGKyle,
First of all, thank you for responding so quickly! I want to apologize in advance for my vociferous tone. I rely on 1PW on a daily basis, so your application is very important to me..

The first is because the encryption process is resource intensive, both on Windows and on iOS. The 5mb limit has been in play on Mac since at least version 3, it may have gone further back but that was before my time here.

It also plays a role with sync size. I had a user not too long ago who had somehow managed to attach a multi-gigabyte Windows 7 ISO image to his license in 1Password. He didn't seem to understand how it worked but in the same vein we really don't want this type of thing to happen. Particularly for users who are syncing over cellular connection as well.

Valid points. As an alternative, why not place a warning window to prevent from adding a file >5MB instead... or even make it 100MB or something REASONABLE (although I would be more inclined to recommend a warning message).

Keep in mind that mobile versions play a big role here, with Apple still selling 16gb phones it makes sense to be aware of how our application can impact those users. I also had a user who was getting crashes because he was trying to add a larger attachment (15mb) but was running out of memory on his Windows computer in the process.

Honestly, I understand and empathize... but is how is this really persuasive reasoning for changing a core functionality of 1PW. Because of some scant problems due to operator error faced by few users, the majority must suffer?

I'll pass your feedback along to the developers, but I don't believe this is going to change in the near future. I am sorry for the inconvenience but the reasons above are hopefully giving some perspective on why it exists, whether you agree or not, at least you have the reasons.

[b]I just can't accept this![/b] Other than password storage, I consider this CORE functionality and one of the prime reasons I purchased 1PW (and THE main reason I left LastPass and painfully moved all of my passwords over one by one). It has worked so beautifully in the past and as of this beta version has been broken.

I am sorry but at this point we will likely not be changing this. Again, I'll pass your feedback along to our development team in my email to them tonight. If they change it they'll change it, however, we have much bigger fish to fry at the moment so this is very low on the totem pole of things to look into right now. It'll likely get filed as a feature request and someday we may get to it. Keep in mind this has to take place on ALL platforms. For consistency sake it only makes sense to try to be the same across all platforms.

Why not add the warning to all platforms? I understand consistently, but this tantamount to castration of a feature your passionate customers hold dear.
Thank you for passing the feedback to the dev, but this issue infuriates me as a customer. It's about one of the worst things that could have happened to 1Password. It all but destroys my workflow (as I am sure other users as well) that I have to come to rely on from 1Password.

The other choice I have is to stay with the previous version of 1PW, expose myself to future unpatched security vulnerabilities; that and I would vote with my wallet for the future.

I encourage all users of 1Password who care about this issue tweet Jeffrey Shiner (CEO of Agilebits) and express your dissatisfaction regarding this decision.

Twitter: @jeffreyshiner (https://twitter.com/jeffreyshiner)

DBrown

We love hearing from our passionate 1Password family members! Thanks for the feedback by all means.

mia

:(

DBrown

Oh, please don't be sad, @mia. We don't implement everything requested by every customer, but we'd be lost without the feedback of people like you who obviously care about 1Password as much as we do.

Thank you so much!

mia

Hi DBrown
I am sad and angry at the same time.

It would be one thing if it was a feature request or a change in the way things function. I think this case is a little different. There was no attachment limit before. It was a change made without discussion regarding user impact, and it royally screwed my workflow. I am sorry to be so blunt, but it's the honest to god truth. There are the aforementioned alternatives that could be instituted that would allow the user to work freely and would satisfy the developers perspective, but they are seemingly ignored or dismissed without response. AgileBits seems like an 'insanely-great' company, but to keep it that way it needs to listen to its users, especially with something as damaging as this!

IMO It has already weakened the 1Password product. I now have to reinstall a PRIOR beta whenever I want to add a file above 5mb. How crazy is that?
The only option I have is to stay with the previous release and never upgrade, which hurts your bottom line and mine.

DBrown

Again, @mia, there was lots of discussion, and we've heard your comments and responded, explaining the decision.

Development of any complex product always involves compromises, a balance of conflicting needs and influences. We welcome your contributions to the discussions as we continue to perform that high-wire exercise.

Thanks again for letting us know your opinion on this issue!

Keilor

The 5mb limit is forcing me to look for other options... That's just a fact.

DBrown

Thank you for letting us know, @Keilor‌.

The_Reaver

Had the software for around a month now and the 5mb limit is the one thing that I really dislike. I am with Keilor in the fact that I now have to consider other options as well.

MikeT

Hi @The_Reaver,

Thanks, we appreciate your feedback and we're sadden to hear you're considering to switch away because of this.

We're not planning to switch away from this limit any time soon but we'll keep it in mind in the future for 1Password.

svondutch

@The_Reaver @Keilor @mia I can maybe give you guys a (hidden, undocumented) power user setting for this.

mia

@svondutch That would be much appreciated!! If you do implement this can you reply to this thread with how to change the 5mb limit. I have subscribed so forum will notify me :)

AlexHoffmann

Please be patient with us while Stefan tries to do something about it, and remember that this settings will most likely break syncing with other 1Password apps.

svondutch

@mia @Keilor @The_Reaver Here's a new (undocumented, unsupported) setting for you:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1715965/AttachmentMaxSize.reg

Download and then double-click this .reg file. It will pump a new setting named AttachmentMaxSize into your registry. This setting defaults to 5242880 bytes.

Use at your own risk.

mia

Special thanks to svondutch for listening to our needs. This really helps out my workflow.

AGAlumB

@svondutch: You da man! :+1:

@mia: I'm glad that helps! As a more technical user, I, too, crave options like this from time to time; but I personally do 1Password support (among other things) for some friends and family, so I appreciate the other side of that coin as well! ;)

jstevison

What would be the Mac OS X equivalent to that reg hack? Changing something in the Plist file?

MikeT

Hi @jstevison,

There isn't any way to bypass this on OS X, there's no code to allow this, and we do not plan to provide one on OS X.

It is also possible in the future, we will not allow this anymore on Windows, please do not depend on this registry hack lasting forever, you should stick to the 5MB as much as possible.

jstevison

I was just trying 1Password so I will just stick with LastPass. They allow 10MB attachments. Thanks.

MikeT

I understand, thanks for trying us out.

gandalf_saxe

On Mac here.

Just scanned my vaccination papers, and it was 7.7 MB. Now I have to find some 3rd party app to resize the PDF (Preview with quartz filter is way too harsh). This is really a hassle, I hope you can find a solution in the near future.

AGAlumB

@gandalf_saxe: Sorry for the trouble! 1Password isn't meant as a file storage app, so we try to keep things lean for syncing by limiting attachment size. 7MB seems a bit large for text though. That said, we'll certainly consider different options in the future. We just have to try to find the sweet spot for all platforms and considerations. Thanks for letting us know this is something you'd like us to take another look at!